Five Healings

4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5 (NKJV)

Summary of these verses:

He LIFTED WHAT WAS WRONG from us, and CARRIED the ongoing SUFFERING IT HAD CAUSED. It seemed that God was punishing or abusing him, but in reality he was doing it all for us.

We talk a lot about how Jesus dealt with our sin at Calvary. It seems that so many Christians are content to know that they are forgiven. It is wonderful to be forgiven – but this passage in Isaiah tells us that we are not only forgiven – but we are healed.

As I studied today – I began to understand why Paul said, “We preach Christ, and him crucified…” You might wonder why… Don’t we preach Christ, and him resurrected?

We do talk a lot about the resurrection of Christ – and rightly so. His resurrection gives us hope!

But Calvary wasn’t just about death and resurrection, and future hope. In order to deal with sin – all that Jesus had to do was DIE. If all he wanted to do was to forgive my sin, and give me the hope of eternal life, he could have simply taken a bullet to the head. He could have gotten it over quickly.

But he didn’t just get it over with. He died one of the slowest, most painful deaths that could be imagined. Prior to his death, he suffered unspeakably.

Here’s the amazing thing… It seems that God actually miraculously kept him alive so that he could suffer more. The night before, Jesus had experienced such emotional stress that blood had come out through the pores in his skin. He got no sleep. After his captivity, the soldiers had beaten him with rods, plucked his beard, put a crown of thorns on his head. Then there was the Roman scourging, which killed most men. After the scourging, they made him wear a heavy robe. Then they made him carry his own cross a number of miles. How Jesus survived long enough to even make it to the cross is a mystery. They nailed his hands and feet to the cross and left him in the hot sun. They doused his lacerated face with vinegar when he cried out in thirst.

If all Jesus needed to do was die and rise again to deal with the sin problem – then why did he suffer so in the process?

You see – sin did so much more than cause us to die. Sin caused us to suffer. When Adam and Eve sinned – they did not die a quick death. God allowed them to live – so that they would have opportunity to repent. But how it must have grieved him to know that Adam and Even – and all of their descendants – were going to have to live in a world that was no longer in harmony with its creator. A world that was filled with pain, conflict, stress.

You see – Isa 53:4 tells us that he not only lifted the things that were wrong – but he carried the resulting suffering as well. By dying, Jesus purchased my life in eternity. By suffering, Jesus purchased my healing while I’m still here.

• Because he died, I can face yesterday.

• Because he lives, I can face tomorrow.

• But because he suffered – I can face today!

We talk a great deal about how he saved us from sin… About how we have eternal life. But that’s only half the story. That’s only half of what Calvary is about. I want to talk about the other half of the story this morning. I’m not going to talk about why he died – I want to talk about why he didn’t die right away.

At 3:00 in the afternoon, when Jesus said “It is finished” and gave up the ghost – it was all about my sin. But in the 15 hours leading up to that moment – it was all about my healing!

But as I studied Isa 53, I realized that it is more than just a physical healing… His suffering was about giving us healings. Even in Paul’s description, he singles this gift out as plural (1 Cor 12:9, 28)

And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 1 Cor 12:28 (NKJV)

Five Healings:

"He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows"

He experienced incredible BURDEN