By His Stripes

Introduction 

Good afternoon, Restoration Church! It is always good to see you all on a Sunday and worship Jesus with you. Good afternoon to those joining online as well. We are glad you’re here. 

We are starting a new three-week series today called Common Cliches. This is series we began last year. And the plan is to do it every year.  

I confess that I might step on some toes. That’s what the series is designed to do.

But the goal is not to shame us. It is not to point a finger at you but to encourage you, maybe even challenge you.  

Cliches are simple phrases that we say that have either lost their original impact or meaning. Sometimes these phrases are from scriptures, but are interpreted in a way that is devoid of their context. Other times, they are not from the scriptures, but we assume that they are.  

Clichés aren’t always false, but they’re often shallow.

Our goal in this series is to move from shallow sound bites to deep gospel truth.

We want to be Christians who live lives that are guided by the Spirit and also grounded in truth.  

Last year, we did cliches of “where two or three are gathered”, “touch not my anointed”, and “money is the root of all evil.” If you’re interested in what was shared, you can find those sermons on the church’s website, or you can ask during Q&A today.  

Today, we are starting the series with a cliche that is very common, and it is so common that you might have said it yourself.  

It is the cliche of “by his stripes you are healed.” 

This cliche is from the bible, but as we will see, it has been misinterpreted.  

We will look at three questions: 1) How is the cliché used? 2) What does it truly mean? 3) What is the relevance of the death of Jesus to physical healing? 

Let us pray.  

How Is the Cliche Used?

As I mentioned, this cliche is from the bible and we find it in two places. We find it in 1 Peter 2:24, where the Apostle Peter is quoting the prophet Isaiah from Isaiah 53:5.

We’re going to read both scriptures, so if you can open your bible to 1 Peter 2:24-25

1 Peter 2:24–25 CSB

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Next, turn to Isaiah 53:1-6.

Isaiah 53:1–6 CSB

Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him. Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.

The first time I heard this cliche used was about 15 years ago while I was in college. The cliche is often used as a word of promise that Jesus died to take away any form of sickness that one may have. So, in the moment of feeling unwell, you just need to declare with faith that “by his stripes, you are healed of your sickness.” In other Christian circles, it is taken further to mean that because Jesus died, Christians should never be sick, because “by the stripes of Jesus they have been healed.” They declare that sickness and anything of that sort is not their portion and will never find them.

It is a cliche that offers a sense of comfort in a world that is filled with all manner of ailments and sickness. A world that is filled with curable and non-curable diseases.

I don’t want any of you to be sick. As a matter of fact, I pray that you would not experience sickness and disease. It’s not fun being sick. Modesta and I had to deal with that this week with Edem, who had his first fever. It was brutal.

But is that what the scripture means? The answer is no.

The reason for this cliche is because when we look at Isaiah 53:4, it says the Jesus bore our sicknesses and carried our pains. Matthew even referred to this in Matthew 8:16, when he said that the healings of sicknesses by Jesus was a fulfillment of this Isaiah prophecy.

What we’ve done is we took the phrase in 53:4, and we jumped down to end of 53:5, where it says, “by his wounds we are healed” and connect the two.

We ignore everything that is in between to make the connection that is appealing.

Praying a prayer of faith for the Lord to keep you from sickness is not wrong, but the reason for the prayer should not be because Jesus died to take away all sicknesses.

The scripture simply said he carried it not that he eliminated it. Jesus experienced the breadth of sinful humanity so we can have a high priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses. That’s what Hebrews 4:15 says.

What Does it Mean?

So then, what does that cliche mean if it doesn’t refer to a promise of never feeling unwell? First, let’s look again at 1 Peter 2:24-25

1 Peter 2:24–25 CSB

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness.

Before we get to 2:25, notice that the focus of what Jesus accomplished here is on sins. It’s not on physical sickness or disease. The focus is on Jesus giving up his body so that we might continue to die to our sins and live for righteousness. That’s the context to 2:25. So, when we get 2:25, it becomes clear that the healing is for the hurt, the damage that sin has caused and is causing.

1 Peter 2:24–25 CSB

By his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Healed from what? From sin. Sin caused our soul to stray from his creator. Sin caused our soul to be infected with a disease that we couldn’t cure. But because of the wounds of Jesus, our soul gets to be healed and be returned its shepherd.

Isaiah 53:5 adds more detail

Isaiah 53:4–5 CSB

But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.

Again, just like the 1 Peter 2, the context of the healing by his wounds is our rebellion, and iniquities. The punishment that was required for peace to exist between us and God, is the wounds that the suffering servant experienced. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was wounded for our sins. And by faith in him, we get to be healed from our sins by his wounds.

When you’re sick in your body, you can take Tylenol. You can visit the urgent care like we did. But where do you go when your soul is sick? Where do you turn when no medicine can treat the sickness that infects the soul?

You go to the cross because that is where the Great Physician gave us not just comfort but a cure for the deepest sickness—the sickness of sin. The only healing for a sin bruised and battered soul is the wounds that Jesus took on his body.

This scripture speaks to what is far greater than our physical illness. It speaks to that which is more important than your fever, it speaks to that which is more important that your chronic pain, it speaks to that which is more important than cancer, it speaks to that which is more important than dementia, it speaks to that which is more important than diabetes, it speaks to that which is more important than a stomach ache.

It speaks to the soul; to the soul that is in need of love, to the soul that is yearning for hope, to the soul that is tired of its failures, to the soul that is in need of forgiveness, to the soul that is at war with God, to the soul that is bound by the chains of sin.

There are many walking around us with a sin-damaged soul, with a sin-battered and bruised soul. And they can’t find healing any other place than at the cross of Jesus. It is only by his wounds can they be healed. Money can’t heal them, stuff can’t heal them, doing good can’t heal them, sex can’t heal them. Only the wounds of Jesus can.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth: some of us have not yet experienced the full breadth of this healing of our soul. You’ve got trauma, you’ve got baggage, you’ve got hurt, that you have yet to open up to the cross of Jesus, and it shows up in what you choose and don't choose to do; it shows up in how you go about the decisions that you make.

God wants me to tell you it’s time to surrender. It’s time to bring Jesus into those hard parts of your life and receive the healing that he provides. It’s time to confess that you need him in those hard parts.

Where is your soul still limping? What part of your story still needs the healing of Christ’s wounds?

Jesus heals where sin has infected. Even your generational trauma. Even the sin that was done to you.

It might be that you need to have a conversation with someone who can walk you through it. Someone that can help you see how the wounds of Jesus bring healing to that issue. It can be a Christian therapist, a Pastor, or a Christian support group.

Healing of the soul is available because Jesus took upon himself the punishment that brings us peace.

Only the wounds of Jesus can heal what religion can’t fix, what medicine can’t reach, and what the world can’t see.

If the scripture is about our healing from sin and its impact on our soul, what do we do with our physical illness?

What is the Relevance of the Death of Jesus to Physical Healing? 

That brings us to our final point. There is something the theologians call the “already but not yet kingdom.” It is the acknowledgement that the kingdom of God that Jesus came to inaugurate is already here but it is not yet here in its full consummation. That’s what we see in Isaish 53:4 when the prophet wrote:

Isaiah 53:4–5 CSB

Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.

Sickness, pain, suffering are all the results of sin in this world and as long as sin is present, this world would not function as God created it in perfection.

So when Jesus went to the cross, yes, he went there with the weight of not just sin but also the results of sin. He carried the pain, the sickness, the suffering that comes from sin with him. He went to the cross with the goal of renewing and redeeming all of creation and not just our soul.

The redemption of our soul is the already part of the kingdom of God that is already here. People are being changed and redeemed to live a life of righteousness thereby reflecting the kingdom of God anywhere that they find themselves.

But the rest of creation and the human body are still waiting for the day of the final redemption. Because Jesus took upon himself all the sins of the world and its results we can look forward to a day where sin will be eradicated along with everything that comes with it and the sickness and pain will be no more.

Because Jesus died and was lifted up to the right hand of the Father, he will return soon to consummate a kingdom where sickness, disease, ailments, and illness will be no more. And it is with hope that we look forward to that day.

But until then, God allows us to enjoy a foretaste of this healing.

While sickness can’t be eradicated in this present life until the return of Jesus, the bible tells us we can pray for healing. The bible tells us the Spirit of God gives the gift of healing to the church.

The relevance of the cross to physical healing is not that the cross eradicates sickness or promises healing in this present life as the cliche is often used, but instead the cross makes possible a relationship between those who believe in Jesus and God the Father whereby they can pray to him for their needs, including the need of physical healing.

Because Jesus died, we become sons of God who cry out to their father for their needs, including the need of physical healing.

James, the brother of Jesus, wrote in James 5:14-15

James 5:14–15 CSB

Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Because of the wounds of Jesus, because of his stripes, we can pray to God for physical healing. And because of his wounds, our soul gets to be healed from sin.

Conclusion

As we wrap up, while this common cliche does not mean what we might want it to, it does not mean there’s no room to go to God in prayer for the healing of our physical body.

While there might not be promises in the bible for physical healing, we can find promises that we serve a God who hears our prayers. We can also find promises that by faith there is healing for the soul through the death of Jesus.

Because of His stripes, your soul is being healed now. And one day, because He rose and reigns, He will return and say to every disease, disability, and death itself: 'No more.'

Until then, we wait with hope, and we pray with boldness.

He is the risen and returning King who will secure both our soul and body in his coming glory.