“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isa 53: 5
Jesus went to the cross, and his hands and feet were pierced by the nails that held him on the cross. I say “held” but of course, Jesus said to Peter when he cut off the servant’s ear, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?.” Jesus could have come down from the cross at any moment that he chose, but the most important thing to him was to do His Father’s will; go to the cross, die, and then rise three days later.
We are all sinners, as Paul put it, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”; the consequence is that we deserve the due punishment – death. And as we all know we will all die at some moment in time. This is physical death. But there is more than physical death; there is spiritual death. At the very beginning, when there was only Adam, Eve, and God, they enjoyed perfect harmony, walking together in the Garden. But tragically, Adam and Eve decided to go their own way and not follow God’s way. They ate the fruit that they were clearly told not to eat. They disobeyed God, and physical death came into existence. Both Adam and Eve died, and their children also died, and from then on everyone who has been born has died. But going back to the Garden of Eden, when they ate that fruit, God threw them out of the Garden; He threw them out of His presence. They died spiritually because the source of spiritual life was gone.
The beautiful thing about Jesus’ sacrifice was that he died on the cross for us. He died in our place. He died for the sins that we committed and will commit. He who was sinless became sinful, so we who are sinful can become sinless. Isaiah wrote, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” God sees us as sinless, spotless, without blemish. When the trumpet blasts at the Second Coming, we will all be called to give an account of ourselves. He will look at us and see if we have washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the sacrificial Lamb. He will welcome us into His presence. If we have not washed our robes, we will be thrown out of His presence, just like Adam and Eve. When Adam and Eve were thrown out of God’s presence, they lost the peace that had existed between God and mankind. Now, with Jesus’ death and resurrection that peace can be restored. We only have to look at the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross and admit that He did it for our sins, and by faith, we can be made right with God. Since God can look beyond our sins and say that we are justified – “just if I hadn’t sinned” – we will have peace with God. Paul put it nicely, “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”
In many cases, the Hebrew word rapha where we get the word “to heal” is used in the context of physical healing. God physically heals, and we see this throughout the gospels, wherever Jesus went, he healed someone. However, the word raphe is used in this verse to mean something different. It is spiritual healing, not physical healing. If we look at 1 Peter 2, we read, “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and alive for what is right. By his wounds, you are healed.” You see there is no mention of any physical healing because it's all about our relationship with God. We have already seen that God physically heals in the previous verses but in this verse, the healing is spiritual.
So, what does all this mean for us? Have you been spiritually healed? Have your friends, family, and neighbours been spiritually healed? Do you have peace within your heart? If the answer is no, to the first question, please pray a simple prayer to God. Ask God to forgive you of your sins, and place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. If your answer to the second question is no (and I think everyone will be saying no to that question) then pray to God, that God may come to our loved ones and knock on their hearts. Pray that they will have soft hearts responding positively to God’s prompting. Also, ask God to give you the words to say so that you can chat with them about our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lastly, many people can testify that they are going through the storms of life right now. All they can do right now is put one foot in front of the other. They don't have the energy to lift their head to see what tomorrow can bring because today is hard enough. Life is difficult for them. But amazingly, they can also testify that although life is hard, they have peace. They have a contentment that only God can bring. They rely utterly on God to be their rock. They have found that God has been faithful to them. God has given them the peace that passes all understanding. Of course, that is because Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
