About Jesus  -  Steve Sweetman

Wounds That Heal The Sinfully Sick  

"Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted.  From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness - only wounds like wells and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil" (Isaiah 1:5 - 6 NIV).  This passage, written in picture language, shows us how God viewed Old Testament Israel 's sinfulness.   

God's portrayal of sinfulness as a sick decrepit human body in Isaiah 1:5 and 6 is important to understanding Isaiah 52:14, 53:4 and 5.  In Isaiah 52:14 Isaiah predicted that Jesus' human form would be disfigured and marred beyond any human resemblance.  The reason for this disfigurement while on the cross is because Jesus wasn't only punished for our sins, He became our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21).  His body was riddled with sin and thus the reason for its disfigurement. 

Jesus' disfigured body predicted in Isaiah 52:14 reflects exactly the sinfully sick looking body seen in Isaiah 1:5 and 6.  Jesus' head was injured and His heart afflicted.  From the sole of His feet to the top of His head, no soundness was found.  His wounds and open sores were not cleaned or bandaged.  Isaiah thus prophesies in Isaiah 53:4 and 5 that Jesus took upon Himself the pain of our sinfulness when He was pierced for our transgressions.  His wounds have healed us, or delivered us, from our sin as was portrayed as a sickly body in Isaiah 1:5 and 6.

The Apostle Peter comments on Isaiah 53:5 in1 Peter 2:24.  He said, as did Paul, that Jesus bore our sins (became sin) while on the cross.  He then said that Jesus' wounds healed us, and in context, the word "healed" is in reference to the healing of our sins that Jesus bore on the cross, the very sins Isaiah 1:5 and 6 portrayed as a sick decrepit body.     

I am grateful that Jesus has healed me of my sinful sickness.  God Almighty now views me through the lens of Jesus and His wounded disfigured body seen on the cross.  God sees me as being perfectly right in who I am, just as He Himself is perfectly right in who He is, even though I am far from perfectly right.  I'd say that's one big miraculous healing.