Jesus was healing us by his stripes

This is a study of Jesus healing us by his stripes. He was our substitute and bore our sins and set us free.

1. JESUS WAS HEALING US BY HIS STRIPES
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE

Isaiah 53:5
5
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.

Question: "What does it mean that 'by His stripes we are healed'?"

Answer: “Stripes,” (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24) in the language of the King James Version of the
Bible, and in some others, means “wounds,” as seen in more modern translations such as the
New International Version. These stripes were administered by whipping the bare backs of
prisoners whose hands and feet were bound, rendering them helpless. The phrase “by His stripes
we are healed” refers to the punishment Jesus Christ suffered—floggings and beatings with fists
that were followed by His agonizing death on a cross—to take upon Himself all of the sins of all
people who believe Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

The whips used were made of braided leather, with pottery shards and sharp stones affixed to the
ends, which tore open the flesh of the prisoner with each cruel swing of the whip. When we
picture this terrible, inhumane form of physical punishment we recoil in horror. Yet the physical
pain and agony were not all Jesus suffered. He also had to undergo the mental anguish brought
on by the wrath of His Father, who punished Him for the sinfulness of mankind—sin carried out
in spite of God’s repeated warnings, sin that Jesus willingly took upon Himself. He paid the total
price for all of our transgressions.

Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Peter wrote, “He Himself bore our sins in His
body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have
been healed.” In Isaiah 53, Jesus’ future life on earth was foretold in the clearest of terms, to
include his eventual torture and death: “But He was pierced for our transgressions, he was
crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His
wounds (stripes) we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24).

Although these two verses are central to the topic of healing, they are often misunderstood and
misapplied. The word “healed” as translated from both Hebrew and Greek, can mean either
spiritual or physical healing. However, the contexts of Isaiah 53 and 1 Peter 2 make it clear that
they are referring to spiritual healing, not physical. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the

2. tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been
healed” (1 Peter 2:24). The verse is referring to sin and righteousness, not sickness and disease.
Therefore, being “healed” in both these verses is speaking of being forgiven and saved, not being
physically healed.
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Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Divine Atonement
Isaiah 53:5
W.M. Statham But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. We
shall never understand the atonement. From Anselm's day to our own there have been ever-
changing theories of it. But the fact remains; and, mysterious as it is, we learn that there was a
Godward aspect of it, as well as a manward aspect. But into "the cup which my Father hath given
me to drink" no man, no angel, can look.
I. THIS IS THE REVELATION OF DIVINE SACRIFICE. "He gave himself." But he was more
than wounded by the treatment of his character, and by the contempt of his claims, and by the
forsakings of his own disciples. It is not enough to say that the pride of the Jew and the scorn of
the Greek and the power of the Roman crucified him. He was "delivered up for our offences." So
here "the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
II. THIS IS THE SUBJECT OF ETERNAL SONG. Heaven rings with the grateful acclaim,
"Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,... to him be glory and
dominion for ever and ever." And the presence of the redeemed there at all is distinctly stated to
rest upon the sacrifice of Christ. Because "they have washed their robes, and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb, therefore are they before the throne of God." This, at all events, has been
the Catholic teaching of Christendom in all ages; and fill the hymnology of the Church in all its
various branches. Roman and Anglican, Lutheran and Puritan, have united in a common
adoration of the cross and passion, thus antedating the praises of eternity. - W.M.S.







Biblical Illustrator
But He was wounded for our transgressions.

3. Isaiah 53:5
The sufferings of Christ
L. D. Bevan, D. D.Three things suggest themselves as requiring explanation to one who
seriously contemplates the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ.
1. An innocent man suffers.
2. The death of Jesus is the apparent defeat and destruction of one who possessed extraordinary
and supernatural powers.
3. This apparent defeat and ruin, instead of hindering the progress of His work, became at once,
and in all the history of the progress of His doctrine has been emphatically, the instrument
whereby a world is conquered. The death of Jesus has not been mourned by His followers, has
never been concealed, but rather exulted in and prominently set forth as that to which all men
must chiefly look if they would regard Christ and His mission right. The shame and the failure
issue in glory and completest success. What is the philosophy of this? Has any ever been given
which approaches the Divinely revealed meaning supplied by our text? "He was wounded for our
transgressions," etc. We learn here —
I. THE SUFFERINGS OF JESUS CHRIST RESULTED FROM OUR SINS.
II. THE SUFFERINGS OF JESUS WHERE RELATED TO THE DIVINE LAW.
III. THE SUFFERINGS OF JESUS BECAME REMEDIAL OF HUMAN SINFULNESS.
(L. D. Bevan, D. D.)
A short catechism
J. Durham.1. What is man's condition by nature?
(1)Under transgression.
(2)Under iniquities.
(3)At feud with God.
(4)Under wounds and most loathsome diseases of a sinful nature.
2. How are folks freed from this sinful and miserable condition?
(1)In general, before the quarrel can be taken away, and their peace can. be made, there must be
a satisfaction.
(2)More particularly there must be a satisfaction, because there is the justice of God that hath a
claim by a standing law; the holiness of God, that must be vindicated; the faith of God, that must
cause to come to pass what it hath pledged itself to, as well in reference to threatening as to
promise.
3. Who maketh this satisfaction? The text says, "He" and "Him." The Messiah.
4. How does He satisfy justice?
(1)He enters Himself in our room.
(2)Christ's performance and payment of the debt according to His undertaking, implies a
covenant and transaction on which the application is founded.

4. (3)Our Lord Jesus, in fulfilling the bargain, and satisfying justice, paid a dear price: He was
wounded, bruised, suffered stripes and punishment.
5. What are the benefits that come by these sufferings?
(1)The benefits are such that if He had not suffered for us, we should have suffered all that He
suffered ourselves.
(2)More particularly we have peace and pardon. Healing.
6. To whom hath Christ procured all these good things?
(1)The elect;
(2)who are guilty of heinous sins.
7. How are these benefits derived from Christ to the sinner?
(1)Justly and in a legal way;
(2)freely.
(J. Durham.)
Sin
B. J. Gibbon.Verses 5 and 6 are remarkable for the numerous and diversified references to sin
which they make. Within the short compass of two verses that sad fact is referred to no less than
six times, and on each occasion a different figure is used to describe it. It is transgression — the
crossing of a boundary and trespassing upon forbidden land. It is iniquity — the want of equity:
the absence of just dealing. It is the opposite of Peace — the root of discord and enmity between
us and God. It is a disease of the spirit — difficult to heal. It is a foolish and wilful wandering,
like that of a stray sheep. And it is a heavy burden, which crushes him on whom it lies. So many
and serious are the aspects of sin.
(B. J. Gibbon.)
The sufferings of Christ
D. Dickson, D.D.I. ATTEND TO THE SUFFERINGS OF THE SON OF GOD, as described in
the text. The sufferings of the Saviour are described in the Scriptures with simplicity and
grandeur combined. Nothing can add to the solemnity and force of the exhibition.
1. The prophet tells us that the Son of God was "wounded." The Hebrew word here translated
"wounded," signifies to run through with a sword or some sharp weapon, and, as here used,
seems to refer to those painful wounds which our Lord received at the time of His crucifixion.
2. The prophet tells us that the Son of God was "bruised." This expression seems to have a
reference to the labours, afflictions, and sorrows which our blessed Lord sustained, especially in
the last scenes of His life.
3. The prophet tells us that the Son of God bore chastisements and stripes.
II. CONSIDER THE PROCURING CAUSE OF THE SUFFERINGS OF THE SON OF GOD.
"Our transgressions." "Our iniquities."
III. ATTEND TO THE GRACIOUS DESIGN AND HAPPY EFFECTS OF THE SUFFERINGS
OF THE SON OF GOD. "The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we
are healed."

5. 1. One gracious design and blessed effect of the sufferings of the Son of God was to procure for
us reconciliation with God.
2. The renovating of our nature.
(D. Dickson, D.D.)
Substitution
C. Clemance, D. D.There is no more remarkable language than this in the whole of the Word of
God. It is so clear a statement of the doctrine of the substitution of the innocent for the guilty,
that we do not hesitate to say, no words could teach it if it be not taught here. We are distinctly
told —
I. THAT THERE BELONGS TO US A SAD AND GRIEVOUS WEIGHT OF SIN. There are
three terms expressive of what belong to us: "our transgressions," "our iniquities," "gone astray."
These three phrases have indeed a common feature; they all indicate what is wrong — even sin,
though they represent the wrong in different aspects.
1. "Transgressions." The word thus translated indicates sin in one or other of three forms —
either that of missing the mark through aimlessness, or carelessness, or a wrong aim; or of
coming short, when, though the work may be right in its direction, it does not come up to the
standard; or of crossing a boundary and going over to the wrong side of a line altogether. In all
these forms our sins have violated the holy law of God.
2. "Iniquities." This word also has reference to moral law as the standard of duty. The Hebrew
word is from a root which signifies "to bend," "to twist," and refers to the tortuous, crooked,
winding ways of men when they conform to no standard at all save that suggested by their own
fancies or conceits, and so walk "according to the course of this world."
3. The third phrase has reference rather to the God of Law, than to the law of God, and to Him in
His relation to us of Lord, Leader, Shepherd, and Guide. There is not only the infringement of
the great law of right, but also universal neglect and abandonment of Divine leadership and love;
and as the result of this, grievous mischief is sure to follow. "Like the sheep," they find their way
out easily enough; they go wandering over "the dark mountains," each one to "his own way," but
of themselves they can never find the way home again. And so far does this wandering
propensity increase in force, that men come to think there is no home for them; the loving
concern of God for the wanderers is disbelieved, and the Supreme Being is regarded in the light
of a terrible Judge eager to inflict retribution. And all this is a pressure on God. He misses the
wanderers. And through the prophet, the Spirit of God would let men know that the wanderings
of earth are the care of Heaven. Nor let us fail to note that in these verses there is an entirely
different aspect of human nature and action from that presented in the verse preceding. There,
the expressions were "our griefs," "our sorrows." Here, they are "our transgressions," etc. Griefs
and sorrows are not in themselves violations of moral law, though they may be the results of
them, and though every violation of moral law may lead to sorrow. Still they must not be
confounded, though inseparably connected. Grief may solicit pity: wrong incurs penalty. And the
sin is ours. The evil is wide as the race. Each one's sin is a personal one: "Every one to his own
way." Sin is thus at once collective and individual. No one can charge the guilt of his own sin on
any one else. On whom or on what will he cast the blame? On influences? But it was for him to
resist and not to yield. On temptation? But temptation cannot force. In the judgment of God each
one's sin is his own.

6. II. THIS SERVANT OF GOD BEING LADEN WITH OUR SINS, SHARES OUR HERITAGE
OF WOE. How remarkable is the antithesis here — Transgressions; iniquities; wanderings, are
ours. Wounds; bruises; chastisements; stripes, are His. There is also a word indicating the
connection between the two sides of the antithesis, "wounded for our transgressions" — on
account of them; but if this were all the explanation given, it might mean no more than that the
Messiah would feel so grieved at them that they would bruise or wound Him. But there is a far
fuller and clearer expression: "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." This expression
fixes the sense in which the Messiah was wounded and bruised on our account. In pondering
over this, let us work our way step by step.
1. The inflexibility of the moral law and the absolute righteousness and equity of the Lawgiver in
dealing with sin are thoughts underlying the whole of this chapter. The most high God is indeed
higher than law; and though He never violates law, He may, out of the exuberance of His own
love, do more than law requires, and may even cease to make law the rule of His action. But
even when that is the ease, and He acts χωρὶς νόμου ("apart from law," Romans 3:21), while He
manifests the infinite freedom of a God to do whatsoever he pleaseth, He will also show to the
world that His law must be honoured in the penalties inflicted for its violation. This is indicated
in the words, "The Lord hath laid on Him," etc. Nor ought any one for a moment to think of this
as "exaction." Exactness is not exactingness; it would not be called so, nor would the expression
be tolerated if applied to a judge who forbade the dishonouring of a national law, or to a father
who would not suffer the rules of his house to be broken with impunity.
2. It is revealed to us that in the mission of this servant of Jehovah, the Most High would act on
the principle of substitution. When a devout Hebrew read the words we are now expounding, the
image of the scapegoat would at once present itself to him.
3. The Messiah was altogether spotless; He fulfilled the ideal typified by the precept that the
sacrificial lamb was to be without blemish. Being the absolutely sinless One, He was fitted to
stand in a relation to sin and sinners which no being who was tainted with sin could possibly
have occupied.
4. The twofold nature of the Messiah — He being at once the Son of God and Son of man,
qualified Him to stand in a double relation; — as the Son of God, to be Heaven's representative
on earth — as the Son of man, to be earth's representative to Heaven. Thus, His offering of
Himself was God's own sacrifice (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10; Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19), and
yet, in another sense, it was man's own sacrifice (2 Corinthians 5:14, 21; Galatians 3:13).
5. By His incarnation, Christ came and stood in such alliance with our race, that what belonged
to the race belonged to Him, as inserted into it, and representative of it. We need not use any
such expression as this — "Christ was punished for our sin." That would be wrong. But sin was
condemned in and through Christ, through His taking on Himself the liabilities of a world, as
their one representative Man who would stand in their stead; and by the self-abandonment of an
unparalleled love, would let the anguish of sin's burden fall on His devoted head. Paul, in his
Epistle to Philemon pleads for Onesimus thus, "If he hath wronged thee or oweth thee ought, put
that to my account." So the Son of God has accepted our liabilities. Only thus can we explain
either the strong language of the prophecy, or the mysterious sorrow of Christ depicted in the
Gospel history. On whatever grounds sin's punishment was necessary had there been no
atonement, on precisely those grounds was an atonement necessary to free the sinner from
deserved punishment. This gracious work was in accord with the appointment of the Father and
with the will of the Son.

7. 6. Though the law is honoured in this substitution of another for us, yet the substitution itself
does not belong to law, but to love! Grace reigns; law is not trifled with; it is not infringed on:
nay, it is "established."
III. CHRIST HAVING ACCEPTED OUR HERITAGE OF WOE, WE RECEIVE THROUGH
HIM A HERITAGE OF PEACE.
(C. Clemance, D. D.)
Vicarious suffering
J. Stalker, D.D.In a large family of evil-doers, where the father and mother are drunkards, the
sons jail-birds and the daughters steeped in shame, there may be one, a daughter, pure, sensible,
sensitive, living in the home of sin like a lily among thorns. And she makes all the sin of the
family her own. The others do not mind it; the shame of their sin is nothing to them; it is the talk
of the town, but they do not care. Only in her heart their crimes and disgrace meet like a sheaf of
spears, piercing and mangling. The one innocent member of the family bears the guilt of all the
rest. Even their cruelty to herself she hides, as if all the shame of it were her own. Such a
position did Christ hold in the human family. He entered it voluntarily, becoming bone of our
bone and flesh of our flesh; He identified Himself with it; He was the sensitive centre of the
whole. He gathered into His heart the shame and guilt of all the sin He saw. The perpetrators did
not feel it, but He felt it. It crushed Him; it broke His heart.
(J. Stalker, D.D.)
With His stripes we are healed
The disease of sinI. IT IS A WASTING DISEASE; it bringeth the soul into a languishing
condition, and wasteth the strength of it (Romans 5:6). Sin hath weakened the soul in all the
faculties of it, which all may discern and observe in themselves.
II. IT IS A PAINFUL DISEASE, it woundeth the spirit (Proverbs 18:14). Greatness of mind may
support us under a wounded body, but when there is a breach made upon the conscience, what
can relieve us then? But you will say, They that are most infected with sin feel little of this; how
is it then so painful a disease?
1. If they feel it not, the greater is their danger; for stupid diseases are the worst, and usually
most mortal.
2. The soul of a sinner never sits so easy but that he has his qualms and pangs of conscience, and
that sometimes in the midst of jollity; as was the case of Belshazzar, while carousing in the cups
of the temple.
3. Though they feel not the diseases now, they shall hereafter.
III. IT IS A LOATHSOME DISEASE.
IV. IT IS AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE. Sin cometh into the world by propagation rather than
imitation: yet imitation and example hath a great force upon the soul.
V. IT IS A MORTAL DISEASE, if we continue in it without repentance.
( T. Manton, D.D.)
Recovery by Christ's stripes1. None but Christ can cure us, for He is the Physician of souls.

8. 2. Christ cureth us not by doctrine and example only, but by merit and suffering. We are healed
by "His stripes."
3. Christ's merit and sufferings do effect our cure, as they purchased the Spirit for us, who
reneweth and healeth our sick souls (Titus 3:5, 6).
( T. Manton, D.D.)
Healed by Christ's stripes
J. Benson, D.D."With His stripes we are healed." We are healed — of our inattention and
unconcern about Divine things. Of our ignorance and unbelief respecting these things. Of the
disease of self-righteousness and self-confidence. Of our love to sin, and commission of it. Of
our love to the riches, honours and pleasures of this world. Of our self-indulgence and self-
seeking. Of our lukewarmness and sloth. Of our cowardice and fear of suffering (1 Peter 4:1). Of
our diffidence and distrust, with respect to the mercy of God, and His pardoning and accepting
the penitent. Of an accusing conscience, and slavish fear of God, and of death and hell. Of our
general depravity and corruption of nature. Of our weakness and inability; His sufferings having
purchased for us "the Spirit of might." Of our distresses and misery, both present and future.
(J. Benson, D.D.)
His stripes
B. J. Gibbon.This chapter is not mainly an indictment. It is a Gospel. It declares in glad while
solemn language that, terrible as sin is, it has been dealt with. The prophet dwells purposely upon
the varied manifestations of the evil in order to emphasize the varied forms and absolute
completeness of its conquest. He prolongs the agony that he may prolong the rapture.
I. OUR NEED OF HEALING. There is no figure which more aptly represents the serious nature
and terrible consequences of sin than this one of bodily sickness. We know how it prostrates us,
takes the brightness out of life, and, unless attended to, cuts life short. Sickness in its acutest
form is a type in the body of sin in the soul. Sin is a mortal disease of the spirit. A common
Scriptural emblem for it, found in both Old and New Testaments, is leprosy — the most frightful
disease imaginable, loathsome to the observer and intolerably painful to the sufferer, attacking
successively and rotting every limb of the body, and issuing slowly but certainly in death.
1. It is complicated. It affects every part of the moral being. It is blindness to holiness, and
deafness to the appeals of God. There is a malady known as ossification of the heart, by which
the living and beating heart is slowly turned to a substance like bone. It is a type of the complaint
of the sinner. His heart is hard and impenitent. He suffers, too, from the fever of unhallowed
desire. The lethargy of spiritual indifference is one of his symptoms; a depraved appetite, by
which he tries to feed his immortal soul on husks, is another; while his whole condition is one of
extreme debility — absence of strength to do right. In another part .of the book our prophet
diagnoses more thoroughly the disease of which he here speaks (Isaiah 1:5, 6). No hospital
contains a spectacle so sickening and saddening as the unregenerate human heart.
2. The disease is universal. "There is none righteous; no, not one." What the Bible declares,
experience confirms. The ancient world, speaking through a noble literature that has come down
to us, confesses many times the condition expressed by Ovid, "I see and approve the better
things, while I follow those which are worse." Christendom finds its mouthpiece in the apostle
Paul, who, speaking of himself apart from the help of Christ, mournfully says, "When I would do
good, evil is present with me." And modern culture reveals its deepest consciousness in the

9. words of Lowell, the ambassador-poet, "In my own heart I find the worst man's mate." It is a
feature of the malady that the patient is often insensible to it. But from every lip there is at least
occasional confession of some of its symptoms. There is discomfort in the conscience; there is
dissatisfaction at the heart; and there is dread in the face of death and the unknown beyond. The
Scriptures are the Rontgen rays of God, and their searching light reveals behind an uneasy
conscience, behind a dissatisfied heart, behind the fear of death, behind all the sorrows and evils
of life, that which is their rimary cause — the malady of sin.
3. This disease is incurable — that is, apart from the healing described in the text. "The end of
these things is death" — spiritual death; insensibility to God, and absence of the life of
fellowship with Him which is life indeed — physical death, in so far as that natural process is
more than mere bodily dissolution, and is a fearful and hopeless leap into the dark; for "the sting
of death is sin" — and eternal death. Men are great at quack remedies, and the world is equally
flooded with nostrums for the disease of sin. And what is the result of these loudly-hawked
specifics? They are as useless as the charms which our grandmothers used to scare away
diseases. The Physician is He who gave His back to the smiters; the balm is the blood which
flowed from "His stripes."
II. OUR MEANS OF HEALING. "With His stripes." "Stripes" does not mean the lashes that fell
on His back, but the weals which they left. We remember how He "suffered under Pontius
Pilate" before He "was crucified, dead and buried." His back was bared, His hands were tied to a
low post, and a coarse, muscular giant flourished a whip above Him. It was a diabolical
instrument, that Roman whip — made of leather with many thongs, and in the end of each of
them a piece of iron, or bone, or stone. Every stroke fetched blood and ripped open the quivering
flesh. The Jewish law forbade more than forty stripes being given, but Christ was scourged by
Romans, who recognized no such merciful limit. But as we know that Pilate intended the
scourging to be a substitute for crucifixion, and hoped that its severity would so melt the Jews to
pity that they would not press for the worse punishment — which end, however, was not reached
— we may infer that He was scourged until He could bear no more, until He could not stand,
until He fell mangled and fainting at His torturer's feet. Nearly two thousand years have passed
since that awful affliction, but its significance is eternal. But how can the sufferings of one
alleviate the sufferings of another?
1. Because the sight of them moves us to sorrow. There are certain maladies of the mind and
heart for which there is hope if the emotions can be stirred and the patient made to laugh or cry.
There is hope for the sinner when the thought of his sin melts his heart to sorrow and his eyes to
tears. Sorrow for sin — repentance of wrong-doing — is the first stage in recovery. And there is
nothing that will cause penitence like a sight of the Saviour's wounds.
2. The sight of them relieves our consciences. For as we look at those livid weals we know He
did not deserve them. We know that we did merit punishment direr far. And we know that He
endured them, and more mysterious agonies of which they were the outward sign, in our stead.
Then, gradually, we draw the inference. If He suffered for us, we are free. If our load was laid on
Him, it is no longer upon us. Conscience accepts that logic.
3. The sight of them prevents further outbreaks. This cure is radical. It not only heals, it also
strengthens. It gradually raises the system above its tendency to sin. For the more we gaze upon
those livid stripes, the more intolerable and hateful sin, which caused them, appears, and the
more difficult it becomes for us to indulge in it. Our medicine is also a strong tonic, which
invigorates the spiritual nature and fortifies its weaknesses. Stanley, in one of his books on

10. African travel, tells of the crime of Uledi, his native coxswain, and what came of it. Ulodi was
deservedly popular for his ability and courage, but having robbed his master, a jury of his fellows
condemned him to receive "a terrible flogging." Then uprose his brother, Shumari, who said,
"Uledi has done very wrong; but no one can accuse me of wrong-doing. Now, mates, let me take
half the whipping. I will cheerfully endure it for the sake of my brother." Scarcely had he
finished when another arose, and said, "Uledi has been the father of the boat boys. He has many
times risked his life to save others; and he is my cousin; and yet he ought to be punished.
Shumari says he will take half the punishment; and now let me take the other half, and let Uledi
go free." Surely the heart of the guilty man must have been touched, and the willing submission
by others to the punishment he had merited must have restrained him from further outbreaks as
the strict infliction of the original penalty never could. By those stripes he would be healed. Even
so, the stripes of our Lord deliver us from the very tendency to sin. For the disease to be healed
the medicine must be taken. Our very words "recipe" and "receipt" remind, us of this. They are
related, and signify "to take." The selfsame word describes the means of cure, and commands
that it be used. Look upon His wounds! And let those of us who have looked for our cure, still
look for our strengthening. We should not have so many touches of the old complaint if we
thought oftener of the stripes by which we are healed. Look all through life, and you will grow
stronger and holier.
(B. J. Gibbon.)
The universal remedyNot merely His bleeding wounds, but even those blue bruises of His flesh
help to heal us. There are none quite free from spiritual diseases. One may be saying, "Mine is a
weak faith;" another may confess, "Mine is distracted thoughts;" another may exclaim, "Mine is
coldness of love;" and a fourth may have to lament his powerlessness in prayer. One remedy in
natural things will not suffice for all diseases; but there is a catholicon, a universal remedy,
provided in the Word of God for all spiritual sicknesses, and that is contained in the few words
— "With His stripes we are healed."
I. THE MEDICINE ITSELF WHICH IS HERE PRESCRIBED — the stripes of Our Saviour. By
the term "stripes," no doubt the prophet understood here, first, literally, those stripes which fell
upon our Lord's shoulders when He was beaten of the Jews, and afterwards scourged of the
Roman soldiery. But the words intend far more than this. No doubt with his prophetic eye Isaiah
saw the stripes from that unseen scourge held in the Father's hand which fell upon his nobler
inner nature when His soul was scourged for sin. It is by these that our souls are healed. "But
why?" First, then, because our Lord, as a sufferer, was not a private person, but suffered as a
public individual and an appointed representative. Our Lord was not merely man, or else his
sufferings could not have availed for the multitude who now are healed thereby. He was God as
well as man. Our Saviour's sufferings heal us of the curse by being presented before God as a
substitute for what we owe to His Divine law. But healing is a work that is carried on within, and
the text rather leads me to speak of the effect of the stripes of Christ upon our characters and
natures than upon the result prodeced in our position before God.
II. THE MATCHLESS CURES WROUGHT BY THIS REMARKABLE MEDICINE. Look at
two pictures. Look at man without the stricken Saviour; and then behold man with the Saviour,
healed by His stripes.
III. THE MALADIES WHICH THIS WONDROUS MEDICINE REMOVES.
1. The mania of despair.

11. 2. The stony heart.
3. The paralysis of doubt.
4. A stiffness of the knee-joint of prayer.
5. Numbness of soul.
6. The fever of pride.
7. The leprosy of selfishness.
8. Anger.
9. The fretting consumption of worldliness.
10. The cancer of covetousness.
IV. THE CURATIVE PROPERTIES OF THE MEDICINE.
1. It arrests spiritual disorder.
2. It quickens all the powers of the spiritual man to resist the disease.
3. It restores to the man that which he lost in strength by sin.
4. It soothes the agony of conviction.
5. It has an eradicating power as to sin.
V. THE MODES OF THE WORKING OF THIS MEDICINE. The sinner hearing of the death of
the incarnate God is led by the force of truth and the power of the Holy Spirit to believe in the
incarnate God. The cure is already begun. After faith come gratitude, love, obedience.
VI. ITS REMARKABLY EASY APPLICATION.
VII. Since the medicine is so efficacious, since it is already prepared and freely presented, I do
beseech you TAKE IT. Take it, you who have known its power in years gone by. Let not
backslidings continue, but come to His stripes afresh. Take it, ye doubters, lest ye sink into
despair; come to His stripes anew. Take it, ye who are beginning to be self-confident and proud.
And, O ye who have never believed in Him, come and trust in Him, and you shall live.
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
A simple remedyI. THESE ARE SAD WORDS. They are part of a mournful piece of music,
which might be called "the requiem of the Messiah."
1. These are sad words because they imply disease.
2. There is a second sorrow in the verse, and that is sorrow for the suffering by which we are
healed. There was a cruel process in the English navy, in which-men were made to run the
gauntlet all along the ship, with sailors on each side, each man being bound to give a stroke to
the poor victim as he ran along. Our Saviour's life was a running of the gauntlet between His
enemies and His friends, who all struck Him, one here and another there. Satan, too, struck at
him.
II. THESE ARE GLAD WORDS.
1. Because they speak of healing.
2. There is another joy in the text — joy in the honour which it brings to Christ.

12. III. THESE ARE SUGGESTIVE WORDS. Whenever a man is healed through the stripes of
Jesus, the instincts of his nature should make him say, "I will spend the strength I have, as a
healed man, for Him who healed me."
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
ChristopathyI. GOD HERE TREATS SIN AS A DISEASE. Sin is a disease —
1. Because it is not an essential part of man as he was created. It is something abnormal.
2. Because it puts all the faculties out of gear.
3. Because it weakens the moral energy, just as many diseases weaken the sick person's body.
4. Because it either causes great pain, or deadens all sensibility, as the case may be.
5. Because it frequently produces a manifest pollution.
6. Because it tends to increase in the man, and will one day prove fatal to him.
II. GOD HERE DECLARES THE REMEDY WHICH HE HAS PROVIDED.
1. Behold the heavenly medicine.
2. Remember that the sufferings of Christ were vicarious.
2. Accept this atonement and you are saved by it.
4. Let nothing of your own interfere with the Divine remedy. Prayer does not heal, but it asks for
the remedy. It is not trust that heals; that is man s application of the remedy. Repentance is not
what cures, it is a part of the cure, one of the first tokens that the blessed medicine has begun to
work in the soul. The healing of a sinner does not lie in himself, nor in what he is, nor in what he
feels, nor in what he does, nor in what he vows, nor in what he promises. It is in His stripes that
the healing lies.
III. THE REMEDY IS IMMEDIATELY EFFECTIVE. How are we healed?
1. Our conscience is healed of every smart.
2. Our heart is healed of its love of sin.
3. Our life is healed of its rebellion.
4. Our consciousness assures us that we are healed. If you are healed by His stripes you should
go and live like healthy men.
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
Healed by Christ's stripesMr. Mackay, of Hull, told of a person who was under very deep
concern of soul. Taking the Bible into his hand, he said to himself, "Eternal life is to be found
somewhere in this Word of God; and, if it be here, I will find it, for I will read the Book right
through, praying to God over every page of it, if perchance it may contain some saving message
for me." The earnest seeker read on through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and so on; and though
Christ is there very evidently, he could not find Him in the types and symbols. Neither did the
holy histories yield him comfort, nor the Book of Job. He passed through the Psalms, but did not
find his Saviour there; and the same was the case with the other books till he reached Isaiah. In
this prophet he read on till near the end, and then in the fifty-third chapter, these words arrested
his delighted attention, "With His stripes we are healed." Now I have found it, says he. Here is

13. the healing that I need for my sin-sick soul, and I see how it comes to me through the sufferings
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be His name, I am healed!"
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
Self-sufficiency prevents healingI saw a pedlar one day, as I was walking out; he was selling
walkingsticks. He followed me, and offered me one of the sticks. I showed him mine — a far
better one than any he had to sell — and he withdrew at once. He could see that I was not likely
to be a purchaser. I have often thought of that when I have been preaching: I show men the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus, but they show me their own, and all hope of dealing with them
is gone. Unless I can prove that their righteousness is worthless, they will not seek the
righteousness which is of God by faith. Oh, that the Lord would show you your disease, and then
you would desire the remedy!
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
Sin deadens sensibilityIt frequently happens that, the more sinful a man is, the less he is
conscious of it. It was remarked of a certain notorious criminal that many thought him innocent
because, when he was charged with murder, he did not betray the least emotion. In that wretched
self-possession there was to my mind presumptive proof of his great familiarity with trims; if an
innocent person is charged with a great offence, the mere charge horrifies him.
( C. H. Spurgeon.)


COMMENTARIES

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(5) He was wounded . . .—Bruised. Both words refer
to the death which crowned the sufferings of the Servant. That also was vicarious.
The chastisement of our peace—i.e., the punishment which leads to peace, that word including,
as elsewhere, every form of blessing. (Comp. the “reproof of life” in Proverbs 15:31.) In
Hebrews 2:10; Hebrews 5:8-9, we have the thought which is the complement of this, that the
chastisement was also an essential condition of the perfection of the sufferer.
With his stripes we are healed.—The words stretch wide and deep. Perhaps the most touching
application is St. Peter’s use of them as a thought of comfort for the slaves who were scourged as
He, their Lord, had been (1Peter 2:24).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary53:4-9 In these verses is an account of the sufferings of
Christ; also of the design of his sufferings. It was for our sins, and in our stead, that our Lord
Jesus suffered. We have all sinned, and have come short of the glory of God. Sinners have their
beloved sin, their own evil way, of which they are fond. Our sins deserve all griefs and sorrows,
even the most severe. We are saved from the ruin, to which by sin we become liable, by laying

14. our sins on Christ. This atonement was to be made for our sins. And this is the only way of
salvation. Our sins were the thorns in Christ's head, the nails in his hands and feet, the spear in
his side. He was delivered to death for our offences. By his sufferings he purchased for us the
Spirit and grace of God, to mortify our corruptions, which are the distempers of our souls. We
may well endure our lighter sufferings, if He has taught us to esteem all things but loss for him,
and to love him who has first loved us.
Barnes' Notes on the BibleBut he was wounded - Margin, 'Tormented.' Jerome and the
Septuagint also render this, 'He was wounded.' Junius and Tremellius, 'He was affected with
grief.' The Chaldee has given a singular paraphrase of it, showing how confused was the view of
the whole passage in the mind of that interpreter. 'And he shall build the house of the sanctuary
which was defiled on account of our sins, and which was delivered on account of our iniquities.
And in his doctrine, peace shall be multiplied to us. And when we obey his words, our sins shall
be remitted to us.' The Syriac renders it in a remarkable manner, 'He is slain on account of our
sins,' thus showing that it was a common belief that the Messiah would be violently put to death.
The word rendered 'wounded' (ממלל mecholâl), is a Pual participle, from ממל châlal, to bore
through, to perforate, to pierce; hence, to wound 1 Samuel 31:3; 1 Chronicles 10:3; Ezekiel 28:9.
There is probably the idea of painful piercing, and it refers to some infliction of positive wounds
on the body, and not to mere mental sorrows, or to general humiliation. The obvious idea would
be that there would be some act of piercing, some penetrating wound that would endanger or
take life. Applied to the actual sufferings of the Messiah, it refers undoubtedly to the piercing of
his hands, his feet, and his side. The word 'tormented,' in the margin, was added by our
translators because the Hebrew word might be regarded as derived from מול chûl, to writhe, to be
tormented, to be pained - a word not unfrequently applied to the pains of parturition. But it is
probable that it is rather to be regarded as derived from ממל châlal, "to pierce, or to wound."
For our transgressions - The prophet here places himself among the people for whom the
Messiah suffered these things, and says that he was not suffering for his own sins, but on account
of theirs. The preposition 'for' (לן min) here answers to the Greek διά dia, on account of, and
denotes the cause for which he suffered and means, even according to Gesenius (Lex.), here, 'the
ground or motive on account of, or because of which anything is done.' Compare Deuteronomy
7:7; Judges 5:11; Esther 5:9; Psalm 68:30; Sol 3:8. It is strikingly parallel to the passage in
Romans 4:25 : 'Who was delivered for (διά dia) our offences.' Compare 2 Corinthians 5:21;
Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 2:24. Here the sense is, that the reason why he thus suffered was, that we
were transgressors. All along the prophet keeps up the idea that it was not on account of any sin
of which he was guilty that he thus suffered, but it was for the sins of others - an idea which is
everywhere exhibited in the New Testament.
He was bruised - The word used here (דכא dâkâ') means properly to be broken to pieces, to be
bruised, to be crushed Job 6:9; Psalm 72:4. Applied to mind, it means to break down or crush by
calamities and trials; and by the use of the word here, no doubt, the most severe inward and
outward sufferings are designated. The Septuagint renders it, Μεμαλάκιστα Memalakista - 'He
was rendered languid,' or feeble. The same idea occurs in the Syriac translation. The meaning is,
that he was under such a weight of sorrows on account of our sins, that he was, as it were,
crushed to the earth. How true this was of the Lord Jesus it is not necessary here to pause to
show.
The chastisement of our peace - That is, the chastisement by which our peace is effected or
secured was laid upon him; or, he took it upon himself,' and bore it, in order that we might have

15. peace. Each word here is exceedingly important, in order to a proper estimate of the nature of the
work performed by the Redeemer. The word 'chastisement' (מוּסל mûsâr), properly denotes the
correction, chastisement, or punishment inflicted by parents on their children, designed to amend
their faults Proverbs 22:15; Proverbs 23:13. It is applied also to the discipline and authority of
kings Job 22:18; and to the discipline or correction of God Job 5:17; Hosea 5:2. Sometimes it
means admonition or instruction, such as parents give to children, or God to human beings. It is
well rendered by the Septuagint by Παιδεία Paideia; by Jerome, Disciplina. The word does not of
necessity denote punishment, though it is often used in that sense.
It is properly that which corrects, whether it be by admonition, counsel, punishment, or suffering.
Here it cannot properly mean punishment - for there is no punishment where there is no guilt,
and the Redeemer had done no sin; but it means that he took upon himself the sufferings which
would secure the peace of those for whom he died - those which, if they could have been
endured by themselves, would have effected their peace with God. The word peace means
evidently their peace with God; reconciliation with their Creator. The work of religion in the soul
is often represented as peace; and the Redeemer is spoken of as the great agent by whom that is
secured. 'For he is our peace' (Ephesians 2:14-15, Ephesians 2:17; compare Acts 10:36; Romans
5:1; Romans 10:15). The phrase 'upon him,' means that the burden by which the peace of people
was effected was laid upon him, and that he bore it. It is parallel with the expressions which
speak of his bearing it, carrying it, etc. And the sense of the whole is, that he endured the
sorrows, whatever they were, which were needful to secure our peace with God.
And with his stripes - Margin, 'Bruise.' The word used here in Hebrew (חמורל chabbûrâh) means
properly stripe, weal, bruise, that is, the mark or print of blows on the skin. Greek Μώλωπι
Mōlōpi; Vulgate, Livore. On the meaning of the Hebrew word, see the notes at Isaiah 1:6. It
occurs in the following places, and is translated by stripe, and stripes (Exodus 21:25, bis); bruises
Isaiah 1:6; hurt Genesis 4:23; blueness Proverbs 20:30; wounds Psalm 38:5; and spots, as of a
leopard Jeremiah 13:23. The proper idea is the weal or wound made by bruising; the mark
designated by us when we speak of its being 'black and blue.' It is not a flesh wound; it does not
draw blood; but the blood and other humors are collected under the skin. The obvious and
natural idea conveyed by the word here is, that the individual referred to would be subjected to
some treatment that would cause such a weal or stripe; that is, that he would be beaten, or
scourged. How literally this was applicable to the Lord Jesus, it is unnecessary to attempt to
prove (see Matthew 27:26). It may be remarked here, that this could not be mere conjecture How
could Isaiah, seven hundred years before it occurred, conjecture that the Messiah would be
scourged and bruised? It is this particularity of prediction, compared with the literal fulfillment,
which furnishes the fullest demonstration that the prophet was inspired. In the prediction nothing
is vague and general. All is particular and minute, as if he saw what was done, and the
description is as minutely accurate as if he was describing what was actually occurring before his
eyes.
We are healed - literally, it is healed to us; or healing has happened to us. The healing here
referred to, is spiritual healing, or healing from sin. Pardon of sin, and restoration to the favor of
God, are not unfrequently represented as an act of healing. The figure is derived from the fact
that awakened and convicted sinners are often represented as crushed, broken, bruised by the
weight of their transgressions, and the removal of the load of sin is repesented as an act of
healing. 'I said, O Lord, be merciful unto me; heal my soul, for I have sinned againt thee' Psalm
41:4. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed'

16. Psalm 6:2. 'Who forgiveth all thine, iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases Psalm 103:3. The
idea here is, that the Messiah would be scourged; and that it would be by that scourging that
health would be imparted to our souls.
It would be in our place, and in our stead; and it would be designed to have the same effect in
recovering us, as though it had been inflicted on ourselves. And will it not do it? Is it not a fact
that it has such an effect? Is not a man as likely to be recovered from a course of sin and folly,
who sees another suffer in his place what he ought himself to suffer, as though he was punished
himself? Is not a wayward and dissipated son quite as likely to be recovered to a course of virtue
by seeing the sufferings which his career of vice causes to a father, a mother, or a sister, as
though he himself When subjected to severe punishment? When such a son sees that he is
bringing down the gray hairs of his father with sorrow to the grave; when he sees that he is
breaking the heart of the mother that bore him; when he sees a sister bathed in tears, or in danger
of being reduced to poverty or shame by his course, it will be far more likely to reclaim him than
would be personal suffering, or the prospect of poverty, want, and an early death. And it is on
this principle that the plan of salvation is founded. We shall be more certainly reclaimed by the
voluntary sufferings of the innocent in our behalf, than we should be by being personally
punished. Punishment would make no atonement, and would bring back no sinner to God. But
the suffering of the Redeemer in behalf of mankind is adapted to save the world, and will in fact
arrest, reclaim, and redeem all who shall ever enter into heaven.
(Sin is not only a crime for which we were condemned to die, and which Christ purchased for us
the pardon of, but it is a disease which tends directly to the death of our souls, and which Christ
provided for the cure of. By his stripes, that is, the sufferings he underwent, he purchased for us
the Spirit and grace of God, to mortify our corruptions, which are the distempers of our souls;
and to put our souls in a good state of health, that they may be fit to serve God, and prepare to
enjoy him. And by the doctrine of Christ's cross, and the powerful arguments it furnisheth us
with against sin, the dominion of sin is broken in us, and we are fortified against that which feeds
the disease - Henry.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary5. wounded—a bodily wound; not mere mental
sorrow; literally, "pierced"; minutely appropriate to Messiah, whose hands, feet, and side were
pierced (Ps 22:16). The Margin, wrongly, from a Hebrew root, translates, "tormented."
for … for—(Ro 4:25; 2Co 5:21; Heb 9:28; 1Pe 2:24; 3:18)—the cause for which He suffered not
His own, but our sins.
bruised—crushing inward and outward suffering (see on [853]Isa 53:10).
chastisement—literally, the correction inflicted by a parent on children for their good (Heb 12:5-
8, 10, 11). Not punishment strictly; for this can have place only where there is guilt, which He
had not; but He took on Himself the chastisement whereby the peace (reconciliation with our
Father; Ro 5:1; Eph 2:14, 15, 17) of the children of God was to be effected (Heb 2:14).
upon him—as a burden; parallel to "hath borne" and "carried."
stripes—minutely prophetical of His being scourged (Mt 27:26; 1Pe 2:24).
healed—spiritually (Ps 41:4; Jer 8:22).
Matthew Poole's CommentaryBut; but this was a most false and unrighteous sentence.

He was wounded; which word comprehends all his pains and punishments, and his death among

17. and above the rest.

For our transgressions; not by them, which is expressed by another particle, not by the
wickedness of the Jews; but for or because of them, as this particle commonly signifies, for the
guilt of their sins, which he had voluntarily taken upon himself, and for the expiation of their
sins, which was hereby purchased and procured of God for men. Which interpretation is
confirmed,

1. By the opposition of this truth to the false opinion mentioned in the foregoing clause, that he
was smitten of God for the guilt of his own sins.

2. By the following clause, as we shall see.

3. By the nature of the thing; this being evident from scriptures both from the Old and New
Testament, that Christ was not to suffer for his own, but for other men’s sins. See Daniel 9:24,26.

The chastisement of our peace; those punishments by which our peace, i.e. our reconciliation to
God, and salvation, or happiness, was to be purchased.

Was upon him; was laid upon him by God’s justice with his own consent.

With his stripes we are healed; by his sufferings we are saved from our sins, and from the
dreadful effects thereof.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleBut he was wounded for our transgressions,.... Not for any
sins of his own, but for ours, for our rebellions against God, and transgressions of his law, in
order to make atonement and satisfaction for them; these were the procuring and meritorious
causes of his sufferings and death, as they were taken upon him by him to answer for them to
divine justice, which are meant by his being wounded; for not merely the wounds he received in
his hands, feet, and side, made by the nails and spear, are meant, but the whole of his sufferings,
and especially his being wounded to death, and which was occasionally by bearing the sins of his
people; and hereby he removed the guilt from them, and freed them from the punishment due
unto them:
he was bruised for our iniquities; as bread corn is bruised by threshing it, or by its being ground
in the mill, as the manna was; or as spice is bruised in a mortar, he being broken and crushed to
pieces under the weight of sin, and the punishment of it. The ancient Jews understood this of the
Messiah; in one place they say (o),
"chastisements are divided into three parts, one to David and the fathers, one to our generation,
and one to the King Messiah; as it is written, "he was wounded for our transgressions; and
bruised for our iniquities":''
and in another place (p),
"at that time they shall declare to the Messiah the troubles of Israel in captivity, and the wicked
which are among them, that do not mind to know the Lord; he shall lift up his voice, and weep
over the wicked among them; as it is said, "he was wounded for our transgressions", &c.''

18. the chastisement of our peace was upon him; that is, the punishment of our sins was inflicted on
him, whereby our peace and reconciliation with God was made by him; for chastisement here
does not design the chastisement of a father, and in love, such as the Lord chastises his people
with; but an act of vindictive justice, and in wrath, taking vengeance on our sins, of our surety,
whereby divine wrath is appeased, justice is satisfied, and peace is made:
and with his stripes we are healed; or "by his stripe" (q), or "bruise": properly the black and blue
mark of it, so called from the gathering and settling of the blood where the blow is given. Sin is a
disease belonging to all men, a natural, hereditary, nauseous, and incurable one, but by the blood
of Christ; forgiving sin is a healing of this disease; and this is to be had, and in no other way,
than through the stripes and wounds, the blood and sacrifice, of the Son of God. Christ is a
wonderful physician; he heals by taking the sicknesses of his people upon himself, by bearing
their sins, and being wounded and bruised for them, and by his enduring blows, and suffering
death itself for them. The Targum is,
"when we obey his words, our sins will be forgiven us;''
but forgiveness is not through our obedience, but the blood of Christ.
(o) Mechilta apud Yalkut, par. 2. fol 90. 1.((p) Zohar in Exod. fol. 85. 2. See also Midrash Ruth,
fol. 33. 2. and Zohar in Deut. fol. 117. 3. and R. Moses Hadarsan apud Galatia de Arcan. Cath.
Ver. I. 8. c. 15 p. 586. and in I. 6. c. 2. p. 436. (q) "per livorem ejus", Munster; "livore ejus", V.
L. Montanus, Vatablus; "tumice ejus", Junius & Tremellius; "vibico ejus", Cocceius; "vibicibus
ejus" Vitringa.
Geneva Study BibleBut he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the {h} chastisement for our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
(h) He was chastised for our reconciliation, 1Co 15:3.
EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges5. In Isaiah 53:4 the people confess that the Servant
was their substitute in his endurance of pains and sicknesses; here they penetrate more deeply
into the meaning of his sufferings, perceiving the connexion between his passion and their own
sin. The connexion is twofold; in the first place the Servant’s suffering was the penalty due to the
people’s transgressions, and in the second place it was the remedy by which they were restored
to spiritual health.

But he was pierced because of our rebellions,

Crushed because of our iniquities.

The strong verbs “pierced” (see ch. Isaiah 51:9) and “crushed” (Job 6:9) are probably metaphors
expressing the fatal ravages of leprosy.

the chastisement of our peace] i.e. the chastisement needful to procure peace or well-being for
us. “Chastisement” is pain inflicted for moral ends and with remedial intent (Proverbs 3:11 f.
&c.). Cheyne’s assertion that the notion of punishment is the primary one in this word is not
borne out by O.T. usage.

with his stripes] lit. weals (see ch. Isaiah 1:6).

19. That the people themselves had suffered for their sins is not excluded, but is apparently implied
in the last words (“we are healed”), and is expressly said in other parts of the book (ch. Isaiah
40:2, Isaiah 42:24 f. &c.). What the verse teaches is that the people could not be healed by their
own suffering; it was only through the Servant’s voluntary submission to the divine chastisement
(Isaiah 53:7), and his bearing it in an extraordinary degree, that an atonement was effected
between Jehovah and Israel (see on ch. Isaiah 40:2).
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 5. - But he was wounded for our transgressions. This verse contains
four asseverations of the great truth that all Christ's sufferings were for us, and constituted the
atonement for our sins. The form is varied, but the truth is one. Christ was "wounded" or
"pierced"

(1) by the thorns;

(2) by the nails; and

(3) by the spear of the soldier.

The wounds inflicted by the nails caused his death, He was bruised; or, crushed (comp. Isaiah
3:15; Isaiah 19:10; Isaiah 57:15. Psalm 72:4). "No stronger expression could be found in Hebrew
to denote severity of suffering - suffering unto death" (Urwick). The chastisement of our peace
was upon him; i.e. "the chastisement which brought us peace," which put a stop to the enmity
between fallen man and an offended God - which made them once more at one (comp. Ephesians
2:15-17, "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the Law of commandments contained in
ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might
reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and
preached peace to you which were afar off;" Colossians 1:20, "Having made peace through the
blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself"). With his stripes we are healed;
rather, we were healed (comp. 1 Peter 2:24, "By whose stripes ye were healed"). Besides the
blows inflicted on him with the hand (Matthew 26:27) and with the reed (Matthew 27:30), our
Lord was judicially scourged (Matthew 27:26). Such scourging would leave the "stripe-marks"
which are here spoken of.
Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old TestamentThe prophecy concerning him
passes now into an address to him, as in Isaiah 49:8 (cf., Isaiah 49:7), which sinks again
immediately into an objective tone. "Just as many were astonished at thee: so disfigured, his
appearance was not human, and his form not like that of the children of men: so will he make
many nations to tremble; kings will shut their mouth at him: for they see what has not been told
them, and discover what they have not heard." Both Oehler and Hahn suppose that the first
clause is addressed to Israel, and that it is here pointed away from its own degradation, which
excited such astonishment, to the depth of suffering endured by the One man. Hahn's principal
reason, which Oehler adopts, is the sudden leap that we should otherwise have to assume from
the second person to the third - an example of "negligence" which we can hardly impute to the
prophet. But a single glance at Isaiah 42:20 and Isaiah 1:29 is sufficient to show how little force
there is in this principal argument. We should no doubt expect עמיכם or עמיך after what has gone
before, if the nation were addressed; but it is difficult to see what end a comparison between the
sufferings of the nation and those of the One man, which merely places the sufferings of the two

20. in an external relation to one another, could be intended to answer; whilst the second kēn (so),
which evidently introduces an antithesis, is altogether unexplained. The words are certainly
addressed to the servant of Jehovah; and the meaning of the sicut (just as) in Isaiah 52:14, and of
the sic (so) which introduces the principal sentence in Isaiah 52:15, is, that just as His
degradation was the deepest degradation possible, so His glorification would be of the loftiest
kind. The height of the exaltation is held up as presenting a perfect contrast to the depth of the
degradation. The words, "so distorted was his face, more than that of a man," form, as has been
almost unanimously admitted since the time of Vitringa, a parenthesis, containing the reason for
the astonishment excited by the servant of Jehovah. Stier is wrong in supposing that this first
"so" (kēn) refers to ka'ăsher (just as), in the sense of "If men were astonished at thee, there was
ground for the astonishment." Isaiah 52:15 would not stand out as an antithesis, if we adopted
this explanation; moreover, the thought that the fact corresponded to the impression which men
received, is a very tame and unnecessary one; and the change of persons in sentences related to
one another in this manner is intolerably harsh; whereas, with our view of the relation in which
the sentences stand to one another, the parenthesis prepares the way for the sudden change from
a direct address to a declaration. Hitherto many had been astonished at the servant of Jehovah:
shâmēm, to be desolate or waste, to be thrown by anything into a desolate or benumbed
condition, to be startled, confused, as it were petrified, by paralyzing astonishment (Leviticus
26:32; Ezekiel 26:16). To such a degree (kēn, adeo) was his appearance mishchath mē'ı̄sh, and
his form mibbenē 'âdâm (sc., mishchath). We might take mishchath as the construct of
mishchâth, as Hitzig does, since this connecting form is sometimes used (e.g., Isaiah 33:6) even
without any genitive relation; but it may also be the absolute, syncopated from משׁלתל equals
שׁשׁלתל (Hvernick and Stier), like moshchath in Malachi 1:14, or, what we prefer, after the form
mirmas (Isaiah 10:6), with the original ă, without the usual lengthening (Ewald, 160, c, Anm. 4).
His appearance and his form were altogether distortion (stronger than moshchâth, distorted),
away from men, out beyond men, i.e., a distortion that destroys all likeness to a man;
(Note: The church before the time of Constantine pictured to itself the Lord, as He walked on
earth, as repulsive in His appearance; whereas the church after Constantine pictured Him as
having quite an ideal beauty (see my tract, Jesus and Hillel, 1865, p. 4). They were both right:
unattractive in appearance, though not deformed, He no doubt was in the days of His flesh; but
He is ideally beautiful in His glorification. The body in which He was born of Mary was no royal
form, though faith could see the doxa shining through. It was no royal form, for the suffering of
death was the portion of the Lamb of God, even from His mother's womb; but the glorified One
is infinitely exalted above all the idea of art.)
'ı̄sh does not signify man as distinguished from woman here, but a human being generally.
The antithesis follows in Isaiah 52:15 : viz., the state of glory in which this form of wretchedness
has passed away. As a parallel to the "many" in Isaiah 52:14, we have here "many nations,"
indicating the excess of the glory by the greater fulness of the expression; and as a parallel to
"were astonished at thee," "he shall make to tremble" (yazzeh), in other words, the effect which
He produces by what He does to the effect produced by what He suffers. The hiphil hizzâh
generally means to spirt or sprinkle (adspergere), and is applied to the sprinkling of the blood
with the finger, more especially upon the capporeth and altar of incense on the day of atonement
(differing in this respect from zâraq, the swinging of the blood out of a bowl), also to the
sprinkling of the water of purification upon a leper with the bunch of hyssop (Leviticus 14:7),
and of the ashes of the red heifer upon those defiled through touching a corpse (Numbers 19:18);

21. in fact, generally, to sprinkling for the purpose of expiation and sanctification. And Vitringa,
Hengstenberg, and others, accordingly follow the Syriac and Vulgate in adopting the rendering
adsperget (he will sprinkle). They have the usage of the language in their favour; and this
explanation also commends itself from a reference to עסוּע in Isaiah 53:4, and ע ni עוּIsaiah 53:8
(words which are generally used of leprosy, and on account of which the suffering Messiah is
called in b. Sanhedrin 98b by an emblematical name adopted from the old synagogue, "the leper
of Rabbi's school"), since it yields the significant antithesis, that he who was himself regarded as
unclean, even as a second Job, would sprinkle and sanctify whole nations, and thus abolish the
wall of partition between Israel and the heathen, and gather together into one holy church with
Israel those who had hitherto been pronounced "unclean" (Isaiah 52:1). But, on the other hand,
this explanation has so far the usage of the language against it, that hizzâh is never construed
with the accusative of the person or thing sprinkled (like adspergere aliqua re aliquem; since 'eth
in Leviticus 4:6, Leviticus 4:17 is a preposition like ‛al, ‛el elsewhere); moreover, there would be
something very abrupt in this sudden representation of the servant as a priest. Such explanations
as "he will scatter asunder" (disperget, Targum, etc.), or "he will spill" (sc., their blood), are
altogether out of the question; such thoughts as these would be quite out of place in a spiritual
picture of salvation and glory, painted upon the dark ground we have here. The verb nâzâh
signified primarily to leap or spring; hence hizzâh, with the causative meaning to sprinkle. The
kal combines the intransitive and transitive meanings of the word "spirt," and is used in the
former sense in Isaiah 63:3, to signify the springing up or sprouting up of any liquid scattered
about in drops. The Arabic nazâ (see Ges. Thes.) shows that this verb may also be applied to the
springing or leaping of living beings, caused by excess of emotion. And accordingly we follow
the majority of the commentators in adopting the rendering exsilire faciet. The fact that whole
nations are the object, and not merely individuals, proves nothing to the contrary, as Habakkuk
3:6 clearly shows. The reference is to their leaping up in amazement (lxx θαυμάσονται); and the
verb denotes less an external than an internal movement. They will tremble with astonishment
within themselves (cf., pâchădū verâgezū in Jeremiah 33:9), being electrified, as it were, by the
surprising change that has taken place in the servant of Jehovah. The reason why kings "shut
their mouths at him" is expressly stated, viz., what was never related they see, and what was
never heard of they perceive; i.e., it was something going far beyond all that had ever been
reported to them outside the world of nations, or come to their knowledge within it. Hitzig's
explanation, that they do not trust themselves to begin to speak before him or along with him,
gives too feeble a sense, and would lead us rather to expect מפעיו than eht fo gnittuhs ehT .וימע
mouth is the involuntary effect of the overpowering impression, or the manifestation of their
extreme amazement at one so suddenly brought out of the depths, and lifted up to so great a
height. The strongest emotion is that which remains shut up within ourselves, because, from its
very intensity, it throws the whole nature into a suffering state, and drowns all reflection in
emotion (cf., yachărı̄sh in Zephaniah 3:17). The parallel in Isaiah 49:7 is not opposed to this; the
speechless astonishment, at what is unheard and inconceivable, changes into adoring homage, as
soon as they have become to some extent familiar with it. The first turn in the prophecy closes
here: The servant of Jehovah, whose inhuman sufferings excite such astonishment, is exalted on
high; so that from utter amazement the nations tremble, and their kings are struck dumb.


PRECEPT AUSTIN RESOURCES

22. CHRISTOPATHY NO. 2499

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD’S -DAY, JANUARY 10,
1897. DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN
TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 30,
1885.

“With His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5.

Brothers and sisters, whenever we come to talk about the passion of our
Lord—and that subject is clearly brought before us, here, by the two words,
“His stripes”—our feelings should be deeply solemn, and our attention
intensely earnest. Take off your shoes when you draw near to this burning
bush, for God is in it! If ever the spirit should be deeply penitential, and yet
humbly confident, it ought to be when we hear the lash falling upon the divine
and human person of our blessed Master, and see Him wounded for our
transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. Stand still, then, and see your
Lord and Master fastened to the Roman column, and cruelly scourged! hear
the terrible strokes. Mark the bleeding wounds, and see how He becomes a
mass of pain even as to His blessed body! Then note how His soul, also, is
flagellated. Hark how the whips fall upon His spirit till His inmost heart is
wounded with the tortures, all but unbearable, which He endures for us! I
charge my own heart to meditate upon this solemn theme without a single
wandering thought—and I pray that you and I may be able to think together
upon the matchless sufferings of incarnate Love until our hearts melt within
us in grateful love to Him. Remember, brothers and sisters, that we were
practically there when Jesus suffered those terrible stripes— “‘Twas you, my
sins, my cruel sins, His chief tormentors were! Each of my crimes became a
nail, And unbelief the spear.” We certainly had a share in His sorrows. Oh,
that we were equally certain that “with His stripes we are healed.” You smote

23. Him, dear friend, and you wounded Him—therefore do not rest until you can
say, “with His stripes I am healed.” We must have a personal interest in this
suffering One if we are to be healed by His stripes. We must lay our own
hands upon this great sacrifice, and so accept it as being made on our behalf,
for it would be a wretched thing to know that Christ was stricken, but not to
know that, “with His stripes we are healed.” I would to God that no one
should go out from this service without being able to say to himself as he
retired, “Yes, blessed be His name, ‘with His stripes I am healed.’ The disease
of sin is put away by the sacred balsam which drops from the side of the
Crucified. From that mortal disease which otherwise would surely have
destroyed me, I am restored by His sufferings, His grief, His death.” And
then, all together, may we be able to say, “with His stripes we are healed.” I.
Observe, dear friends, first of all, that GOD HERE TREATS SIN AS A
DISEASE. There would be no need to talk about healing if sin had not been
regarded by God as a disease. It is a great deal more than a disease—it is a
willful crime—but it is still a disease. It is often very difficult to separate the
part in a crime which disease of the mind may have, and that portion which is
distinctly willful. We need not make this separation ourselves. If we were to do
so in order to excuse ourselves, that would only be increasing the evil! And if
we do it for any other reason, we are so apt to be partial that I am afraid we
should ultimately make some kind of excuse for our sin which would not bear
the test of the Day of Judgment. It is only because of God’s sovereignty, His
infinite grace, and His strong resolve to have mercy upon men that, in this
instance, He wills to look upon sin as a disease. He does
2 Christopathy Sermon #2499
2 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 43
not conceal from Himself, or from us, that it is a great and grievous fault. He
calls it a trespass, a transgression, iniquity, and other terms that set forth its
true character. Never in Scripture do we find any excuse for sin, or lessening
of its heinousness, but in order that He might have mercy upon us, and deal
graciously with us, the Lord is pleased to regard it as a disease—and then to
come and treat us as a physician treats his patients, that He may cure us of the
evil. Sin is a disease, first, because it is not an essential part of man as he was

24. created. It is something abnormal. It was not in human nature at the first.
“God made man upright.” Our first parent, as he came fresh from the hand of
his Maker, was without taint or speck of sin—he had a healthy body inhabited
by a healthy soul. There was about him no tendency to evil. He was created
pure and perfect—and sin does not enter into the constitution of man, per se,
as God made it. It is a something which has come into us from outside. Satan
came with his temptation, and sin entered into us, and death by sin.
Therefore, let no man, in any sense whatever, attribute sin to God as the
Creator. Let him look upon sin as being a something extraneous to a man,
something which ought never to have a locus standi within our nature at all, a
something that is disturbing and destructive, a poisoned dart that is sticking
in our flesh, abiding in our nature—and that has to be extracted by divine and
sovereign grace. And, secondly, sin is like a disease because it puts all the
faculties out of gear, and breaks the equilibrium of the life-forces, just as
disease disturbs all our bodily functions. When a man is sick and ill, nothing
about him works as it ought to do. There are some particular symptoms
which, first of all, betray the existence of the virus of disease, but you cannot
injure any one power of the body without the rest being, in their measure, put
out of order! Thus has sin come into the soul of man, and put him altogether
out of gear. Sometimes a certain passion becomes predominant in a person
quite out of proportion to the rest of his manhood. Things that might have
been right in themselves, grow by indulgence into positive evils, while other
things which ought to have had an open existence are suppressed until the
suppression becomes a crime. It is sin that makes us wrong, and makes
everything about us wrong—and makes us suffer, we know not how much!
The worst of the matter is that we do not, ourselves, readily perceive that we
are the evil-doers, and we begin, perhaps, to judge others who are right. And
because they are not precisely in the same condition as ourselves, we make our
sinful selves to be the standard of equity, and consider that they are wrong,
when all the while the evil is in ourselves! As long as a man is under the power
of sin, his soul is under the power of a disease which has disturbed all his
faculties, and taken away the correct action from every part of his being.
Hence, God sees sin to be a disease, and we ought to thank Him that, in His
gracious condescension, He deals with it in that way, instead of calling it what
it really is—a crime deserving instant punishment! Further, my friends, sin is

25. a disease because it weakens the moral energy, just as many diseases weaken
the sick person’s body. A man under the influence of some particular disease
becomes quite incapacitated for his ordinary work. There was a time when he
was strong and athletic, but disease has entered his system, and so his nerves
have lost their former force, and he, who would be the helper of others,
becomes impotent, and needs to be waited upon, himself. How often is a
strong man brought down to utter helplessness! He who used to run like a
hare must now be led out if he is to breathe the fresh air of heaven. He who
once could cut with the axe, or pound with the hammer, must now be lifted
and carried like a child! You all know how greatly the body is weakened by
disease—and just so is it with sin and the spirit. Sin takes away from the soul
all power. Does not the apostle speak of us as being, “without strength” when,
“in due time Christ died for the ungodly”? The man has not the power or the
will to believe in Christ, but yet he can believe a lie most readily! And he has
no difficulty in cheating himself into self-conceit. The man has not the
strength to quit his sin, though he has power to pursue it with yet greater
energy! He is weak in the knees, so that he cannot pray. He is weak in the
eyes, so that he cannot see Jesus as his Savior. He is weak in the feet, so that he
cannot draw near to God. He has withered hands, dumb lips, deaf ears, and
he is palsied in his whole system! O sin, you take away from man the strength
he needs with which to make the pilgrimage to heaven, or to go forth to war in
the name of the Lord of hosts! Sin does all this, and yet men love it, and will
not turn from it to Him who alone can destroy its deadly power! I know that I
am speaking to some who are well aware that sin has thrown their whole
nature out of order, and taken away all their power to do that which is right.
You, my friend, have come into this place, which is like the pool of Bethesda
with its five porches, and you have said in your heart, “Oh, that
Sermon #2499 Christopathy 3
Volume 43 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. 3
the great Physician would come and heal me! I cannot step into the pool of His
infinite mercy and love, though I would gladly lie there waiting upon the
means of grace. But I know that I shall find no benefit in the means of grace
unless the Lord, who is the Giver of grace, shall come to me, and say, as He

26. said to the man at the pool, ‘Rise, take up your bed, and walk.’” Oh, what an
awful mass of disease there is all round us in these streets, and in these
myriads of houses! Sin has done for mankind the most dreadful deeds—it is
the direst of all calamities, the worst of all infections! And, further, sin is like
a disease because it either causes great pain, or deadens all sensibility, as the
case may be. I do not know which one I might rather choose, whether to be so
diseased as to be full of pain, or to be suddenly smitten by a paralytic stroke,
so as not to be able to feel at all. In spiritual things, the latter is the worse of
the two evils! There are some sinners who appear to feel nothing. They sin,
but their conscience does not accuse them concerning it! They purpose to go
yet further into sin—and they reject Christ, and turn aside from Him even
when the Spirit of God is striving with them—for they are insensible to the
wrong they are doing. They do not feel. They cannot feel. And, alas, they do
not even want to feel—they are callous and obdurate, and, as the apostle
says—“past feeling.” When they read or hear of the judgment to come, they
do not tremble. When they are told about the love of Christ, they do not yield
to Him. They can hear about His suffering, and remain altogether unmoved—
they have no fellowship with His suffering and scarcely know what the
expression means! Sin is dear to them, even though it slew the Lord of glory,
Himself! This paralysis, this deadening of the powers is a very terrible phase
of the disease of sin. In some others, sin causes constant misery. I do not mean
that godly sorrow which leads to penitence, for sin never brings its own
repentance, but by way of remorse, or of ungratified desire, or restlessness
such as is natural to men who try to fill their immortal spirits with the empty
joys of this poor world. Are there not many who, if they had all they have ever
wished for, would still wish for more? If they could, at this moment, gratify
every desire they have, they would but be as men who drink of the brine of the
sea—whose thirst is not thereby quenched, but only increased! Oh, believe
me, you will never be content with the pleasures of this world if your mind is
at all awakened concerning your state in the sight of God! If you are given
over to spiritual paralysis, you may be without feeling, and that is a deadly
sign, indeed. But if there is any sort of spiritual life within you, the more you
sin, the more uneasy you will become! There is no way of peace by plunging
more deeply into sin, as some think they will do—drowning dull care in the
flowing bowl, or endeavoring to show their hardihood by rushing into still

27. viler forms of lust in order that they may, somehow or other, be satisfied and
content. No, this disease breeds a hunger which increases as you feed it! It
engenders a thirst which becomes the more intense the more you try to satisfy
it! Sin is also like a disease because it frequently produces a manifest
pollution. All disease in the body pollutes it in some way or other. Turn the
microscope upon the affected part, and you will soon discover that there is
something obnoxious there! But sin in the soul pollutes terribly in the sight of
God. There are quiet, respectable sins which men can conceal from their
fellow creatures so that they can keep their place in society and seem to be all
that they ought to be. But there are other sins which, like the leprosy of old,
are white upon their brows! There are sins that are to be seen in the outward
appearance of the man—his speech betrays him—his walk and conversation
indicate what is going on within his heart. It is a dreadful thing for the sinner
to remember that he is a polluted being—until he is washed in Christ’s
precious blood, he is a being with whom God can have no sort of communion!
Men have to put infected persons away from the society of other people.
Under the Jewish law, when men were in a certain stage of disease, they had
to be isolated altogether from their fellow men, and certainly could not come
into the house of the Lord. O my hearers, there are some of you, who, if your
bodies were as diseased as your souls are, would not dare to show your faces
in the streets! And some of us who have been washed in the blood of Jesus
have felt ourselves to be so foul, so vile, and so filthy, that if we could have
ceased to exist, we would have welcomed annihilation as a gift! I remember
the time when, under a sense of sin, I was afraid to pray. I did groan out a
prayer of a sort, but I felt as if the very earth must be weary of bearing up
such a sinner—and that the stars in their courses must be anxious to shoot
ominous fires upon the one who was so defiled! Perhaps some of you have felt
as I did, and now you join me in saying, “But we are washed! But we are
sanctified! But we are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the
Spirit of our God!” The disease that was upon us was worse than the foulest
leprosy, more infectious than the
4 Christopathy Sermon #2499
4 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 43

28. most terrible fever—causing greater deformity than the dropsy, and working
in us worse ills than the most foul disease that can ever fall upon the bodies of
men! I would to God that men did but see that although the picture I have
tried to draw is terrible, indeed, yet it is most gracious on God’s part to treat
them as diseased persons needing to be cured, rather than as criminals
waiting to be executed! Once more, sin is like disease because it tends to
increase in the man, and will, one day, prove fatal to him. You cannot say to a
disease, “To here shall you come, but no further.” There are some diseases
that seem to come very gradually, but they come very surely. There is the
hectic flush, the trying cough, the painful breathing—and we begin to feel that
consumption is coming. And very soon—terribly soon to those who love
them—those who were once hale and hearty, to all appearance, become like
walking skeletons, for the fell disease has laid its cruel hand upon them, and
will not let them go. So, my friend, as long as sin is in you, you need not
deceive yourself and think you can get rid of it when you will, for you cannot.
It must be driven out by a higher power than your own—this disease must be
cured by the great Physician, or else it will keep on increasing until, at last,
you die! Sin will grow upon you till, “when it is finished, it brings forth
death.” God grant that before that awful ending is reached, the Lord Jesus
Christ may come and cure you, so that you may be able to say, “With His
stripes we are healed.” Sin is a contagious disease which passes from one to
another. It is hereditary. It is universal. It is incurable. It is a mortal malady.
It is a disease which no human physician can heal. Death, which ends all
bodily pain, cannot cure this disease—it displays its utmost power in eternity,
after the seal of perpetuity has been set upon it by the mandate—“He that is
filthy, let him be filthy still.” It is, in fact, such a disease that you were born
with it, and you will bear it with you forever and ever, unless this wondrous
prescription, of which we are now to speak, shall be accepted by you, and shall
work in you the divine good pleasure, so that you shall be able to say, “With
His stripes we are healed.” II. Now, secondly, we see from our text that GOD
HERE DECLARES THE REMEDY WHICH HE H AS PROVIDED. Jesus
Christ, His dear Son, has taken upon Himself our nature, and suffered on the
cross in our place—and God the Father has delivered Him up for us all—that
we might be able to say, “With His stripes we are healed.” First, dear friends,
behold the heavenly medicine—the stripes of Jesus in body and in soul!

29. Picture Him before your mind’s eyes. He is scourged by the rough Roman
soldiers till the sacred stream rolls down His back in a crimson tide. And He is
scourged within as well as outside till He cries, in utmost agony, “My God, My
God, why have You forsaken Me?” He is fastened to the cruel cross—His
hands and feet and brow are all bleeding, and His inmost soul is poured out
even unto death—whatever that wonderful expression may mean. He bears
the sin of many, the chastisement of their peace is upon Him. He is bruised for
their iniquities, and wounded for their transgressions. If you would be healed
of sin’s sickness, here is the medicine! Is it not amazing surgery? Surgeons
usually give us pain while trying to cure us, but here is a Physician who bears
the pain, Himself, and thereby heals us! Here is no medicine for us to take, for
it has all been taken by Him! He suffers, He groans, He dies—and it is by His
grief and agonies that we are healed! Then, next, remember that the
sufferings of Christ were vicarious. He stood in our place that we might stand
in His place. He took our sin upon Himself and, being found with that sin
upon Him, He was made to bear the penalty that was due to it! And He did
bear it—and this is the way whereby we are healed—by Jesus Christ, Himself,
taking our infirmities, and bearing our sicknesses. This doctrine of
substitution is the grandest of all truths, and though all these years I have
continued to preach nothing else but this, what better news can I tell a poor
sinner than that the Savior has taken his sins and borne his sorrows for him?
Take away the doctrine of the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ, and you
have torn out the very heart of the gospel! “The blood is the life thereof” and
you have no living gospel to preach if atonement by blood is once put into the
background! But, O poor soul, if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that
Christ took your sins, and bore them in His own body on the tree where He
died, “the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God,” you are saved, and saved
forever! This is how it is that “with His stripes we are healed.” Accept this
atonement, and you are saved by it. Does someone inquire, “How am I to get
this atonement applied to my soul?” Well, first, the patient shows his wounds,
and exhibits the progress of the disease. Then, prayer begs for the divine
surgery. Next, belief in Christ is the linen cloth which binds on the plaster. If
you believe on Jesus Christ—if you will accept the testimony of God
concerning His Son whom He has set forth to be the propitiation for

30. Sermon #2499 Christopathy 5
Volume 43 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. 5
sin—and rely upon Him, alone, for salvation, you shall be saved! Faith, that is,
trust, is the hand that brings the plaster to the wound, and holds it there till
the blessed balsam has destroyed the venom that is within us. Trust yourself
with Him who died for you, and you are saved! And, continuing to trust Him,
you shall daily feel the power of His expiation, the marvelous healing that
comes by His stripes! Repentance is the first symptom of that healing. When
the proud flesh begins to yield; when the wretched gathering commences to
break, and the soul that was formerly swollen through trying to conceal its sin
bursts with confession and acknowledgment of its transgression, then is it
being healed by the stripes of Jesus! This is God’s wondrous remedy for the
soul-sickness of sin! But let me beg you to notice that you must let nothing of
your own interfere with this divine remedy—“With His stripes we are
healed.” You see where prayer comes in—it does not heal, but it asks for the
remedy. You see where trust comes in—it is not trust that heals—that is
man’s application of the great remedy. You see where repentance comes in—
that is not what cures, it is a part of the cure, one of the first tokens that the
blessed medicine has begun to work in the soul. “With His stripes we are
healed.” Will you notice that fact? The healing of a sinner does not lie in
himself, nor in what he is, nor in what he feels, nor in what he does, nor in
what he vows, nor in what he promises. It is not in himself at all, but there, at
Gabbatha, where the pavement is stained with the blood of the Son of God,
and there at Golgotha, where the place of a skull beholds the agonies of
Christ! It is in His stripes that the healing lies! I beseech you, do not scourge
yourself—“With His stripes we are healed.” I beg you, do not think that by
some kind of spiritual mortification, or terror, or horror, into which you are
to force yourself, you shall be healed—your healing is in His stripes, not in
your own! In His grief, not in your grief! Come to Christ, and even if you are
tempted to trust in your repentance, I implore you, do not make your
repentance a rival of the stripes of Jesus, for so it would become an antichrist!
When your eyes are full of tears, look through them to Christ on the cross, for
it is not wet eyes that will save you, but the Christ whom you may see, whether
your eyes are wet or dry! In the Christ upon the cross there are five wounds,

31. but you have not to add even another one of your own to them! In Him and in
Him, alone, is all your healing! In Him who, from head to foot, becomes a
mass of suffering, that you, diseased from head to foot, might, from the crown
of your head to the soles of your feet be made perfectly whole! III. Now I
must close with the third reflection, which is this—THE DIVINE REMEDY
IS IMMEDIATELY EFFECTIVE. “With His stripes we are healed.” To the
carnal mind it does not seem as if the sufferings of Christ could touch the case
at all, but those who have believed in the stripes of Jesus are witnesses to the
instant and perfect efficacy of the medicine! We can, many of us, speak from
experience, since we can say that “we are healed.” HOW are we healed? Well,
first, our conscience is healed of every smart. God is satisfied with Christ, and
so are we. If, for Christ’s sake, He has put away sin without dishonor to
Himself, then are we, also, perfectly content, and full of rejoicing in the
atonement, and we need nothing else to keep our conscience quiet. By these
same wounds of Christ our heart is healed of its love of sin. It was once in love
with sin, but now it hates all iniquity. If our Redeemer died because of our sin,
how can we live any longer therein? All our past thoughts concerning sin are
turned upside down or reversed. Sin once gave us pleasure, but now it gives us
the utmost pain, and we desire to be free from it, and to be perfectly holy—
there is no evil that we would harbor in our bosoms! It did seem an amazing
thing that we should look to Christ, and so find pardon, and that at that same
moment we should be totally changed in our nature as to our view of sin, yet it
did so happen! While sin was on us, we felt as if we had no hope and therefore
we went on in sin. But when sin was pardoned, then we felt great joy and,
consequently, gratitude and love to God. A sinner repents of his sins much
more after they are pardoned than he does before, and so he sings— “I know
they are forgiven, But still their pain to me Is all the grief and anguish They
laid, my Lord, on Thee.” Our cry is, “Death to sin, now that Christ has died
for sin!” “If the One died for all, then the all died,” and as in Christ we died to
sin, how shall we live any longer therein? You may preach mere morality till
there shall be no morality left—but preach the atoning sacrifice of Christ, and
the pardoning love of the
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32. Father—and then the immoral will be changed, and follow after holiness with
a greater eagerness than ever possessed them while they followed after sin!
By this divine remedy our life is healed of its rebellion. This medicine has
worked within the heart, and it has also worked outside in the life. Now has
the drunk become sober, and he hates the cup he used to love. Now has the
swearer’s foul mouth been washed, and his lips, once so polluted, are like lilies
dropping sweet, smelling myrrh! Now has the cruel and unkind one become
tender, gentle and loving— the false has become true, the proud bends his
neck in humility, the idle has become a diligent servant of Christ! The
transformation is wonderful, and this is the secret, “With His stripes we are
healed.” Yet again, our consciousness assures us that we are healed. We know
that we are healed, and we rejoice in the fact—and we are not to be argued
out of it. There seems to be a theory, held by some people, to the effect that we
cannot tell whether we are saved or not. When we have had a disease in our
body, we can tell whether we have been healed or not, and the marks and
evidences of the supernatural change that takes place within the spirit are as
apparent, as a usual rule, and certainly as positive, and sure as the changes
worked in the body by healing medicine! We know that we are healed. I am
not talking to you of a thing which I do not know personally for myself. When
the text says, “We,” my heart says, “I,” and I am longing that everybody here
should be able to put his own seal to it and say, “That is true! With His stripes
we are healed! With His stripes we are healed! With His stripes we are
healed!” I will not go into the stories of some who are here—stories that I
know of the marvelous change that grace has made in your characters and
lives—but you can bear witness, as can all the saints in heaven, that, “with His
stripes we are healed.” My last word is, if you are healed by His stripes, you
should go and live like healthy men. When a man is healed of disease, he does
not continue to lie in bed! So, dear friends, do not any of you be lazy
Christians! When a man is healed, he does not sit down and groan about the
disease that is gone. So do not any of you be continually groaning and
croaking and sighing. When a man is healed, he likes to go and tell about the
remedy to others. So, dear friends, do not keep to yourselves the news of this
blessed heavenly balsam, but go and tell the tidings everywhere, “With His
stripes we are healed.” When a man is healed, he is joyful, and begins to sing
with gladness. So, go and sing, and praise and bless the Lord all your days!

33. When Christ heals, you know, people do not get the sickness again. His cures
are cures for life—and cures for eternity! If the devil goes out of a man of his
own accord, he always comes back, and brings seven others with him. But if
Christ turns him out, I guarantee you that he will never be allowed to come
back! When the strong Man armed has dislodged the devil, He keeps the
house that He has won, and takes good care that neither by the front door nor
by the back, shall the old enemy ever come back again! Having by His own
right hand and His holy arm gotten the victory, He challenges the foeman to
take back his spoil, crying, “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the
lawful captive delivered?” No, that shall never be! So you may go on your way
rejoicing, and sing as you go, “With His stripes we are healed.” This is not a
temporary remedy—it is a medicine which, when it once gets into the soul,
breeds therein health that shall make that soul perfectly whole, so that at last,
among the holy ones before the throne of God on high, that man shall sing
with all his fellows—“With His stripes we are healed.” Glory be to the
bleeding Christ! All honor, majesty, dominion, and praise be unto Him
forever and ever!” And let all the healed ones say, “Amen, and Amen.”

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ISAIAH 53:1-9.

We will read, this evening, the 53rd chapter of “the Gospel according to
Isaiah,” as we may very properly call it. [Remember, the Exposition was
preached before the sermon.] Verse 1. Who has believed our report? All the
prophets reported that which had been revealed to them concerning Christ.
They testified what they knew with regard to Jesus of Nazareth, the suffering
Savior. Yet how few, comparatively, of the Jewish people—how few, indeed,
of any people, compared with the great mass of mankind—accepted their
testimony, and believed their report? No blessing can come through that
report if it is not believed! And this is the sorrow of the Lord’s servants in
every age—that so many refuse to believe it. “Who has believed our report?”
Sermon #2499 Christopathy 7

34. Volume 43 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. 7
1. And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For God’s power both
produces and accompanies faith. No man believes in Christ except as the arm
of the Lord is revealed, or made bare, so as to work faith in him. This is the
great grief of God’s ministers, today, that so often we have to go back to our
homes and cry, “Who has believed our report?” It is not a doubtful report, it
is not an incredible message, and it is not a matter of indifference to our
hearers. It is an all-important declaration—the accuracy of which is
guaranteed by the God of truth—yet who has believed it? Oh, that the arm of
the Lord were made bare in the hearts of multitudes of men! What was the
reason of this unbelief in the case of the Jews to whom the prophet spoke, and
of those to whom the Messiah, afterwards, came? It was the lowly estate of
Christ that caused them to stumble! They asked, in contempt, “Is not this the
carpenter’s son?” They looked for external pomp and martial prowess, so
they could not perceive the internal beauty and majestic holiness of the Lord
Jesus. 2. For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out
of a dry ground: He has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him,
there is no beauty that we should desire Him. Christ has both form and
comeliness to the spiritual eye. But to the carnal, He seems only like ordinary
men, except that His visage is more marred than that of other men, and His
form than that of any of the sons of men. “He has no form nor comeliness.”
The ungodly look for something that can excite their admiration, or create
mirth for them, but they see nothing of this in the Christ of God. But little can
we blame them, for, not very long ago, many of us were, ourselves, just as
blind as they now are! Do you not feel, beloved, that you can smite upon your
breasts with deepest regret for the length of time in which you were blind to
the beauties of your Redeemer? Alas, that the prophet’s words were always
true of us, “When we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire
Him.” 3. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief: and we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was
despised and we esteemed Him not. It was not only Christ’s humiliation, but
His sorrow which became a stumbling-block in the way of the unbelieving
Jews. How could they, who were looking for an earthly deliverer to come in
regal splendor, believe in a weeping Messiah? How could they delight in Him

35. from whom men hid their faces when they were expecting a mighty leader
before whom all would submit themselves? Ah, friends, there was a time when
we did not esteem the Lord, when we despised Him! We also cared not for the
Man of sorrows! Though all His sorrows were borne on our account, we
passed Him by with utter indifference. O wretched heart! Well might I wish to
tear you from my bosom as I think that you should have been callous to your
Lord, the Well-beloved! It was a death, indeed, which you did call life, when
you did live without your Lord—“We hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He
was despised and we esteemed Him not.” 4. Surely He has borne our grief
and carried our sorrows. What a discovery this truth of God seems to be!
How it bursts upon the prophet and his hearers, and amazes them! “Surely,”
they say, “can it be really so, that, ‘He has borne our grief, and carried our
sorrows’?” Yes, it is indeed so. There is no accounting for the sufferings of the
perfect Christ except by this explanation—that He was bearing our grief, and
carrying the sorrows that we ought to have carried for our own sin. 4, 5. Yet
we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was
wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.
If this does not teach the doctrine of a vicarious atonement, what does it
teach? If Christ’s sufferings were not endured in our place, what do these
words mean? 6. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned,
everyone, to his own way. All sinning, but each one sinning in his own
particular fashion. It is well to acknowledge the common guilt of all men, but
it is the token of true repentance that it dwells mainly on its own special
offense. Brothers and sisters, we have no occasion to find fault with one
another, for, “all we, like sheep, have gone astray.” But we have great reason
for each of us to find special fault with ourself, for, “we have turned,
everyone, to his own way.” 6. And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of
us all. What a mercy it is that every sort of sin—the sin of the mass, and the
sin of the particular sinner— has been laid by Jehovah, Himself, upon His
Only-begotten Son! “Jehovah has made to meet on Him the
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36. iniquity of us all.” Mark you, not merely, “the chastisement” of which the
previous verse spoke, but “the iniquity,” itself! And, albeit there are some who
say that this cannot be—and that iniquity cannot be shifted from one person
to another—it has been done! And there is an end of it. 7. He was oppressed,
and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth. The sin laid upon Him
was none of His, and He might have repudiated it, but He did not. And even
when the bitter result of sin came to Him, and “He was oppressed, and He was
afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth.” 7. He was brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His
mouth. O friends, what infinite patience is here—patience which endured
woes unknown to us, for our Lord’s grief and agonies were deeper than we
shall ever be able to fathom! Yet to the end He bore all without a struggle. I
went to see a friend, the other day, who has had a great number of sore
afflictions, yet I found her singularly cheerful and content. And when I was
speaking with her about the matter, she said, “I have for years enjoyed perfect
submission to the divine will, and it was through what I heard you say.” So I
asked her, “What did I say?” She replied, “Why, you told us that you had
seen a sheep that was in the hands of the shearers, and that although all the
wool was clipped off its back, the shears never cut into its flesh. And you said
that the reason was because the sheep was lying perfectly still. You said, ‘Lie
still, and the shears will not cut you. But if you kick and struggle, you will not
only be shorn, for God has resolved to do that, but you will be wounded in the
bargain.’” O beloved, it is a blessed thing to lie still under the shears, so still as
not even to bleat! “As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not
His mouth.” May the perfect example of the Lamb of God teach us a holy
submissiveness to the will of God! 8. He was taken from prison, and from
judgment: and who shall declare His generation? Are there none to speak up
for Christ, none to bear testimony to the purity of His life, and the sinlessness
of His character? 8. For He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the
transgression of My people was He stricken. Oh, dwell on that great truth!
The doctrine of Christ’s substitution for His people is the brightest star in the
galaxy of Revelation! No more cheering light ever falls upon a tearful eye than
this, “for the transgression of My people was He stricken.” 9. And He made
His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had
done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. He died and was

37. buried because He had done no violence. Most men who have perished by
judicial sentence have had to die because they have done violence, and because
deceit was in their mouth. But here is One who is found guilty of nothing but
excess of love—loving sinners so much that He must give His life sooner than
that they should perish!


BRUCE HURT MD

Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our
iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are
healed.
KJV Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed.
NLT Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was
beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
• But He was pierced through Isaiah 53:6-8,11,12; Daniel 9:24; Zech 13:7; Mt 20:28; Ro
3:24-26; 4:25; Ro 5:6-10,15-21; 1 Cor 15:3; 2 Cor 5:21; Eph 5:2; Heb 9:12-15; Heb
10:10,14; 1 Pet 3:18
• for our transgressions Isaiah 53:10; Genesis 3:15
• The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him 1 Pet 2:24
• Isaiah 53 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
THE GREAT REVERSAL
This title is taken from Dr S Lewis Johnson's sermon on Isaiah 53:4-6. Here are his
introductory remarks...
The passage that we have read for our Scripture reading this morning might well be
called The Great Reversal. You will remember that when Jesus was here upon the earth,
that Israel, ignorantly and self confidently assumed responsibility for Messiah’s death by
shouting, “His blood be upon us, and upon our children.” (Mt 27:25, cf Acts 5:28) Israel
of the future (diagram), according to our text, then enlightened shall humbly accept guilt
by crying out, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities, the chastisement of our peace, was upon him, and with his stripes we are
healed.” Now, that surely is the great reversal. His blood be upon us and upon our
children.” And then Israel of the future, “But He was wounded for our transgressions. He
was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His
stripes we are healed.” The passage is also one of the greatest of the Old Testament

38. passages on the atonement, and it illustrates that whatever theory we may hold of the
atonement, it must include the idea of substitution. For that is one of the great ideas of
this section...In one the expositions of Isaiah chapter 53, I ran across a statement by
Professor Edward Young, and he said this, “So prominent is the idea of substitution that
one scholar, by no means a conservative felt compelled to write, substitutionary suffering
is expressed in this divine oracle, in not less than five sentences. It is as though God
could not do enough to make this clear.” (The Great Reversal)
But He - Most versions begin with this term of contrast, so it begs the question, what is being
contrasted? In Isa 53:4 the NET has "WE thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and
afflicted for something he had done." "We" (the believing remnant) in our former blindness and
ignorance regarded Him as plagued and smitten of God for His own sin and guilt. Instead of the
Suffering Servant suffering for His Own sin, the contrasting truth is that He was suffering for
"our transgressions." The Jews thought He was guilty, but it was they (and we) who were
guilty. The redeemed remnant will see this truth clearly in that future day of salvation for the
nation of Israel. Their contrasting attitude toward Messiah's sacrificial work reminds me of Paul's
words on the Old Rugged Cross.
For the word of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are
being saved it is the power (dunamis) of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)
Moyter observes that the "HE is again emphatic, so as to bring the Servant sharply before us—
‘He (and no other)’. (TOTC-Isaiah)
He was pierced through for (because of) our transgressions (rebellious deeds) - KJV has "He
was wounded" but pierced through is a better translation for it accurately predicts the five
piercings He received on the Cross when He was crucified.
Ps 22:16 = "For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
They pierced my hands and my feet.",
Lk 24:39-40HYPERLINK "/luke-24-commentary#24:39"+ See My hands and My feet,
that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see
that I have.” 40 And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.
Jn 19:31-36, 37 - 34But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and
immediately blood and water came out. 35And he who has seen has testified, and his
testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
36For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL
BE BROKEN.” 37) And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM
WHOM THEY PIERCED.”
Recalls the hymn "Rock of Ages" = "Rock of ages cleft for me. Let me hide myself in
Thee. Let the water and the blood from Thy ribbon side, which flowed. Be of sin the
double cure. Save from wrath, and make me pure").
This detail underscores the prophetic accuracy of the Word of God, for the normal Jewish
practice for blasphemy (of which they accused Jesus) was stoning (Lev 24:14HYPERLINK
"/leviticus_24_commentary#24:14"+, Nu 15:35, 36), not crucifixion which alone would fulfill
this prophecy (cf Jn 12:32,33, Jn 18:31, 32). If they wanted to further humiliate the victim, they
could publicly expose the corpse (Dt. 21:22-23), a practice that Peter related to the Crucifixion
(Acts 5:30; 10:39; 1 Peter 2:24).

39. Pierced (wounded) (02490) (chalal) in this context means to pierce or wound (cf Job 26:13, Ps
109:22, Isa 51:9, 53:5, Ezek 28:9, 32:26). Pierced through" usually meant being pierced fatally.
Two other means (play the pipe - Ps 87:7) and profane (Da 11:31, Ex 31:14, Lev 18:21, et al) are
not in play in this passage. The Septuagint translates chalal with the verb traumatizo (English -
traumatize, trauma, traumatic; used only in Lk 20:12, Acts 19:16 in NT) which means to wound.
Jesus was "traumatized" for us!
Motyer on pierced (chalal) - Pierced: as in Isa 51:9; when they called on the Arm of the Lord
who dealt the monster Rahab a death blow, they did not know they were calling the Arm to his
own death. (Ibid)
Delitzsch adds that "Pierced through" and "crushed" describe extreme distress resulting in death
(cf. Isa 51:9 piercing the dragon; Job 26:13 pierced the fleeing serpent; Ps. 109:22; Lam. 3:34).
The Hebrew words behind these terms are the strongest ones in that language for violent and
excruciating death."
Constable reminds us that "It was God who was behind the piercing and crushing of the Servant
(Isa 53:6, 10). It was as though the Servant took the whipping that we deserved for being
rebellious children (cf. Rom. 4:25; 1 Cor. 15:3; Heb. 5:8; 9:28; 1 Pet. 2:24-25)."
God's justice and mercy met at the cross.
As emphasized repeatedly, the words in Isaiah 53 will be the mournful confession of the future
believing Jewish remnant for as John says "every eye will see Him, even those who pierced
Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him." (Rev 1:7HYPERLINK
"http://www.spiritandtruth.org/id/revc.htm?1:7"+) Jehovah says "they will look on Me Whom
they have pierced; (note chalal but a different verb daqar for pierce - still clearly the same
context) and they will mourn" (Zech 12:10HYPERLINK "/zechariah-12-commentary#12:10"+).
The Gospel of John quotes Zechariah "And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL
LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED .”
Transgressions (06588)(pesha' from pasha = to rebel, transgress) means willful rebellion or
revolt against authority (rising up in clear defiance of authority), guilt (incurred by
transgressing). (cf Isa 1:2, 28; 43:25; 44:22; 46:8; 50:1). The fundamental idea of the root is a
breach of relationships, civil or religious, between two parties (cf Jer 5:6). The same noun is used
in Isaiah 53:8 explaining that the Suffering Servant "was cut off out of the land of the living For
the transgression of my people." The picture is of God drawing a line in the sand and of us
daring to cross that line! Pesha' is also used in Isaiah 53:8 "He was cut off out of the land of the
living for the transgression of my people."
Paul Apple on pesha' - Sin pictured as revolt, rebellion against the God of the universe; we
cannot say the devil made me do it; we revolt all by ourselves; we don’t need the devil’s help to
be rebels!
In Isaiah 43:25 God says “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions (pesha') for
My own sake, And I will not remember your sins." And in Isaiah 44:22 “I have wiped out your
transgressions (pesha') like a thick cloud And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I
have redeemed you.” And here in Isaiah 53:6 we see how it was possible for a holy God to wipe
out the rebellious acts of an unholy people. How? The Holy God was pierced through for their
unholy transgressions, in effect wiping them away for all who would accept His free gift by
grace through faith. Isaiah 59:20 was another glorious prophetic promise to rebellious Israel that

40. "A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgressions (pesha') in Jacob,”
declares the LORD."
Pesha' is used also in Ezekiel 18:31 which is a prophecy of the New Covenant - Cast away from
you all your transgressions (pesha') which you have committed and make yourselves a new
heart and a new spirit! (SEE Ezek 36:24-27HYPERLINK "/ezekiel_36_commentary#36:24"+,
Jer 31:31-34HYPERLINK "/jeremiah_31_commentary#31:31"+) For why will you die, O house
of Israel?"
Notice the repeated use of the pronoun "OUR" in this passage - "OUR transgressions," "OUR
iniquities," "OUR well being." This is why the Suffering Servant gave Himself to piercing and
crushing and chastening. As David Baron says "What else, we ask again, can these words mean
than that He suffered vicariously? Not merely with, but for others? By no exegesis is it possible
to escape this conclusion. And there is nothing in the conclusion that need surprise us."
Vicarious means done in place of or instead of someone else. What Messiah accomplished
was done in our place! Gotquestions observes that "So, in literal terms, the Christian concept of
“vicarious atonement” is that Jesus was substituted for humanity and punished for our faults in
order to pay for the sins we had committed and reconcile us to God. Vicarious atonement is also
referred to as “substitutionary atonement” or “penal substitution.”
David Baron quotes Culross on vicarious suffering...
"Among the Jews, the idea of vicarious suffering was far from strange; their sacrificial
system distinctly expressed it. Sin (said the sacrificial system) is an offence unspeakably
odious to God, which He cannot look upon, but must punish. Death is the due punishment
of sin. But God has no pleasure in the sinner's death. He is full of mercy, and has Himself
opened up a channel, through sacrifice, whereby sin may be expiated, and pardon granted
in righteousness. The sacrifices under the law had no intrinsic efficacy to put away sin;
but only symbolized substitution—the substitution of Jehovah's righteous Servant in
place of the guilty. Men may indeed exclaim against the propriety of one suffering for
others, and may insist that every man be wounded for his own transgressions and bruised
for his own iniquities. But there is no moral reason, so far as I can see, to forbid love
from voluntarily stepping in and suffering for others, to save them from badness and
misery. Now in this prophecy, here is One suffering for sins which He never
committed—enduring what others deserved—standing in the transgressor's place, as if
Himself the transgressor. (Exposition)
Close your eyes a moment and imagine the incomprehensibly "heavy burden" of all of our
horrible sins, coming down full force upon the sinless Suffering Servant, as He experiences the
full weight of His Father's wrath! Absolutely beyond my imagination! Such infinite love! I
seriously doubt that even eternity will give much insight into what really transpired on the Old
Rugged Cross!
Sin is a heavy burden to begin with but one that grows ever heavier the longer we resist God.
David understood this principle
For my iniquities are gone over my head; As a heavy burden they weigh too much for
me. (Ps. 38:4)
He was crushed for (because of) our iniquities - This sentence does not tell us who did the
crushing, but in context this is clearly God the Father crushing His Son, for in Isa 53:10 this
same verb for crushed (daka) states "the LORD was pleased to crush Him."

41. SALVATION: God thought it; Christ bought it; the devil fought it; have you got it?
Crushed is daka which means to crush, beat down, bruise, oppress. Daka is used of cruel
agonies ending in death in Lam. 3:34. It describes the fine dust created in the mortar by crushing
something or breaking it into pieces. What a picture of our Suffering Servant's sacrificial
substitution - crushed, broken for us, who deserved Hell, so that we might receive Heaven.
Broken and spilled out...oh my! Play Steve Green's song Broken and Spilled Out...One word in
the lyrics below that needs explanation is "wasted" which of course Jesus was NOT, but to those
who did not have eyes to see, it appeared as if His life was wasted!
Lord You were God's precious Treasure
His loved and His own perfect Son
Sent here to show me
The love of the Father
Just for love it was done
And though You were perfect and holy
You gave up Yourself willingly
You spared no expense for my pardon
You were used up and "wasted" for me
Broken and spilled out
Just for love of me Jesus
God's most precious treasure
Lavished on me
You were broken and spilled out
And poured at my feet
In sweet abandon Lord
You were spilled out and used up for Me
In the Messianic passage in Psalm 22:6 where Messiah says "I am a worm and not a man,"
there is an incredible picture which relates to the phrase "He was crushed for our iniquities"
See the longer discussion of "I Am a Worm."
Rod Mattoon gives a shorter version of the picture presented when Messiah said I Am A
Worm - What is the meaning of "I am a worm"? The word "worm" is from the Hebrew
word towla {to-law'} which refers to the crimson crocus grub. This worm was crushed
for the purpose of making a scarlet red dye that was used for making royal robes. When it
was crushed, it became unrecognizable. This worm attains the size and form of a pea, and
is of a violet-black color. It is covered with a whitish powder, adhering to plants, chiefly
various species of oak. The worm reproduces only once in its lifetime. When this worm
reproduces, it climbs to a branch of a tree or a wooden post. It rigidly attaches itself to the
tree in such a way that it can never be removed without tearing its body apart. The tola
then lays its eggs on the tree. When the young ones arrive, they feed upon the living body
of their mother. It is a very painful sacrifice for the mother to make. In essence, the
mother becomes a living sacrifice. When the young are able to survive apart from the
mother, the mother dies on the tree. As she dies, she exudes a scarlet dye, which not only
stains the tree, but her young ones as well. They are completely covered by the mother's
scarlet dye and remain so for the remainder of their lives. When the worm dies, it also
leaves a crimson spot on the branch of the tree, but after three days, it dries out and

42. changes color that is as white as snow. It then falls off, and flakes away. What a reminder
of the atonement of Christ, His work on the cross, and our sins being made white as
snow. Jesus was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him.
He was chastened for our well-being. He was beaten so we might be whole and complete.
His punishment resulted in our peace. He is the Prince of Peace and by His stripes, by His
wounds, we are healed. (Mattoon'sTreasures from Isaiah, Volume 3)
Motyer draws attention to the use of for...for - the preposition min means ‘from’, hence it is
used of one thing arising from another, a relationship of cause and effect. Our transgressions
were the cause, his suffering to death the effect. Like Isa 53:4, this verse cannot be understood
without the idea of substitution to which, here, the adjective ‘penal’ must be attached. (TOTC-
Isaiah)
Iniquities (05771)('avon from awah = to bend, twist, distort) describes sins power to twist or
distort something good so that the result, effect or consequence is bad (e.g., sex outside of
marriage). 'Avon describes the pervertedness, ‘bentness’, crookedness of our fallen human nature
and is used repeatedly in Isaiah (Isaiah 1:4; 5:18; 6:7; 40:2; 43:24; 50:1). Messiah was crushed
because of our sins (avon) which is such a stark contrast with the hatred and distortion of truth by
the rabbis who referred to the Servant's good news (the Evangelium) as "Aven" or
"Avon­gillajon" which means "the sinful or mischievous writing". Praise God for those Jews
whose eyes have been opened to the truth of the Gospel which is not sin but instead remedies
sin!
John MacArthur says that iniquities ('avon) is essentially "a word that means to bend double,
twisted like a pretzel, to bend double. It’s perversions."
He was CRUSHED for our iniquities recalls the Protoevangelium in Genesis
3:15HYPERLINK "/genesis-3-commentary#3:15"+
And I (GOD) will put enmity Between you (SATAN) and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed (MESSIAH);
He (MESSIAH) shall bruise (shuph) you on the head,
And you (SATAN) shall bruise (shuph) him on the heel.”
SHALOM WITH GOD:
WHOLENESS, RESTORED RELATIONSHIP
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him (NET = "He endured punishment that made
us well" RSV = "The chastisement that made us whole"; NIV = "the punishment that brought us
peace was upon Him" NLT = "He was beaten so we could be whole") -- Well being is peace
(shalom) and is a genitive of result which means His punishment resulted in our peace or well-
being, giving redeemed sinners a sense of wholeness and restoration of a relationship with the
Holy God which we all lacked while still in Adam (Ro 5:12HYPERLINK "/romans_513-
21#5:12"+, 1 Cor 15:22, 45) and which we could never achieve had not the Messiah been
chastened in our place, as our Substitute.
Paul describes the peace that is now available to us in Christ -
"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, (Ro 5:1HYPERLINK "/romans_5-1-2#5:1"+).
Wiersbe - The only way a lawbreaker can be at peace with the law is to suffer the punishment
that the law demands. Jesus kept the Law perfectly, yet He suffered the whipping that belonged

43. to us. Because He took our place, we now have peace with God and cannot be condemned by
God's law (Ro 5:1; Ro 8:1HYPERLINK "/romans_81#8:1"+). (Bible Exposition Commentary –
Be Comforted - Isaiah).
We were rebels at war with God, at enmity with Him, hating Him, but here because of what
transpired in our Substitute on the Cross, we now are forever at peace with God. The peace OF
God is another issue and can be disturbed by our disobedience (sin) (cf "peace of God" in Php
4:6-7HYPERLINK "/philippians_47"+).
Chastening (04148)(musar) describes the imposition of painful consequences (or severe
punishment) upon the Suffering Servant, consequences which we deserved for our disobedience!
This is the supreme demonstration of Jesus' infinite love for us willingly taking the chastening
rod of His Father for sins not His own! Amazing love!
Motyer adds this note on musar - Just as ‘covenant of peace’ (Isa 54:10) means ‘covenant
which pledges and secures peace’ so (lit.) ‘punishment of our peace’ means punishment which
secured peace with God for us. This peace was lost (Isa 48:18) by disobedience, and, since it
cannot be enjoyed by the wicked (Isa 48:22), the Servant stepped forward (Isa 49:1) to bring us
back to God (Isa 49:6). This is what He achieved by his substitutionary, penal sufferings.
Fell upon Him - "Fell" is added by the translators. Young's Literal has 'The chastisement of our
peace [is] on him," adding the "is" to make good English. The Hebrew preposition for "upon" is
'al, (used almost 5000x in the OT) which means up on something, on something. This same
preposition 'al is used four times in Leviticus 16:21-22HYPERLINK
"/leviticus_16_commentary#16:21"+ describing the scapegoat (picture) carrying away Israel's
sins for the previous year, foreshadowing of course Messiah's work on the cross.
“Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on ('al) the head of the live goat, and confess
over ('al) it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to
all their sins; and he shall lay them on ('al) the head of the goat and send it away into the
wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. 22 “The goat shall bear on ('al)
itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
Allen Ross - .Many have seen this passage not only as a prophecy of the suffering of
Jesus, but the national confession of sin by Israel on the Day of Atonement—to be
fulfilled at the end of the age when all Israel will be saved. (Ref)
Jehovah lifted up His rod;
O Christ, it fell on Thee!
Thou wast sore stricken of Thy God—
There's not one stroke for me.
Thy tears, Thy blood, beneath it flowed;
Thy bruising healeth me
--A. R. Cousin
Because of the punishment that our Suffering Servant Substitute endured on our behalf, we who
rebelled against God even from birth can now be restored to a state of friendship and harmony.
This is the essence of reconciliation, where in His Suffering, the Messiah took upon Himself our
sin and became a substitutionary atonement, thereby making possible a relationship of peace
with God which was heretofore prevented by the demands of God's justice and His abhorrence of
sin.

44. Paul explains it this way
"Now all these things are from God, Who reconciled us to Himself through Christ (AS
EXPLAINED IN ISAIAH 53:5) and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against
them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation." (2 Cor 5:18-
19HYPERLINK "/2corinthians_518-19_commentary#5:18"+)
Gotquestions explains...
Imagine two friends who have a fight or argument. The good relationship they once
enjoyed is strained to the point of breaking. They cease speaking to each other;
communication is deemed too awkward. The friends gradually become strangers. Such
estrangement can only be reversed by reconciliation. To be reconciled is to be restored to
friendship or harmony. When old friends resolve their differences and restore their
relationship, reconciliation has occurred....The Bible says that Christ reconciled us to God
And through Him (THE SUFFERING SERVANT OF ISAIAH 53 ) to reconcile all
things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I
say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 21 And although you were formerly
alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in
His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless
and beyond reproach (Colossians 1:20-22HYPERLINK "/colossians_115-29#1:20"+).
The fact that we needed reconciliation means that our relationship with God was broken.
Since God is holy, we were the ones to blame. Our sin alienated us from Him. Romans
5:10-11HYPERLINK "/romans_510-11#5:10"+ says that we were enemies of God:
For if (SINCE) while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death
of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not
only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we
have now received the reconciliation.
When Christ died on the cross, He satisfied (PROPITIATION) God’s judgment and made
it possible for God’s enemies, us, to find peace with Him. (ED: THE "WELL-BEING"
OF ISAIAH 53:5) Our “reconciliation” to God, then, involves the exercise of His grace
and the forgiveness of our sin. The result of Jesus’ sacrifice is that our relationship has
changed from enmity to friendship. “I no longer call you servants … Instead, I have
called you friends” (John 15:15). Christian reconciliation is a glorious truth!
• We were God’s enemies, but are now His friends.
• We were in a state of condemnation because of our sins, but we are now
forgiven.
• We were at war with God, but now have the peace that transcends all
understanding (Phil 4:7HYPERLINK "/philippians_47"+). (Bolding Added)
Related Resources:
• What is the ministry of reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5:18?
• What does it mean to have peace with God?
• What is alienation? What does it mean that we are alienated from God?

45. • Messiah's Ministry of Reconciliation - John MacArthur
• Reconciled to God - Colossians 1:20-23 - John MacArthur
• The Reconciling Gospel - 2 Corinthians 5:11-20 - John MacArthur
And by His scourging (wounds, bruises, stripes) we are healed - Several modern versions
translate scourging as wounds (NET, ESV, HCSB, NIV). He is speaking primarily of spiritual
healing from the deadly effects of the "sin virus" which we all inherited from Adam (Ro
5:12HYPERLINK "/romans_513-21#5:12"+).
As Oswalt says "This is not a matter of a raging tyrant who demands violence on someone to
satisfy His fury. It is a God who wants a whole relationship with his people, but is prevented
from having it until incomplete justice is satisfied. In the Servant He has found a way to gratify
His love and satisfy His justice." (NICOT-Isaiah) (ED: CF Ro 3:26 = God "would be just and the
Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.")
Scourging (Wounds) is the Hebrew word chabburah which refers to bruises, wounds, injuries,
"the tumor raised by scourging" (cf welt). Thus one has translated it "By reason of His
contusions we were healed."". The KJV renders it "stripes" in the famous phrase "with his
stripes we are healed." Baron says this passage "may well lead our thoughts to the cruel
scourging endured by our Saviour on our behalf." (cf Mt 20:19; 27:26; Mk 10:34; 15:15; Lk
18:33; Jn 19:1)
This same Hebrew noun (chabburah) is used by Isaiah in the beginning of his prophecy to
describe the miserable, seemingly hopeless condition of the nation of Israel "From the sole of the
foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, Only bruises, welts (chabburah) and raw
wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil." (Isaiah 1:6HYPERLINK
"/isaiah_15-9_commentary#1:6"+) What looked to be irreparable, can now be "healed" because
of the vicarious wounds (scourging) of God's Servant!
The Septuagint translates chabburah with the noun molops which means welts (as from
whipping), bruises, wounds. It is the same word used by Peter as he alludes to Isaiah 53:5
writing...
He Himself (THE SUFFERING SERVAN T) bore our sins in His body on the cross, so
that we might die (JUSTIFICATION) to sin and live to righteousness
(SANCTIFICATION); for by His wounds (molops) you were healed. (1 Pe
2:24HYPERLINK "https://www.preceptaustin.org/1_peter_224-25"+)
John MacArthur comments - Through the wounds of Christ at the cross, believers are
healed spiritually from the deadly disease of sin. Physical healing comes at glorification
only, when there is no more physical pain, illness, or death (Rev 21:4HYPERLINK
"http://www.spiritandtruth.org/id/revc.htm?21:4"+). (MacArthur Study Bible).
Gotquestions - Isaiah 53:5, which is then quoted in 1 Peter 2:24, is a key verse on
healing, but it is often misunderstood and misapplied....The word translated “healed” can
mean either spiritual or physical healing. However, the contexts of Isaiah 53 and 1 Peter
2 make it clear that it is speaking of spiritual healing....The verse (1 Peter 2:24) is
talking about sin and righteousness, not sickness and disease. Therefore, being “healed”
in both these verses is speaking of being forgiven and saved, not physically healed.

46. S Lewis Johnson - healing is in the atonement because it is by virtue of that which Jesus
Christ did when he died on the cross that I’m to have a resurrection body, like his own
glorious body, but Paul tells us that we do not expect to have that healing now. It comes
at the resurrection, so healing is in the atonement for sin, suffering, ill. (Sermon)
We are healed (07495)(rapha/rophe) means to be made healthy, to be cured. Sin gave us a
mortal blow, but the scourging of our Suffering Servant reversed the curse and gave us an eternal
cure.
Rapha/rophe has the basic idea of restoring something to its original condition, its original
wholeness. Adam originally was perfect ("whole") but his sin left a "hole" ("God shaped
vacuum") in his soul (and our soul, cf Ro 5:12HYPERLINK "/romans_513-21#5:12"+, cf 1 Cor
15:22), one which the Redeemer will repair to its original wholeness for all who by faith receive
the miraculous, regenerating treatment from the Great Physician. In fact, all who receive
Messiah's "healing" touch shall be healed even more than Adam even in his original sinless
condition (when apparently he walked with God in the Garden in perfect fellowship - cf Ge
3:8HYPERLINK "/genesis-3-commentary#3:8"+), for John says "We know that when He
(MESSIAH) appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is." (1 Jn
3:2HYPERLINK "/1john_32_commentary"+, cf 1 Cor 15:42-45, 51, 52, 53, 54). Glorified in
immortal, imperishable bodies and forever like our Suffering Servant! Hallelujah!
S Lewis Johnson has an interesting comment that may catch you a bit off guard -- “With his
stripes we are healed.” Did you notice it says, “With his stripes we are healed.” NOT with his
stripes, PLUS our faith. Not with his stripes PLUS our repentance, with his stripes we are healed.
Men are not saved because of their faith. Men are saved because of Jesus Christ and His saving
work. It is our Lord Who saves us, not our faith. It is not our repentance that saves us. It is our
Lord’s work. That is the saving work that becomes ours through the instrumentality of faith.
Becomes our through the instrumentality of a God produced faith and repentance, but the
salvation is of the Lord, it is of the Lord from beginning to end. It is his salvation. “With his
stripes we are healed.” Not with our faith, with his stripes. (The Vicarious Messiah)
David Thompson addresses the question "Is physical healing promised in the Atonement?"
writing that "It is true that Jesus Christ, while on earth, did physically heal people, but that is not
what this text in Isaiah is talking about. This text is talking about Him being lifted up on the
cross so that He could remove the sorrow and sadness from us that has been brought on by the
disease of sin. He saw all of the consequences of sin and He went to the cross to settle the sin
issue. This is precisely how the Apostle Peter interpreted this text when he said, “He Himself
bore our sins in His body on the cross … for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24-25).
As John Calvin said, this is not talking about the fact that Jesus Christ was appointed to be the
physician of bodies, but the Great Physician of souls (Isaiah, p. 115)."
D A Carson on physical versus spiritual healing - All blessings and all benefits that God’s
children experience come through the atoning work of Christ; Are there times when God heals
His children in temporal sense? Yes What is purchased for us in the cross is not temporal healing
but the ultimate healing of the body = resurrection and glorification of the body. Physical healing
is not the main focus of the text or even central to our redemption; you don’t need to experience
physical healing to be saved. We cannot and should not demand temporal healing as if it were
our right due to the atonement. Still we pray for healing God uses sickness as a sanctifying
influence in our lives (cf. David Brainerd who died at 29). Talking about a far greater healing

47. than God helping you to get over whooping cough. Sickness won’t send you to hell but your sins
will. (Quoted by Paul Apple in Jehovah is Salvation)
Spurgeon echoes the remarks of Johnson - "‘With his stripes we are healed.’ Will you notice
that fact? The healing of a sinner does not lie in himself, nor in what he is, nor in what he feels,
nor in what he does, nor in what he vows, nor in what he promises. It is not in himself at all; but
there, at Gabbatha, where the pavement is stained with the blood of the Son of God, and there, at
Golgotha, where the place of a skull beholds the agonies of Christ. It is in his stripes that the
healing lies. I beseech thee, do not scourge thyself: ‘With his stripes we are healed.’”
David Baron - Peace and healing—two most blessed results which accrue to us from the
vicarious suffering and atoning death of our Saviour. Peace with God because of His justifying
grace on the ground of what Messiah bore and did for us; and peace in our own conscience,
which can never be at peace until sin is expiated—and "healing."
Jehovah lifted up His rod;
O Christ, it fell on Thee!
Thou wast sore stricken of Thy God;
There’s not one stroke for me.
Thy tears, Thy blood, beneath it flowed;
Thy bruising healeth me.
-- A R Cousins

Jack Arnold on miraculous healing today - This raises the question, “Does Christ heal
today?” The answer is obviously, “Yes.” The evidence is overwhelming that Christ does heal
today. There are many recorded instances of sudden, complete and permanent healings which
came to Christians and there is no known medical explanation for the cure. If we say there is no
supernatural healing today, we are adopting a very unscientific attitude, for the facts prove
otherwise. God does heal today through believing prayer of Christians individually and
collectively and through the prayers of the elders of the church.
“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith
will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed
sins, they will be forgiven him” (James 5:14-15).
God, however, is not obligated to heal everyone or anyone. God heals whom and when and
where He will. He is sovereign. He sometimes heals miraculously but most of the time He heals
through the use of medicine and skillful doctors. There have been many good and sincere
Christian ministers who were sincerely wrong in their theology about healing. Every Christian
and every Christian minister has blind spots and holds to some wrong theology. No one man has
all the truth but obviously some men have more truth than others. Men such as the late S. D.
Gordon, a Presbyterian, and A. B. Simpson, the founder of the Christian Missionary Alliance
Church, taught that healing is in the atonement of Christ. They based their thinking on two
verses.
“Surely our griefs (sickness) He Himself bore, And our sorrows (pains) He carried . . .
And by His scourging we are healed” (Isa. 53:4-5HYPERLINK "/isaiah-53-
commentary#53:4"+).

48. “And when evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed;
and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill in order that what was
spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled saying, ‘HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR
INFIRMITIES, AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES’” (Mt. 8:16-17).
Gotquestions has a succinct explanation referencing also 1 Peter 2:24 which Arnold for
some reason does not mention - Isaiah 53:5HYPERLINK "/isaiah-53-
commentary#53:4"+, which is then quoted in 1 Peter 2:24, is a key verse on healing, but
it is often misunderstood and misapplied. “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he
was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and
by his wounds we are healed.” The word translated “healed” can mean either spiritual or
physical healing. However, the contexts (ED: Context should always be kept "king" to
avoid the trap of misinterpretation and then as with Gordon and Simpson misapplication)
of Isaiah 53 and 1 Peter 2 make it clear that it is speaking of spiritual healing. “He
himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for
righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). The verse is talking
about sin and righteousness, not sickness and disease. Therefore, being “healed” in both
these verses is speaking of being forgiven and saved, not physically healed. (See also
What does it mean that “by His stripes we are healed”?)
Spurgeon comments on 1 Peter 2:24 - By His sufferings, you were cured of sin. His
death not only removed from you the penalty of sin; but what is far better, it also
removed from you the dread disease itself. (1 Peter 2 Commentary)
They argue that since Christ bore our sicknesses, healing is in the atonement and just as our
sins are forgiven completely by Christ so, too, we can claim freedom from sickness. They
admitted that everyone must die, but no Christian had to die of an illness. They felt for anyone to
die of sickness was to die out of the perfect will of God, for it was God's will to cure sickness as
well as sin. They further argued that the only reason a person is not healed of sickness was
because he did not exercise strong faith. If a man was not healed when he claimed a healing, the
problem was not in the atonement but in the man's weak faith. This position was held by the late
Kathryn Kuhlman and is presently held by Earnest Angley. Most Methodists, holiness
pentecostals and modern day charismatics hold this view as well The simple answer to the belief
that healing is in the atonement of Christ is that Isaiah 53:4 refers in context to spiritual healing
and Matthew 8:16-17 refer to the earthly ministry of Christ, not his atoning work. Furthermore,
Paul prayed three times for God to deliver him from some illness but was refused his request.
“. . . there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me--to keep
me from exalting myself! Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might
depart from me” (2 Cor. 12:7b-8).
Lastly, Christ moved among multitudes of sick and only healed a few. Logically, if we believe
that the atonement is effective or efficacious (actually works), then no Christian should ever be
sick or die, for the atonement must remove sickness or be powerless. The final key, however, is
understanding that healing is a sovereign act of God and He heals whom and when and where He
pleases. It is also interesting to note that S. D. Gordon and A. B. Simpson, who both taught a
Christian does not have to die of illness, both died of a drawn out, terminal sickness. Because
they thought they could claim freedom from this sickness, they died under a sense of having had
God turn His back on them, and they were disappointed with their own failure to muster enough

49. faith to be healed. The theology that says healing is in the atonement is not only false
teaching but it leads to despair and frustration for most people who hold it.
Are there then faith healers today? Men who have the spiritual gift of miracles? The sign
gifts passed away with the Apostles and there are no people today who can claim the power of
God to heal men. There is faith healing but no faith healers. What about people who claim to be
healers and people seem to get healed in their meetings? My answer to that is the Devil also has
the power to heal and does heal, and so convincing are these demonstrations that many
Christians are led astray, but the Bible predicts this will happen, especially towards the end of the
age. “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as
to mislead, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24). We must test all healing by the ultimate
criteria of the Bible and not by visible results. (Acts 9:32-43 The Miracle Worker)

Related Resources:
• What does it mean that “by His stripes we are healed”?
Excerpt - Although these two verses are central to the topic of healing, they are often
misunderstood and misapplied. The word “healed” as translated from both Hebrew and
Greek, can mean either spiritual or physical healing. However, the contexts of Isaiah 53
and 1 Peter 2 make it clear that they are referring to spiritual healing, not physical. “He
himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for
righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). The verse is referring
to sin and righteousness, not sickness and disease. Therefore, being “healed” in both
these verses is speaking of being forgiven and saved, not being physically healed.
• What does the Bible say about healing?
Excerpt - The Bible does not specifically link physical healing with spiritual healing.
Sometimes people are physically healed when they place their faith in Christ, but this is
not always the case. Sometimes it is God’s will to heal, but sometimes it is not. The
apostle John gives us the proper perspective: “This is the confidence we have in
approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we
know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of
Him” (1 John 5:14-15). God still performs miracles. God still heals people. Sickness,
disease, pain, and death are still realities in this world. Unless the Lord returns, everyone
who is alive today will die, and the vast majority of them (Christians included) will die as
the result of a physical problem (disease, sickness, injury). It is not always God’s will to
heal us physically. Ultimately, our full physical healing awaits us in heaven. In heaven,
there will be no more pain, sickness, disease, suffering, or death (Revelation 21). We all
need to be less preoccupied with our physical condition in this world and a lot more
concerned with our spiritual condition (Romans 12:1-2). Then we can focus our hearts on
heaven where we will no longer have to deal with physical problems. Revelation 21:4
describes the true healing we should all be longing for: “He will wipe every tear from
their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of
things has passed away.”

"WHERE THE FIRE HAS BEEN"
But he was wounded for our transgressions ... and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

50. The great Bible teacher H. A. Ironside often told the story of a group of pioneers who were
traveling westward by covered wagon. One day they were horrified to see in the distance a long
line of smoke and flame stretching for miles across the prairie. The dry grass was on fire, and the
inferno was advancing upon them rapidly. The river they had crossed the day before would be of
no help as they would not be able to return to it in time. One man, however, knew what to do. He
gave the command to set fire to the grass behind them. Then, when the ground had cooled, the
whole company moved back upon it. The people watched apprehensively as the blaze roared
toward them. A little girl cried out in terror, "Are you sure we won't be burned up?" The leader
replied, "My child, we are absolutely safe, nothing can harm us here, for we are standing on the
scorched area where the flames have already done their work."

The fire of God's holy wrath against sin came down upon Jesus Christ the day He died on the
cross. His own words "It is finished" and His resurrection from the tomb furnish us with
infallible proof that He paid the price for our sin in full. Christian friend, do not be afraid of
death and the judgment that will follow. Positionally you are now safely seated "in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6), because by faith you have taken refuge in the "burned-over
place" of Calvary. The fire of God's wrath cannot touch you there for He will not demand
payment for your sins twice. Let this be your comfort: you are standing in safety "where the fire
has been."

On Him almighty vengeance fell,
Which would have sunk a world to Hell.
He bore it for a chosen race,
And thus becomes our Hiding Place. —Anon.

To escape God's justice, flee to His love!

J C Philpot - With His stripes we are healed
Sin has thoroughly diseased us, and poisoned our very blood. Sin has diseased our
understanding, so as to disable it from receiving the truth. Sin has diseased our conscience, so as
to make it dull and heavy, and undiscerning of right and wrong. Sin has diseased our
imagination, polluting it with every idle, foolish, and licentious fancy. Sin has diseased our
memory, making it swift to retain what is evil, slow to retain what is good. Sin has diseased our
affections, perverting them from all that is heavenly and holy, and fixing them on all that is
earthly and vile. "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:5

James Smith - Pierced! WHO pierced Him? WE did — and pierced Him to the heart! Nor were
we satisfied with piercing Him once — for we have pierced Him often, and pierced Him through
and through!
Our unbelief pierces Him;
our ingratitude pierces Him;
the coldness of our love pierces Him;
our forgetfulness pierces Him;
our preferring the world to Him pierces Him;

51. our disobedience to His Word pierces Him;
and our doubting of His love pierces Him!
It was WE who pierced Him on Calvary!
We put the nails and the hammer into the hands of the executioners!
We put the spear into the hand of the Roman soldier!
Yes, it was we who . . .
gathered the thorns,
picked out the sharpest,
formed them into a mock crown,
thrust it on His head, and
with the staff beat the thorns into His temples!
See, see, there He hangs! Pierced in His head, hands, feet, and side — pierced for us — pierced
by us!
Look, my soul, at the pierced One!
God's holy Son hangs on that cross!
O my soul, look at Jesus!
He is your Substitute.
He is there for you!
He is suffering death for you!
He is bearing the desert of your sins in His body on the tree!
He is enduring your curse, being made accursed for you!
He is revealing . . .
what is in man's nature,
what is in God's heart, and
what He is willing to do and suffer — rather than I should perish!
Yes, Jesus is there for me!
He represents my person!
He answers for my crimes!
He dies in my stead!
O Savior, was ever any love, was ever any agony, was ever any death — like Yours!
Look, my soul, look to Jesus, the pierced One!
Look, and mourn — because your sins degraded, disgraced, and put Him to grief!
Look, and rejoice, for you shall have . . .
dignity by His degradation,
honor by His disgrace, and
life by His death!
Look, and be sorry that you have ever sinned, and so caused Jesus to suffer!
Look, and rejoice that you shall live forever to glorify and praise His name!
O my soul, Jesus was wounded for your transgressions, and bruised for your iniquities!
His blood has made your peace with God,
His righteousness gives you a title to eternal life,
and His death delivers you from dying!

52. I fix my eye intently on Jesus on the Hill Calvary, and marking all His tears, wounds, and
agonies — I feel that I was the cause of all. I myself did it! Yes, I MYSELF . . .
bruised Him,
scourged Him,
spit on Him,
crowned Him with thorns,
smote Him with the fist, and
nailed Him to the cursed tree!
I inflicted it all.
Yet, O wonder of wonders! I derive pardon, holiness, and eternal life from it!

Spurgeon Morning and Evening - “With his stripes we are healed.” —Isaiah 53:5
Pilate delivered our Lord to the lictors to be scourged. The Roman scourge was a most dreadful
instrument of torture. It was made of the sinews of oxen, and sharp bones were inter-twisted
every here and there among the sinews; so that every time the lash came down these pieces of
bone inflicted fearful laceration, and tore off the flesh from the bone. The Saviour was, no doubt,
bound to the column, and thus beaten. He had been beaten before; but this of the Roman lictors
was probably the most severe of his flagellations. My soul, stand here and weep over his poor
stricken body.
Believer in Jesus, can you gaze upon him without tears, as he stands before you the mirror of
agonizing love? He is at once fair as the lily for innocence, and red as the rose with the crimson
of his own blood. As we feel the sure and blessed healing which his stripes have wrought in us,
does not our heart melt at once with love and grief? If ever we have loved our Lord Jesus, surely
we must feel that affection glowing now within our bosoms.
“See how the patient Jesus stands,
Insulted in his lowest case!
Sinners have bound the Almighty’s hands,
And spit in their Creator’s face.
With thorns his temples gor’d and gash’d
Send streams of blood from every part;
His back’s with knotted scourges lash’d.
But sharper scourges tear his heart.”

We would fain go to our chambers and weep; but since our business calls us away, we will first
pray our Beloved to print the image of his bleeding self upon the tablets of our hearts all the day,
and at nightfall we will return to commune with him, and sorrow that our sin should have cost
him so dear.

Dave Roper - One cold, windy afternoon we were sitting at the kitchen table in his tiny
apartment reading Isaiah 53. As I began to read the text, I looked into the good doctor’s eyes,
saw them glisten and tears begin to flow. He was weeping, not over my translation (which
doubtlessly grieved him), but over the text.

53. “David,” I said to myself, “you’ve read these words many times, but not once have you wept
over them. You have much to learn from this man.”

Spurgeon - “With his stripes we are healed.”
No sprinkling can wash out sin. No confirmation can confer grace. No masses can propitiate
God. Your hope must be in Jesus, Jesus smitten, Jesus bruised, Jesus slain, Jesus the substitute
for sinners. Whoever believes in him is healed, but all other hopes are a lie from top to bottom.
Do not scourge yourself. “With his stripes we are healed.” I beg you, do not think that by some
kind of spiritual mortification or terror or horror into which you force yourself you shall be
healed. Your healing is in his stripes, not in your own, in his griefs, not in your griefs. I implore
you, do not make your repentance into a rival of the stripes of Jesus, for so it would become an
antichrist. When your eye is full of tears, look through them to Christ whom you may see,
whether your eye be wet or dry. In the Christ on the cross there are five wounds, but you have
not to add even another one of your own to them. In him, and in him alone, is all your healing; in
him who, from head to foot, becomes a mass of suffering, that you, diseased from head to foot,
might from the crown of your head to the sole of your foot be made perfectly whole.
-----
The remedy for your sins and mine is found in the substitutionary sufferings of the Lord Jesus
and in these only. These ‘stripes’ of the Lord Jesus Christ were on our behalf. Do you enquire,
‘Is there anything for us to do, to remove the guilt of sin?’ I answer: There is nothing whatever
for you to do. By the stripes of Jesus we are healed. All those stripes he has endured, and left not
one of them for us to bear. ‘But must we not believe on him?’ Yes, certainly. If I say of a certain
ointment that it heals, I do not deny that you need a bandage with which to apply it to the wound.
Faith is the linen which binds the plaster of Christ’s reconciliation to the sore of our sin. The
linen does not heal; that is the work of the ointment. So faith does not heal; that is the work of
the atonement of Christ. Does an enquirer reply, ‘But surely I must do something, or suffer
something?’ I answer: You must put nothing with Jesus Christ, or you greatly dishonour him.
For your salvation, you must rely upon the wounds of Jesus Christ, and nothing else; for the text
does not say, ‘his stripes help to heal us’, but, ‘with his stripes we are healed.’ ‘But we must
repent,’ cries another. Assuredly we must, and shall, for repentance is the first sign of healing;
but the stripes of Jesus heal us, and not our repentance. These stripes, when applied to the heart,
work repentance in us: we hate sin because it made Jesus suffer.
---
There are some saints who have numbness of soul: the stripes of Christ can best quicken them;
deadness dies in the presence of his death, and rocks break when the Rock of Ages is seen as
cleft for us.
‘Who can think, without admiring?
Who can hear, and nothing feel?
See the Lord of life expiring,
Yet retain a heart of steel?’
Many are subject to the fever of pride, but a sight of Jesus in his humiliation, contradicted of
sinners, will tend to make them humble. Pride drops her plumes when she hears the cry, ‘Behold
the man!’ In the society of one so great, enduring so much scorn, there is no room for vanity.

54. Some are covered with the leprosy of selfishness, but if anything can forbid a man to lead a
selfish life, it is the life of Jesus, who saved others—himself he could not save. Misers, gluttons
and self-seekers love not the Saviour, for his whole conduct upbraids them. Upon some the fit of
anger often comes; but what can give gentleness of spirit like the sight of him who was as a lamb
dumb before her shearers, and who opened not his mouth under blasphemy and rebuke? If any of
you feel the fretting consumption of worldliness, or the cancer of covetousness—for such rank
diseases as these are common in Zion—still the groans and griefs of the Man of sorrows, the
acquaintance of grief, will prove a cure. All evils fly before the Lord Jesus, even as darkness
vanishes before the sun. Lash us, Master, to thy cross; no fatal shipwreck shall we fear if
fastened there. Bind us with cords to the horns of the altar; no disease can come there: the
sacrifice purifies the air. (The Universal Remedy)

That’s Jesus!
Read: Isaiah 53:4-12
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He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. —Isaiah 53:5
As a Jewish kid growing up in New York, Michael Brown had no interest in spiritual things. His
life revolved around being a drummer for a band, and he got mixed up with drugs. But then some
friends invited him to church, where he found the love and prayers of the people to be
irresistible. After a short spiritual struggle, Michael trusted Jesus as Savior.
This was a monumental change for a wayward Jewish teen. One day he told his dad he had heard
about Old Testament texts describing Jesus. His dad, incredulous, asked, “Where?” When
Michael opened his Bible, it fell to Isaiah 53. They read it, and Michael exclaimed, “That’s Him!
That’s Jesus!”
Indeed, it is Jesus. Through the help of Christians and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Brown
(today a Bible scholar and an author) came to recognize the Messiah of Isaiah 53. He
experienced the salvation that changes lives, forgives sin, and gives abundant life to all who trust
the “Man of sorrows” (v.3). Jesus is the One who was “wounded for our transgressions” and who
died for us on the cross (v.5).
The Bible reveals Jesus, who alone has the power to change lives.
God, I struggle with this idea of Jesus as Savior.
I know He’s a good man, but I need to see that He is
more than that. Please show me—through others or
through the Bible—how I can know for sure who Jesus is.
The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to change hearts.
By Dave Branon (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. — Reprinted
by permission. All rights reserved)

R Kent Hughes has the following story regarding the conversion of the great 19th century
preacher Charles Simeon - Charles Simeon, one of the greatest preachers of the Church of
England, explained his coming to Christ like this: "As I was reading Bishop Wilson on the

55. Lord’s supper, I met with an expression to this effect—“That the Jews knew what they did, when
they transferred their sin to the head of their offering.” The thought came into my mind, “What,
may I transfer all my guilt to another? Has God provided an Offering for me, that I may lay my
sins on His head? Then, God willing, I will not bear them on my own soul one moment longer.”
Accordingly I sought to lay my sins upon the sacred head of Jesus". (From Hebrews: An Anchor
for the Soul)

C H Spurgeon - By his wounds we are healed. —Isaiah 53:5
There is only One who can heal a crushed spirit. If you would be healed of the bleeding wounds
of your heart, flee to Christ. You did so once; do it again. Go to Christ now, though you may
have gone to him a hundred times before.
One thing, however, I would say to one who has a really crushed heart. Remember Christ’s
sympathy with you. O you who are tossed with tempest and not comforted, your Lord’s vessel is
in the storm with you. Yes, he is in the vessel with you. There is not a pang that rends the
believer’s heart but he has felt it first. He drinks out of the cup with you. Is it very bitter? He had
a cup full of it for every drop that you taste. This ought to comfort you. I know of no better
remedy for the heart’s trouble in a Christian than to feel, My Master himself takes no better
portion than that which he gives to me.
Also let me recommend, as a choice remedy for a crushed spirit, an enlarged view of the love of
God. I wish that some of you who have a crushed spirit would give God credit for being as kind
as you are yourself. You would not permit your child to endure a needless pain if you could
remove it; neither does God willingly bring affliction or grief to his children. He would not allow
you to be cast down but would cheer and comfort you, if it was good for you. His delight is that
you should be happy and joyful. Take the comfort that he has set before you in his Word; he has
put it there on purpose for you. Dare to take it, and think well of God, and it will be well with
your soul.
If this does not cure the evil, remember the great brevity of all your afflictions, after all. What if
you are a child of God who even has to go to bed in the dark? You will wake up in the eternal
daylight. What if, for the time being, you are in grief? You have had to suffer grief in all kinds of
trials, and you will come out of it. You are not the first child of God who has been depressed or
troubled. Yes, among the noblest men and women who ever lived there has been much of this
kind of thing. Do not, therefore, think that you are quite alone in your sorrow. Bow your head
and bear it, if it cannot be removed, for only a little while, and every cloud will be swept away,
and you, in the cloudless sunlight, will behold your God. Meanwhile, his strength is sufficient for
you. The Lord grant his comforts to you, for his Son Jesus Christ’s sake!

Wounded For Me
Read: Isaiah 53:4-12
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. —Isaiah 53:5
When you study the painting of the crucifixion by the famous Dutch artist Rembrandt, your
attention is first drawn to the cross and to Jesus. Then, as you look at the crowd around the cross,
you are drawn to the faces of the people involved in the awful crime of crucifying the Son of
God. Finally, your eyes drift to the edge of the picture and catch sight of another figure—almost

56. hidden in the shadows. This, we are told, was a self-portrait of Rembrandt, for he recognized that
by his sins he helped nail Jesus there!
Someone has aptly said, “It is a simple thing to say that Christ died for the sin of the world. It is
quite another thing to say that Christ died for my sin! It may be an interesting pastime to point
fingers at those who crucified Jesus, but it is a shocking thought that I can be as indifferent as
Pilate, as scheming as Caiaphas, as calloused as the soldiers, as ruthless as the mob, or as
cowardly as the disciples. It isn’t just what they did—it was I who nailed Him to the tree. I
crucified the Christ of God. I joined the mockery!”
Think again of Rembrandt’s painting. If you look closely, you will see that in the shadows you
too are standing with bloodied hands, for Christ bore the penalty of your sin! And you will say,
“He was wounded for me.”
Wounded for me, wounded for me,
There on the cross He was wounded for me;
Gone my transgressions, and now I am free,
All because Jesus was wounded for me. —Ovens
Calvary's cross reveals man's hatred for God and God's love for man.
By Henry G. Bosch (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. —
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

A Better Explanation
Solomon Ginsburg was one of the most colorful and effective of missionaries. His adventures are
the stuff of movies. Solomon was born in Poland in 1867 to a Jewish rabbi who named him after
the most glorious of all the kings of Israel. Rabbi Ginsburg wanted his boy growing up in his
footsteps, a spiritual leader for the Jews of Eastern Europe.
One day Solomon and his father were celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles by staying overnight
in a small tent near their home. The boy picked up a copy of the Prophets and turned haphazardly
to Isaiah 53. As he read the opening verses, his curiosity was stirred. “To whom does the prophet
refer in this chapter?” he asked. When his father answered with “profound silence,” Solomon
repeated the question. This time his father snatched the book from his hand and slapped him
across the face.
Years later Solomon traveled to London. Passing down Whitechapel Street, he met a Jewish
friend who invited him to Mildmay Mission. “I am going to speak on the 53rd chapter of Isaiah,”
said the friend. “Won’t you come?” Solomon attended, curious “to see if he had a better
explanation than the one my father had given.”
As he listened, he grew troubled. Christ seemed to have perfectly fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecies in
chapter 53. Solomon purchased a copy of the New Testament and was soon convinced that
Christ was the Messiah, and for three months a terrible war raged within him. What would his
father think? His uncles? His family?
At last, he heard Rev. John Wilkinson preach a powerful sermon on the text, “He that loveth
father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” Returning home, Solomon paced the floor
till midnight, finally surrendering his life to Christ in the wee hours.
He was abandoned by his family, beaten and nearly killed by angry friends. But I knew I was
forgiven and accepted. I felt my load was lifted. I knew that my sins were washed away by the
precious blood of Jesus. (Robert Morgan - From this Verse)

57. Wounded For Me
Read: Isaiah 53
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. —Isaiah 53:5
A man who was deeply troubled by his sins was having a vivid dream in which he saw Jesus
being savagely whipped by a soldier. As the cruel scourge came down upon Christ’s back, the
onlooker shuddered, for the terrible cords left ugly, gaping wounds upon His bleeding, swollen
body. When the one wielding the lash raised his arm to strike the Lord again, the man rushed
forward to stop him. As he did, the soldier turned, and the dreamer was startled to see his own
face!
He awoke in a cold sweat, conscious that his sin had inflicted this grievous punishment upon the
Savior. As he thought of Christ’s suffering, he remembered these words in Isaiah 53:5, “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.”
How wonderful that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died to redeem a sinful and lost world!
He was wounded for our transgressions. “All we like sheep have gone astray,” but praise God,
“the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
In one sense, Good Friday was the darkest day in human history. But because of Jesus’ sacrifice
for us, the cross was actually the greatest victory of all the ages!
Wounded for me, wounded for me,
There on the cross He was wounded for me;
Gone my transgressions, and now I am free,
All because Jesus was wounded for me. —Ovens
Christ was delivered for our sins that we might be delivered from our sins.
By Henry G. Bosch (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. —
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

The Agony Of The Cross
Read: Isaiah 53
[Jesus] humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
—Philippians 2:8
As Christians, we understand the spiritual significance of Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary, but it’s
easy to forget about the tremendous agony He endured there. The worst aspect was separation
from the Father, but the physical suffering was also horrible beyond comprehension.
In his book Dare To Believe, Dan Baumann shares some thoughts that can deepen our gratitude
for what the Savior did for us. He wrote, “We have perhaps unwisely and sometimes
unconsciously glamorized the cross. Jewelry and steeples alike are often ornamental and
attractive but carry nothing of the real story of crucifixion. It was the most painful method of
public death in the first century. The victim was placed on a wooden cross. Nails . . . were driven
into the hands and feet of the victim, and then the cross was lifted and jarred into the ground,
tearing the flesh of the crucified and racking his body with excruciating pain. Historians remind

58. us that even the soldiers could not get used to the horrible sight, and often took strong drink to
numb their senses.”
With a fresh awareness of our Savior’s physical agony, let’s thank Him anew for His sacrifice at
Calvary. He loved us so much that He was willing to die for us—even the painful death of the
cross.
Was it for crimes that I have done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree! —Watts
We can never sacrifice enough for the One who sacrificed His all for us.
By Richard DeHaan (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. —
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

ISAIAH 53
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5).
Underscore this truth: The death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary was substitutionary—He
died in our place, the Just for the unjust, and He is our only hope for eternity. A Christian woman
visiting a mortally wounded soldier had just finished praying when a nurse entered and said to
him, "You have no need to worry over your sins; anyone who willingly gives his life for his
country is all right." The soldier smiled weakly, but shook his head and said, "That is a mistake.
When I lay out there on the battlefield, I knew I had given my all. I hadn't failed my country. But
that didn't help me to face God. I wasn't fit to die, and I knew it, and it has troubled me every day
since. But just now, as I heard this woman's prayer, I realized that the Lord Jesus was punished
for all my sins, and a great peace has come into my soul. I'm not afraid to die now, because He
has forgiven me."
Although that nurse meant well, she spoke in tragic ignorance. But the soldier grasped the
foundation of the gospel—that Jesus died for our sins.
A poet wrote:
O Christ, what burdens bowed Your head,
My sins You had to face;
You took my load, died in my stead
Gave Your life in my place,
A sacrifice—Your blood was shed!
You saved me by Your grace."
We need to pause frequently and thank the Lord Jesus for dying on the cross and paying for our
sins. He alone did it, and He did it alone. —P.R.V.

The only valid passport to heaven is signed in Jesus' blood. (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC
Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. — Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

The story is told of a man who was brought into court for trial and found guilty. The judge
happened to be a close boyhood friend of the accused, although they had not seen each other for
many years. Remaining impartial, the judge sentenced the man and levied a penalty appropriate

59. to his crime. It was a fine so large that the accused could not pay it. A jail sentence, therefore,
seemed to be the only alternative. The judge then did a very unusual thing. Leaving the bench, he
approached the convicted man, shook his hand, and announced, "I'm paying the fine for you."

As we contemplate the great salvation God has provided, we must remember that He is both
loving and just. Therefore, as much as He loves us, He could not simply overlook our sins. The
penalty for violating His law had to be exacted. But by Jesus' death on the cross, God's love and
justice were satisfied so that there is "no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom.
8:1). Sin's penalty has been paid in full! —R. W D.

SALVATION IS FREE, BUT IT COST OUR SAVIOR AN ENORMOUS PRICE


The Vicarious Messiah
Isaiah 53:4-6; Matthew 8:14-17
Dr. S. Lewis Johnson continues to expound Isaiah's prophecy concerning the role of Jesus Christ
as the Suffering Servant of Jehovah.
SLJ Institute > The Prophets > Isaiah > The Vicarious Messiah
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[Message] We are turning in our Scripture reading to Isaiah chapter 53, and we are reading today
three more verses, the third strophe of this great prophecy concerning the suffering servant of
Jehovah, and then we are going to turn again to a passage in the New Testament in which a
section from Isaiah 53 is quoted in order to impress upon our minds the fact that the Bible
regards our Lord Jesus as this servant of Jehovah of whom Isaiah wrote many hundreds of years
ago. Isaiah chapter 53, verses 4 through 6 for our passage from the prophecy,
“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All

60. we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath
laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Now, will you turn with me to Matthew chapter 8, and listen as I read verses 14 through 17, of
the evangelist’s comments concerning Jesus’ visit to the home of Peter. Matthew chapter 8 and
verse 14, and will you notice too as we come to the last verse of this section that the evangelist
Matthew the Apostle, cites a text from that very section that we have read for our Scripture
reading in Isaiah 53,
“And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother lying or laid, and sick
of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto
them, or him When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with
demons or devils:” (As you have in your text.) “And he cast out the spirits with his word, and
healed all that were sick:” (Now, here is our text.) “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses.”
Now, that is a citation from Isaiah chapter 53 in verse 4. May God bless this reading of his word.
Let’s bow together in prayer.
[Prayer] Our gracious God and Heavenly Father we turn again to Thee with gratitude and
thanksgiving for the ministry of the word of God to us by the Holy Spirit, and we pray that like
Lydia of old, our hearts may be opened by Thee to hear the things which are spoken from these
reliable words of God and we pray, Lord, that the needs that exist in this congregation may be
met through that ministry of the word.
We realize, Lord, that many of us have problems that are very deep seeded, and we pray that
through the ministry of the Word, we may come to an understanding of the solution that Thou
dost provide for us through Jesus Christ, Israel’s Messiah and our Lord and Redeemer. We thank
Thee for the day in which we live and the challenges of it, and we pray, oh God, Thy blessing
upon us to the end that individually and collectively Thy purposes may be accomplished through
us. We thank Thee for the assurance that Thy hands are upon everything. Thou art the almighty
God, and consequently the affairs of men are under Thy control, and we pray that amid the
turbulence and unrest and perplexity of the 20th century that our hearts may have the peace of
God being established upon the saving ministry of Jesus Christ and the ministry of the Holy
Spirit in the hearts of the redeemed.
We pray, O God, Thy blessing upon the ministry of every faithful servant of Thine, who has
opened the Scriptures to expound them this day. May positive fruit redound to the glory of Jesus
name. May many come to know him, whom to know as life eternal, and may the whole church of
Jesus Christ be built up, and if it should please Thee, oh God, we pray that Jesus Christ may
come again and receive us unto himself, and we pray even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.
We pray for the elders and the deacons of this assembly of Christian and pray for divine
guidance upon them. Bless, in the meetings of this week, and particularly in the youth
conference, may Thy hand be upon it for spiritual edification and blessing, and for Lord those
who are ill, or who are troubled, who need to the consolation of God, we pray for them, and pray
that Thy ministry to them may be a ministry of peace and happiness and joy in the Holy Spirit
under guard and strengthen and establish. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.
[Message] Our subject for today, as we turn again to our study of Isaiah 52, 13 through chapter
53 verses 12 is “The Vicarious Messiah.” The passage that we have read for our Scripture
reading this morning might well be called the Great Reversal. You’ll remember that when Jesus

61. was here upon the earth, that Israel, ignorantly and self confidently assumed responsibility for
Messiah’s death by shouting, “His blood be upon us, and upon our children.” Israel of the future,
according to our text, then enlightened shall humbly accept guilt by crying out, “But he was
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace,
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.”
Now, that surely is the great reversal. His blood be upon us and upon our children.” And then
Israel of the future, “But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our
iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.” The
passage is also one of the greatest of the Old Testament passages on the atonement, and it
illustrates that whatever theory we may hold of the atonement, it must include the idea of
substitution. For that is one of the great ideas of this section. When we think of the atonement,
and how Jesus Christ died for us, we think of the debate that has raged down through the
centuries. There have been three well-known theological answers to the questions of Christ’s
atonement. One of them is the answer that Peter Abelard gave. His theory, best known as the
moral influence theory of the atonement was this, the cross reveals the love of God, and it
produces faith and love in believers, whish is the basis of the forgiveness of sins, the moral
influence theory of the atonement.
Now, I would like to say that I do not question at all that the atonement of Jesus Christ has
exerted tremendous moral influence. As a matter of fact, it has exerted moral influence beyond
the confines of the Christian faith, and from time to time I have quote, for example Sir John
Bowring’s hymn. “In the cross of Christ I glory, towering or the wrecks of time. All the light of
sacred story, gathers round its head sublime.” There was a man who apparently was profoundly
influenced by the atonement of Jesus Christ, by the cross, but he was a Unitarian and not a
Christian, and so it is easy to see that the cross of Jesus Christ has exercised tremendous moral
influence, and as a matter of fact, there is a measure of support from the New Testament for this
theory of the atonement, at least in so far as it applies to Christians. For Peter writes in one of his
epistles, “For even here unto were you called because Christ also suffered for us.” Leaving us an
example that we should follow in his steps, and so the cross of Jesus Christ is an example for us
who are believers, but I should like to say, and say very strongly that the moral influence of the
cross of Jesus Christ is not the basis of the forgiveness of sins, and so Abelard’s theory must be
rejected, although it contains truth.
A second answer to the theory of the atonement is an answer that has been returned to popularity
in the 20th century. It has particularly returned to popularity through the writing of a little book
called, Christu Victor by Gustaf Aulen, a Scandinavian theologian. And in this book on the
atonement, Aulen has reminded us that the classic idea of the atonement was the idea that related
the saving work of Jesus Christ to the devil or to Satan, and of course we must agree that there is
a great deal in the Bible about the relationship of the work of Jesus Christ to the work of Satan.
As a matter of fact, in the first promise of the gospel there is reference to the ministry of Satan,
for we read in Genesis chapter 3 in verse 15 that the seed of the woman shall crush the serpent’s
head, and so it is obviously that in the first promise of the gospel there is a relating of the
ministry of Jesus Christ to Satan’s work, and when we turn to the New Testament, we read in
John’s epistle, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works
of the devil.”
And one of the reasons that Jesus Christ came was that he might, through the blood that he shed
upon the cross at Calvary provide a basis for the freedom of those who believe in Jesus Christ

62. from the clutches of sin and Satan. It is not only taught, by the Apostle John it is taught by the
Apostle Paul in Colossians chapter 2. It is taught by the writer of the Epistle of the Hebrews in
chapter 2 of his epistle, and so we must say that whatever theory of the atonement we have, we
must include within it the fact that Jesus Christ died with reference to the activities of Satan, and
it was through the saving work of Jesus Christ that it is possible for us to be free from sin, and
from Satan, but that does not tells us everything about the atonement, and I think, does not tell us
the most significant thing about the atonement.
Anselm, of Canterbury, many hundreds of years ago, proposed a theory of the atonement, which
is probably the most popular theory among evangelicals. It is a penal satisfaction theory. That is
that Jesus Christ died upon the cross under the judgment of God for the broken law, and that
there he by the death that he died offered a satisfaction to God, to God’s righteous and holiness,
which required death because of sin. And that Jesus Christ offered a propitiation in his death,
satisfying the holiness and righteousness of a God whose law had been broken, and he did this as
our substitute, and through the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ, we may go free. It is
expressed by our Lord himself, for example in the words, “For the Son of man not to be
ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many., a ransom for many.”
Now, I think there is a measure of truth in Abelard’s theory. I think the cross should be a moral
influence for us. It should illustrate for us, the love of Jesus Christ and the love that we should
have for other Christians, and I think there is great truth in the classic theory of the atonement,
probably first propounded by Ignatius, that Jesus Christ died with reference to sin and Satan, and
delivered us from the thralldom of the evil one, but I think that we must, if we are to adequately
explain the reasons why Jesus Christ died, we must include in our understanding of that death,
Anselm’s point, that Jesus died as a substitute. He died penally. He died under the judgment of
God, and he rendered a satisfaction to God in his holiness and righteousness, and whatever
theory we have, we must have this at the heart of it. I think that that is the only theory that will
enable us to explain, why Jesus Christ cried out, “My God, my God why hast Thou forsaken
me?” That alone explains it.
Now, I do not think I understand everything about he atonement, although I think I understand
about as much as the next person. In fact, if I were to be honest with you, I think I understand a
lot more than most people about it, [Laughter] but I would like to say this, that even I understood
more than anyone else about it, and I have some idea that perhaps that may be true. [Laughter] I
would like to say publicly and with my heart behind it that I can never, as long as I live, which is
forever, expect to understand all about the atonement of Jesus Christ. That is a transaction that
takes place, between the persons of the Trinity, which I shall never completely understand, but I
do not have to completely understand it to enjoy the benefits of it, and I enjoy the benefits of it,
even though I do not completely understand it. Just as I enjoy to the full, my lovely wife,
although I shall never hope to understand her [Laughter] as long as we live.
In one the expositions of Isaiah chapter 53, I ran across a statement by Professor Edward Young,
and he said this, “So prominent is the idea of substitution that one scholar, by no means a
conservative felt compelled to write, substitutionary suffering is expressed in this divine oracle,
in not less than five sentences. It is as though God could not do enough to make this clear.” And
with that, I agree. So I think that when we come to this passage in Isaiah 53 verses 4 through 6,
we are going to see if we see anything at all the Jesus Christ died as a substitute. He died under
the judgment of God. He provided a satisfaction for you and for me, so that I may possess
everlasting life in righteousness.

63. Now, we often think of God as a kind of namby pamby God, who turned his face, perhaps did
not exhaust his righteousness in his dealings with us, but rather overlooked his righteousness and
received us by grace. Now, I’d like to say that Jesus Christ receives us by righteousness. It was
grace that gave the Son, but our salvation is provided through righteousness, for our Lord has
born all of the judgment that is due, you and me, and because he has born it all, because the law
has been completely satisfied in the work of Jesus Christ, I do not have a salvation which God
provided by overlooking my sin, but I have a salvation which he provided by through his own
Son paying within the Godhead for my sin, and so I stand righteous before God. I have a
salvation that is a righteous salvation, and I can stand confident before God that I am accepted
because it is a righteous salvation. “Grace reigns through righteousness.” The Apostle Paul said.
It’s what we often sing in our hymns, “Oh Christ what burdens bowed Thy head, our load was
laid on Thee. Thou stoodest in the sinners stead, bearest all my ill for me. A victim lead, Thy
blood was shed. Now, there’s no load for me.” In each one of these messages on Isaiah 53, I’ve
been turning to a passage in the New Testament in order to impress upon you the fact that the
identification of the servant of Jehovah in Isaiah 53 with Jesus of Nazareth is not something that
I myself am responsible for. It is not only the teaching of the prophet Isaiah, I think I could
demonstrate that, but it is surely the teaching of the apostolic church. In the 8th chapter of the
gospel of Matthew, we have one of these texts cited. Our Lord had had a busy day. He was
engaged in the performance of miracles in order that men might see the credentials of his
Messiah ship. He had healed the centurion servant, and after the conclusion of it, Peter invited
Jesus with James, and John, so the parallel passages tell us, to come home to his house for
dinner.
Now, that showed a great deal of confidence in Peter in his wife. How would you, ladies, like to
have three unexpected guests for supper? Well, Peter brought them home. Jesus, and he brought
home James and John, so the parallel passages say. And when Jesus came into the house of
Peter, by the way, he had a wife. He had a mother-in-law also, so he had a blessing and a
problem. The first pope was married. That’s right. That’s what it says, “When Jesus was come in
to Peter’s house, he saw his Peter’s wife’s mother. Laid and sick of a fever.” It must have
somewhat sudden. I wonder how Peter felt? Did he have mixed emotions when he came in?
Someone has said, “Mixed emotions is when you see your mother-in-law driving your new
Cadillac over a cliff.” [Laughter] There was an Englishmen in the crowd. He just got the joke
just a minute ago. [Laughter]
And so when he was there, you know the text interestingly enough states in the other parallel that
they besought Jesus to heal her, and I think that Peter responded. He turned to the Lord and said,
“Lord, will you not heal my mother in law?” And others too chimed in, and Jesus did. And then
Matthew says, when the evening was come they brought unto him many that were possessed
with demons, and he cast out the spirits with the word, and healed all that were sick, and
Matthew the evangelist adds, that it might be fulfilled, fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the
prophet saying, “He himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.” And so in the ministry
of the Lord Jesus Matthew the evangelist sees the fulfillment of the prophecy of the servant of
Jehovah in Isaiah chapter 53 verses 4. It is Matthew’s way of saying, “This is the servant of
Jehovah, and healed the sickness in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 53.”
Sometimes people ask me is healing in the atonement?” I always reply very quickly, “Yes,
healing is in the atonement.” That does not mean of course that I may expect to have healing
now, but healing is in the atonement. My body is sick. Oh, I don’t mean it in the sense that we

64. ordinarily use the term. I’m feeling very well this morning, thank you, but my body is sick. As a
matter of fact, it has a deadly disease it’s fatal, and I shall die someday, if Jesus Christ does not
come. As a matter of fact, Paul says, “That I am dying.” I’m in process, but I know that since I
have believed in Jesus Christ, the day is coming when by the resurrection I shall receive a new
body, which shall never die. A better one than the one I have, though I’m kind of proud of the
one I’ve got. [Laughter] I’m being honest with you this morning. [Laughter]
Now, you see, healing is in the atonement because it is by virtue of that which Jesus Christ did
when he died on the cross that I’m to have a resurrection body, like his own glorious body, but
Paul tells us that we do not expect to have that healing now. It comes at the resurrection, so
healing is in the atonement for sin, suffering, ill. Sickness is the product of sin, the product of
original sin, and sin. We are sick because we are sinful. Every time you get up and you feel sick,
you should be reminded of the fact that Adam fell, and you have fallen in him.
Now, Jesus came healing sickness. He could not do that were it not for the fact that he should go
to the cross at Calvary and die, but he did it on the basis of what he would do at Calvary’s cross,
and Matthew sees the identification. He healed of the sickness, which was in Peter’s house
because he would die for sin, and thus manifested himself as the suffering servant of Jehovah.
Now, let’s look at the three verses. In the first verse the fourth one, we have Israel’s confusion,
as they express it. In the next verse, the fifth, we have Israel’s conviction, and in the sixth,
Israel’s confession. Remember last time, as we began our study of the 53rd chapter, I mentioned
to you that this is Israel’s great potential confession which she as a redeemed remnant shall make
in the future at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. That is when this prophecy shall be fulfilled,
in it’s ultimate fulfillment. Remember the Bible states that Jesus Christ shall come to the earth at
his Second Advent after the church has been called up to meet him in the air, and after the great
tribulation period upon the earth, that Jesus shall come to the earth, and Israel, the nation, shall
look unto him whom they have pierced, and they shall morn for him as one morns for his only
child. The nation shall be converted in a day. The remnant shall turn in faith to the one whom
Israel crucified, and they shall lament their past history. What shall they say? What is the content
of that lament? What are the words that make up the morning? Well, they are given us here in
Isaiah chapter 53. These are the words that Israel shall say at that time.
Now, I know this because in the Hebrew text, the verbs from verse 2 through verse 9 are almost
entirely in the past tense, and so the prophet is carried forward by the Spirit of God into the
future to the Second Advent of Jesus Christ and he is given an ear to hear the things that Israel
shall say in the future, and this is what they shall say,
“Who believed our report, the message that men to us? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? For he grew up before him like a tender plant, and like a root out of a dry ground. He
had no form no comeliness, and when we should see him, or when we saw him there was no
beauty that we should have desired him. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows
and acquainted of grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and, we
esteemed him not. Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was
bruised for our iniquities.”
This is Israel of the future in their great lament speaking of their reaction at the Second Advent
of the Lord Jesus to his First Advent, when he came as the lowly Son of man, and notice in the
first part of that fourth verse, “their faith now,” that is at the Second Advent, “surely” that word

65. it eh Hebrew text is a word that is really an exclamation to emphasize the unexpected. “He was
despised and we esteemed him not, surely unexpectedly,” exclamatorily they say, “surely he has
born our grief’s and carried our sorrows.”
You know, there are things that affect me very much, I’m not really a very emotional man, but I
think I am most effected when I hear the story of someone’s conversion, and if you want to make
a tear come to my eyes, it’s much easier to do it by telling me the touching story of the
conversion of someone who has come to our Lord and Savior, and has come to know him whom
to know is life eternal, and some of the stories of the conversion of the saints of the word of God
and some of the stories of the conversions of the saints who are not in the word of God, these are
the things that really touch me, and in think that I am going to have a good old cry at the Second
Advent of Jesus Christ. When the whole of that redeemed remnant of Israel exclaims together
this great penitential confession, and I think is shall cry for joy as I see what God is going to do.
Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows.
You know that word bear is a word that I never ceases to associate with a great passage in the
Old Testament. It’s the Hebrew word, nasa. It means to bear. Some times it means to bear away,
and it’s used in the 16th chapter of the book of Leviticus in the great ritual of the day of
atonement. Remember when the high priest came out with the two goats, and killed the one goat.
Took the blood from it. Went into the holy place, into the holiest of all. Sprinkled the blood on
the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat in order to provide a satisfaction for one year. God’s
broken law requires death, and that’s what that taught. Then the second goat was taken, and over
it the high priest confessed the sins of the children so Israel, and he sent that goat off into the
wilderness by the hand of a fit man to a land not inhabited, but Moses put it this way. He said
that goat shall bear nasa shall nasa of the children of Israel off into the wilderness to a land not
inhabited. God’s showing by this that through the death of Jesus Christ to come, not only was his
righteousness satisfied, but sins were removed, born away, and that’s the word that’s used here.
“Surely he hath born our griefs,” born them away.
John the Baptist, when he saw Jesus, said, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away, beareth
away the sin of the world, and carried our sorrows or our pains, yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God and afflicted.” That’s their faith at the first coming. Isn’t it interesting that Israel,
at the first coming, thought him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted? You know, there’s a
message for Christians in this. Very often men think that pain means that we have committed
some sin. As a matter of fact our English word pain, is derived from a Latin word poena, which
means penalty or punishment, and so the very word pain, itself by it’s derivation suggests
penalty or punishment. When a man suffers pain, the idea originally was, he’s done something
wrong. That’s his penalty. That’s his punishment. He suffered. And have you ever noticed this
about Christians? That when another Christian falls into difficulty what is the first thought that
often comes into our minds? He’s done something wrong. He’s disobeyed the Lord in some way.
Now, you’ve never thought that, never thought that at all? You are sitting very piously this
morning. [Laughter] Reminds me of Lucy. I love that strip that Mr. Schultz had about a year or
so ago, when Linus had the sliver in his finger, and he was standing there with the sliver in his
finger holding it like this, and Lucy says, “What’s the matter with you?” And his tongue is kind
of hanging out of his mouth, I think as I remember. And he says, “I have a sliver in my finger.”
And Lucy says, isn’t she a lovely little girl? [Laughter] And Lucy says, “Ah, ha that means you
are being punished for something. What have you done wrong lately?” And Linus says, “I
haven’t’ done anything wrong.” “You have a sliver, haven’t you? That’s a misfortunate, isn’t it?

66. You are being punished with misfortune because you’ve been bad.” And Linus, now the
perspiration’s flowing off of his face, and his tongue’s out of his mouth, and Charlie Brown
interrupts, and he said, “Now, wait a minute. Now, wait a minute, does” And Lucy wont’ even
allow him to talk. She said, “What do you know about it Charlie Brown? This is a sign. This is a
direct sign of punishment. Linus has done something wrong, very wrong, and now he has to
suffer misfortune. I know all about these things. I know that.” And Linus says, “It’s out. I just
popped out.” [Laughter] And Lucy turns in the last panel, and she walks off like a thundercloud
with a scowl on her face, and Linus is very happily and triumphantly he says after her, “Thus
endeth the theological lesson for today.” [Laughter]
Now, Mr. Schultz has captured a lot of truth in that. You see, that’s the attitude that people have
about misfortune, and pain, and sickness. It’s because we’ve done something wrong, and Israel
confesses at the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus that that’s what they regarded him as at his
First Advent. “Surely he hath born our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God and affiliated.” We thought that the reason that he suffered was because
he was a blasphemer. That word stricken is a word that was used of Uzziah’s leprosy, and some
have mistakenly though that Jesus had leprosy. That is figurative language. “He was like a
leper.” That’s the way we regarded him. We wouldn’t have anything to do with him because we
figured that the curse of God was upon him. Cursed is everyone that hangeth upon a tree, and he
hung upon a tree.
The Jews called him pasha, the transgressor. The Talmud links him with Titus and Balum in hell.
“We esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.” And down to this present day, the
great majority of Judaism still regards him as under the judgment of God. Talui, the hanged one,
and unfortunately the great majority of the Gentiles do to, if they ever bother to think about him
at all.
Now, Israel confesses their conviction in verse 5, “but he was wounded, yet we, but he was
wounded for our transgressions.” That word means pierced. “But he was pierced for our
transgressions.” Pierced, what does that suggest? Why that suggests the cross explicitly.
Remember in the Psalms the 22 Psalm about the 16th verse the psalmist writes, “Thou hast
pierced my hands and my feet. And Israel in the future shall look unto him whom they have
pierced.” And here we read, “But he was pierced for our transgressions.” Chalal means “to
pierce,” and I am reminded of our Lord hanging upon the cross when the soldiers came, and they
plunged the spear into his side. They pierced his side, and forthwith their came out blood and
water. But in the future Israel shall confess that he was pierced for hitter transgressions, and then
they shall sing, “Rock of ages cleft for me. Let me hide myself in Thee. Let the water and the
blood from Thy ribbon side, which flowed. Be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath, and
make me pure.” And they say, he was bruised or battered for our iniquities, and I think
immediately of the promise in Genesis chapter 3, in verse 15, “He was crushed,” that’s the
meaning of the word here. “He was crushed for our iniquities,” and Moses said, “The seed of the
woman shall crush the serpent’s head, and the serpent shall crush his heal.” A reference to the
fact that Satan’s wound should be fatal at the cross but Jesus’ wound should not. He should
recover from it in resurrection. And so he was crushed for our iniquities. “The chastisement of
our peace, the chastisement which leads to our peace, was upon him, and with his stripes we are
healed.”
Now, you can see a progress in their understanding of the ministry of our Lord in this one verse
the 5th. They begin by reference to their penal consequences of their sins. They call them

67. transgressions, and iniquities. Then they move to the vicarious character of his sufferings. The
chastisement of our peace was laid on him, and finally they conclude with the redemptive value
of them. “With his stripes we are healed.” By the way, did you notice too, it says, “With his
stripes, with his stripes, with his stripes, we are healed.” Not with his stripes, plus our faith. Not
with his stripes plus our repentance, with his stripes we are healed. Men are not saved because of
their faith. Men are saved because of Jesus Christ and his saving work. It is our Lord who saves
us, not our faith. It is not our repentance that saves us. It is our Lord’s work. That is the saving
work that becomes ours through the instrumentality of faith. Becomes our through the
instrumentality of a God produced faith and repentance, but the salvation is of the Lord, it is of
the Lord from beginning to end. It is his salvation. “With his stripes we are healed.” Not with our
faith, with his stripes.
And now, finally in the 6th verse, Israel confesses, “All we like sheep have gone astray.” I love
this confession. Do you know why? Because it’s completely unreserved. “All we like sheep have
gone astray.” And it’s a very thoughtful confession too. He does not say, “All we like oxen,”
because oxen at least know their owner. An ass knows his masters crib. Isaiah says in the first
chapter, but what about a sheep? Why a sheep is so dumb, it doesn’t even know to whom it
belongs. Isn’t that a wonderful term for Christians, sheep. That’s God’s way of saying we are
dumb, just as dumb as a sheep. “All we like sheep have gone astray.”
You know, a sheep has a wonderful way of finding the way to get away from the Lord or it’s
master, it’s shepherd. The sheep will wonder over to the fence, and find a way through that fence
when no one else could possibly see it, and it will get outside, and it will never be able to find
it’s way back. It’s amazing about sheep, and I’ve noticed that about Christians too. They can find
ways to get away from the Lord, and it seems also that they can never find their way back, and so
he has to go out as the Great Shepherd and bring us back. “All we like sheep have gone astray.”
That’s what we are just sheep, dumb sheep. That’s why Peter says, “We were as sheep going
astray, but have now been returned to the shepherd and bishop of our souls.” Wondering sheep
that the Great Shepherd has called back into his foul.
“All we like sheep have gone astray.” Universal for everyone mentioned. All the redeemed of
Israel in the future, were sheep going astray, so they say. They who have come to him confess
that they were going far from him. Not only that, did you notice our text says, “We have turned
everyone to his own way.” Not only are we universally like sheep going astray, but each one of
us seems to have his own special sin. It’s almost as if every one of us has aggravated God in a
special way. I don’t think we’ll ever get to heaven, any of us unless we have deep down in our
hearts the conviction, there never has been a sinner like me.
Paul said he was less than lest of all the saints, but his expression was the expression of every
true Christian. For every true Christian knows deep down in his heart that he has offended a Holy
God. He has run from him like a sheep going astray, and deep down within him he feels that he
himself is the greatest of sinners. Don’t you? We’ve turned everyone to his own way, special,
something special that I know about. Then he says, “And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all, us all who are near redeemed.” It has been laid upon him, and so it’s almost as if the
prophet thrown into the future by this vial figure describes the clouds of heaven gathering in their
blackness in all of the places from the east, west, north and south, all gathering in judgment at
once, but then the judgment is brought upon the one man on Calvary’s cross, and there a tempest
of judgment poured forth from God. God the Father caused his own Son to cry out, “My God,
my God why hast Thou forsaken me?” Because our sin was upon him. The Lord hath laid on him

68. the iniquity of us all, not I, the Lord. “Thou hast brought me into the dust of death.” The psalmist
said. The iniquity of us all upon him.
May I close by just commenting upon this? I began by saying that in this chapter we have a great
chapter on the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ. Have you noticed the little pronouns “our”
“we” “us” about ten times in these few verses? The substitutionary suffering of Jesus Christ is so
plainly taught in the word of God that it is difficult for me to understand how someone cannot
see it. May I take just a moment or two of your time to read a statement by one of our
outstanding theologians of the 20th Century? This man was a bishop. One of the first six
presidents, elected by the World Council of Churches, and in the midst of something he wrote he
denies this substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, but further he goes on to say that the God
who would be presented in such a way as that is not a God at all. Listen to what he says.
“[Name indistinct] tells of a father and son at church. “The aged rector read from the Old
Testament and the boy learned of the terrible God who sent plagues upon the people and created
fiery serpents to assault them. That night when the father passed the boys bedroom, the boy
called him and put his arms around his father’s neck, and drawing him close, said, “Father you
hate Jehovah. So do I. I loathe him, dirty bully.” Our bishop continues, “We’ve long since
rejected a conception of reconciliation associated historically with the idea of a deity that is
loathsome. God, for us cannot be thought of as an angry avenging being, who because of Adam’s
sin must have his chelonian pound of flesh. No wonder the honest boy, in justifiable repugnance
could say, “dirty bully,” who is saying concerning the substitutionary theory of the atonement,
taught so plainly in the word of God that such a God as is presented by these texts of Scripture is
a dirty bully.” Then he adds, “It simply does not make sense to me. It is rather an offense it
offends my moral sense.”
And so I should like to say to you, Bishop Oxtum, and any other bishop or any other preacher or
any other individual who regards the saving ministry of our Lord Jesus, his vicarious
substitutionary penal satisfactory work for me, I should like to say to you that your thoughts of
God as Luther said to Erasmus are too human. That when we come to the things of God we are
not to think like human beings, we are to think like God, and when we come to understand the
things of the word of God, by the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment, we shall find them to be
imminently intelligible, and that they speak to the hearts of men with a power that comes form
God the Holy Spirit, and when men see it they are blessed, and they are changed they are given,
new life and new birth, and their lives are transformed, and they glorify God, it is not only
imminently intelligible, but it is imminently practical. And men come to love the God who is a
Great Shepherd for the sheep.
He said, “All we like sheep have gone astray, but the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us
all.” The remedy corresponds to the perversity. I wish I had time to talk about why this great plan
of salvation is imminently just. If I did I would like to say just briefly some things like this. It’s
something God did. It must be just. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? I should like to
remind you that Jesus died voluntarily. He was not forced to die for me. I should like to also
remind you that he is called the shepherd, and I am called his sheep. There is a union between us,
and he has voluntarily linked himself up with me, so that my destiny is his, and his is mine. It’s
like my wife. If tomorrow she should leave home, and go to Neiman Marcus, and buy lots of
things, and come home to me and throw a lot of bills in my face, and say, “Well, how do like
this?” I’d pay them because she’s bound up with me. And then I remember that he is my

69. representative, the last Adam. Ah, how wonderful it is that there is one to come to take my
judgment and to die for me, for otherwise, I should be lost forever.
Joseph Cook in a story that I love, in the great parliament of religions that took place at Chicago,
sixty or seventy years ago now, where practically every known religion was represented asked
for just a few minutes of time, and he stood up in the midst of the great company of
representatives of all of the religions and sects that were there, and he said, “Let me give you an
example.” And he said, “I want to introduce you to a woman with a great sorrow. Bloodstains are
on her hands, and nothing will remove them. She has committed murder. She has committed
other crimes. She has been driven to desperation in her distress. Is there anything in your religion
that will remove her sin, and give her peace?”
And he stopped, and he looked at the great company of people that were there, and everybody
was silent, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, and so on. They all were silent, and finally, he raised his
eyes heaven wards, and Dr. Cook said, “I’ll ask another. John, John the Apostle, can you tell me
anything that will help this woman?” And then he said, “I hear John speaking. I hear John’s
voice. I hear these words. The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son cleanesth us from all sin, and
Christianity offers the forgiveness of sins through the substitutionary ministry of Jesus of
Nazareth, the suffering servant of Jehovah.” Have you put your trust in him? Have you believed
in him? The moment you put your trust in him you shall find life. You shall be born again. You
shall pass from death into life, from darkness into light. The forgiveness of sins, justification of
life, you become a child of God. May God help you to respond. Shall we stand for the
benediction?
[Prayer] Father, we thank Thee for the ministry of our great shepherded of the sheep who first of
all gave his life for us, and who now lives to perfect his life within us the redeemed, and Father,
we pray for any in this auditorium who may not know him. Oh Father, minister to them through
the Spirit, and open their hearts to him. May grace, mercy and peace be in and abide with us until
Jesus comes again. We ask in his name. Amen.


ALEXANDER MACLAREN

THE SUFFERING SERVANT —II
‘Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. 5. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for
our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.
6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord
hath laid (made to light) on Him the iniquity of us all.’—ISAIAH liii. 4-6.
The note struck lightly in the close of the preceding paragraph becomes dominant here. One
notes the accumulation of expressions for suffering, crowded into these verses—griefs, sorrows,
wounded, bruised, smitten, chastisement, stripes. One notes that the cause of all this multiform
infliction is given with like emphasis of reiteration—our griefs, our sorrows, and that these

70. afflictions are invested with a still more tragic and mysterious aspect, by being traced to our
transgressions, our iniquities. Finally, the deepest word of all is spoken when the whole mystery
of the servant’s sufferings is referred to Jehovah’s making the universal iniquity to lie, like a
crushing burden, on Him.
I. The Burdened Servant.
It is to be kept in view that the ‘griefs’ which the servant is here described as bearing are literally
‘sicknesses,’ and that, similarly, the ‘sorrows’ may be diseases. Matthew in his quotation of the
verse (viii. 17) takes the words to refer to bodily ailments, and finds their ‘fulfilment’ in Christ’s
miracles of healing. And that interpretation is part of the whole truth, for Hebrew thought drew
no such sharp line of distinction between diseases of the body and those of the soul as we are
accustomed to draw. All sickness was taken to be the consequence of sin, and the intimate
connection between the two was, as it were, set forth for all forms of bodily disease by the
elaborate treatment prescribed for leprosy, as pre-eminently fitted to stand as type of the whole.
But the fulfilment through the miracles is but a parable of the deeper fulfilment in regard to the
more virulent and deadly diseases of the soul. Sin is the sickness, as it is also the grief, which
most afflicts humanity. Of the two words expressing the Servant’s taking their burden on His
shoulders, the former implies not only the taking of it but the bearing of it away, and the latter
emphasises the weight of the load.
Following Matthew’s lead, we may regard Christ’s miracles of healing as one form of His
fulfilment of the prophecy, in which the principles that shape all the forms are at work, and
which, therefore, may stand as a kind of pictorial illustration of the way in which He bears and
bears away the heavier burden of sin. And one point which comes out clearly is that, in these acts
of healing, He felt the weight of the affliction that He took away. Even in that region, the
condition of ability to remove it, was identifying Himself with the sorrow. Did He not ‘sigh and
look up’ in silent appeal to heaven before He could say, Ephphatha? Did He not groan in Himself
before He sent the voice into the tomb which the dead heard? His miracles were not easy, though
He had all power, for He felt all that the sufferers felt, by the identifying power of the
unparalleled sympathy of a pure nature. In that region His pain on account of the sufferers stood
in vital relation with His power to end their sufferings. The load must gall His shoulders, ere He
could bear it away from theirs.
But the same principles as apply to these deeds of mercy done on diseases apply to all His deeds
of deliverance from sorrow and from sin. In Him is set forth in highest fashion the condition of
all brotherly help and alleviation. Whoever would lighten a brother’s load must stoop his own
shoulders to carry it. And whilst there is an element in our Lord’s sufferings, as the text passes
on to say, which is not explained by the analogy with what is required from all human succourers
and healers, the extent to which the lower experience of such corresponds with His unique work
should always be made prominent in our devout meditations.
II. The Servant’s sufferings in their reason, their intensity, and their issue.
The same measure that was meted out to Job by his so-called friends was measured to the
servant, and at the Impulse of the same heartless doctrinal prepossession. He must have been had
to suffer so much; that is the rough and ready verdict of the self-righteous. With crashing
emphasis, that complacent explanation of the Servant’s sufferings and their own prosperity is
shivered to atoms, by the statement of the true reason for both the one and the other. You thought

71. that He was afflicted because He was bad and you were spared because you were good—no, He
was afflicted because you were bad, and you were spared because He was afflicted.
The reason for the Servant’s sufferings was ‘our transgressions.’ More is suggested now than
sympathetic identification with others’ sorrows. This is an actual bearing of the consequences of
sins which He had not committed, and that not merely as an innocent man may be overwhelmed
by the flood of evil which has been let loose by others’ sins to sweep over the earth. The blow
that wounds Him is struck directly and solely at Him. He is not entangled in a widespread
calamity, but is the only victim. It is pre-supposed that all transgression leads to wounds and
bruises; but the transgressions are done by us, and the wounds and bruises fall on Him. Can the
idea of vicarious suffering be more plainly set forth?
The intensity of the Servant’s sufferings is brought home to our hearts by the accumulation of
epithets, to which reference has already been made. He was ‘wounded’ as one who is pierced by
a sharp sword; ‘bruised’ as one who is stoned to death; beaten and with livid weales on His flesh.
A background of unnamed persecutors is dimly seen. The description moves altogether in the
region of physical violence, and that violence is more than symbol.
It is no mere coincidence that the story of the Passion reproduces so many of the details of the
prophecy, for, although the fulfilment of the latter does not depend on such coincidences, they
are not to be passed by as of no importance. Former generations made too much of the physical
sufferings of Jesus; is not this generation in danger of making too little of them?
The issue of the Servant’s sufferings is presented in a startling paradox. His bruises and weales
are the causes of our being healed. His chastisement brings our peace. Surely it is very hard
work, and needs much forcing of words and much determination not to see what is set forth in as
plain light as can be conceived, to strike the idea of atonement out of this prophecy. It says as
emphatically as words can say, that we have by our sins deserved stripes, that the Servant bears
the stripes which we have deserved, and that therefore we do not bear them.
III. The deepest ground of the Servant’s sufferings.
The sad picture of humanity painted in that simile of a scattered flock lays stress on the
universality of transgression, on its divisive effect, on the solitude of sin, and on its essential
characteristic as being self-willed rejection of control. But the isolation caused by transgression
is blessedly counteracted by the concentration of the sin of all on the Servant. Men fighting for
their own hand, and living at their own pleasure, are working to the disruption of all sweet bonds
of fellowship. But God, in knitting together all the black burdens into one, and loading the
Servant with that tremendous weight, is preparing for the establishment of a more blessed unity,
in experience of the healing brought about by His sufferings.
Can one man’s ‘iniquity,’ as distinguished from the consequences of iniquity, be made to press
upon any other? It is a familiar and not very profound objection to the Christian Atonement that
guilt cannot be transferred. True, but in the first place, Christ’s nature stands in vital relations to
every man, of such intimacy that what is impossible between two of us is not impossible between
Christ and any one of us; and, secondly, much in His life, and still more in His passion, is
unintelligible unless the black mass of the world’s sin was heaped upon Him, to His own
consciousness. In that dread cry, wrung from Him as He hung there in the dark, the
consciousnesses of possessing God and of having lost Him are blended inextricably and
inexplicably. The only approach to an explanation of it is that then the world’s sin was felt by
Him, in all its terrible mass and blackness, coming between Him and God, even as our own sins

72. come, separating us from God. That grim burden not only came on Him, but was laid on Him by
God. The same idea is expressed by the prophet in that awful representation and by Jesus in that
as awful cry, ‘Why hast Thou forsaken Me?’
The prophet constructs no theory of Atonement. But no language could be chosen that would
more plainly set forth the fact of Atonement. And it is to be observed that, so far as this prophecy
is concerned, the Servant’s sole form of service is to suffer. He is not a teacher, an example, or a
benefactor, in any of the other ways in which men need help. His work is to bear our griefs and
be bruised for our healing.


The Substituted Servant, Part 1
• Sermons
• Isaiah 53:4–6
• 90-439
• Apr 29, 2012 T h e S u b s t i t u t e d S e r v a n t , P a r t 1

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We are in a study of Isaiah 53 and I would invite you to turn to Isaiah 53 at this time. This great
chapter is in many ways the heart of the Old Testament. The name Isaiah means salvation of the
Lord. Isaiah’s prophecy of 66 chapters, interestingly enough, is divided the same way the Bible
is divided. The Bible has 39 books in the Old Testament, 27 books in the New, and Isaiah has 39
books in the first half and 27 in the second half. Isaiah is the highest form and quality of Hebrew
poetry in existence.
The prophecy of Isaiah is the greatest of the Major Prophets and contains more content than all
the Minor Prophets combined. It should be said that if the New Testament had been lost and all
we had was an account of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there would be enough
explanation and theology in Isaiah 53 to lead a sinner to full salvation. It explains the death and
resurrection and exaltation of Christ. This fifty-third chapter is the Holy of Holies of the book of
Isaiah. It is amazing, it is inexhaustible, and we have been saying that all along. It is a prophecy.
It is a vision into the future given to Isaiah 700 years before Jesus came.

73. There are some remarkable visions given to the writers of Scripture and the people that we’re
familiar with in the Bible. For example, Moses was allowed a vision from Mount Nebo, looking
over the land of Israel. And he, in a sense, was able to see that land before Israel actually took
possession of it. And then Abraham, it is said of Abraham that he actually looked forward by
divine revelation and saw Christ’s day and rejoiced. Jacob looked into the very face of God at
Bethel in that wrestling experience and saw the preincarnate Christ.
The apostle Paul was lifted up to the third heaven and saw things unlawful to speak and got a
preview of what it would be like when one day after his martyrdom he entered that very heaven
he saw. And, of course, the apostle John was transported into visions again and again, visions in
the book of Revelation recorded of the future of the earth and the future in heaven as well.
Ezekiel saw the glory of God in anticipation of judgment yet to come. Peter, James, and John
stood on the Mount of Transfiguration and saw a preview of the Second Coming glory of Jesus
Christ and were stunned by it, as we well know.
But of all of these amazing visions of things yet to come, none exceeds this amazing vision of
Isaiah. And while, in a technical sense, it wasn’t a vision, as we would define a biblical vision, it
was a direct revelation. Nonetheless, contained in that direct revelation was a clear description of
the significance of the cross. Isaiah, more than anyone else, was given the privilege of seeing
more profoundly into the meaning of Calvary and the death of Jesus Christ than anyone else
before that event took place. In that sense, Isaiah becomes the gospel prophet, the prophet of the
cross. And while there are things that happened at the cross that are prophesied elsewhere in the
New Testament, nowhere does it all come together the way it does here. So that, as I said, if all
you had was the historical record of the crucifixion and resurrection, you would understand the
theology of it from this chapter alone.
Isaiah 53 then becomes a summary of the gospel in the sense that it is a summary of what is
necessary to believe for a sinner to be saved from judgment and forgiven for sin. But it’s more
than that. It is the most profound of all revelations given to a prophet. But at the same time, it is
more than just a prophecy of Calvary, more than just a prophecy of the cross of Christ. It goes
beyond that and it is set in the context of the end of human history, long after the cross, beyond
our day today, to that time in the future at the end of human history when Israel, as a nation, will
turn to Jesus Christ. They will believe in Him, they will be saved. Christ will return, destroy the
ungodly on the face of the earth, launch into His Kingdom, inaugurate the Kingdom, take
believing Israel, as well as redeemed Gentiles, into that Kingdom, and fulfill all kingdom
prophecies from the Old Testament.
So, in a sense, we’re going ahead beyond Calvary to the end of the age, and we’re hearing in this
chapter a confession of the Jews at the end of human history as they look back on the cross and
realize how wrong they were about Jesus Christ and how they misjudged that most monumental
of all events. It’s time travel, but it’s not back to the future, it’s ahead to the past, if you can
process that. What Isaiah does is he goes ahead to the far future, when Israel looks back on the
one they pierced and mourns for Him as an only Son, and a fountain of cleansing is opened to
them to cleanse them from sin and iniquity. And those are the words of Zechariah 12:10 and
13:1. He goes all the way to the end, at the time when Israel recognizes they crucified the
Messiah, the Lord of glory.
This prophecy then presents that great eschatological event, the national repentance of the Jews.
Zechariah tells us two thirds of them will not believe. They’ll be judged, purged out. But one
third of that nation will believe. If that were to happen soon, that would be a number something

74. around four to five million Jews, the salvation of the chosen nation. This is the only way that
anyone can be saved and it is the only way that Israel will be saved. There is no salvation for
anyone unless they believe the truth about Jesus Christ and the truth about the gospel of the cross
and unless they repent and embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior. And that is exactly what a future
generation of Jews will do, they will embrace Him, they will see His death as a vicarious,
substitutionary, sacrificial death for them, followed by resurrection and exaltation.
This chapter, Isaiah 53, is the confession they will make at that future time. But it is also the
confession that every saved sinner has to make. We are here because we’ve made this
confession. These are words that, in some way, have been in our minds and in our mouths, these
marvelous words. The tone of the chapter is very sad, very somber, heart breaking, sorrowful.
Why? Because that future generation of Jews is going to look back and realize that coming to
faith in Jesus Christ has taken so very long and they have loved their Messiah so, so very late.
When that day comes, this is what they will say. Let me read it to you again.
“Who has believed the message given to us, to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For
He grew up before Him like a tender shoot and like a root out of parched ground He has no
stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be
attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief. And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised and we did not esteem
Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore. And our sorrows He carried.
“Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was pierced
through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-
being fell upon Him and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on
Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb that is
led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.
By oppression and judgment He was taken away. And as for His generation, who considered that
He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of My people to whom the
stroke was due.
His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death because He
had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the Lord was pleased to crush
Him, putting Him to grief. If He would render Himself as a guilt offering He will see His
offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see and be satisfied. By His knowledge the
Righteous One, My servant, will justify the many as He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I
will allot Him a portion with the great and He will divide the booty with the strong because He
poured out Himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet He Himself bore the
sin of many and interceded for the transgressors.”
If, as some suggest, Isaiah is the greatest book in the Old Testament, chapter 53 is the greatest
chapter. Five times in that chapter the word “many” appeared, five times. Many, in this chapter,
refers to the beneficiaries of the Servant's astonishing atonement. They are the many; He is the
one. Down in verse 11, He is the Righteous One. There are many who are sinners. There is One
who is righteous. There are many who are guilty, there is one who provides a satisfactory
atonement for them.

75. Many is a word picked up by the New Testament writers, as well. Both Matthew and Mark refer
to Christ as having given His life a ransom for many. Paul in Romans 5:15 speaks of the sacrifice
of Christ for many. The writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 9:28 refers again to the fact that Christ
gave His life for many. And the idea there is many in contrast to one. And all those writers,
Matthew, Mark, Paul, and the writer of Hebrews are reaching back to Isaiah 53, without
necessarily quoting it, where you have the contrast between the One in verse 11 who is righteous
and the many who are sinners. And many are guilty, but only One is righteous.
This is a genuine confession and I want to show you why we know that. It’s characteristic of any
confession that is saving. Let me say that again. It is characteristic of any confession that is
saving. It is a true and honest confession for salvation. Listen carefully, because here the sinner
takes full responsibility for his sin. The sinner takes full responsibility for his sin. That will be
true of the national confession of Israel in the future, but it is true now today in every individual
that comes to true saving faith in Jesus Christ. There is a genuine and honest confession of sin in
which the sinner takes complete responsibility for his or her sin. In other words, blaming no one
else. Blaming someone else is as old as Adam and Eve, isn’t it? “The woman You gave me.”
But this marvelous chapter is not only full of verbs in the past tense, which tells us this is a future
generation looking back at the cross, but it is full of another linguistic feature that needs to be
identified, and that is it is loaded with first-person plural pronouns. As you listen to me read, can
you hear the echo of “we, we, we, our, our, our, us, us, us”? The problem is us. That is
acknowledged in any true act of repentance.
Yes, it is true that the Holy Spirit has to give life sovereignly for the sinner to be saved. Yes, the
Spirit of grace and supplication, as Zechariah says, must come upon the sinners in Israel and then
they can turn and believe. Yes, the power of the Holy Spirit is a requirement in regeneration to
awaken the dead sinner. And, yes, it is true that Scripture says that God has hardened the heart of
unbelievers and, in particular, hardened Israel against Him because of their unbelief.
One could assume then that a sinner would rise up and say, “It’s not my fault. The Holy Spirit
has not given me life. And on the other hand, God has hardened me. There is a negative that
causes me to be in the unbelieving condition I’m in. That is the Spirit has not given me life.
There is a positive that causes me to be in the condition I’m in and that is that I have been
hardened by God, I can’t be blamed for this.”
But there’s none of that here. However the working of the Holy Spirit and the sovereign
purposes of God come together with saving faith and repentance; however God does that in His
own vast infinite mind, the solution to resolving those things is not for the sinner to push
responsibility away from himself. In fact, it was Jesus who wept over the city of Jerusalem and
Jesus said, “I often would have gathered you but you would not.” He said, “You will not
believe.”
In Romans 10:21 Paul quotes the Old Testament, “All day long have I reached out My hands to
an obstinate and disobedient people.” They don’t blame the Holy Spirit. They don’t blame the
judgment of God. They take full responsibility for their unbelief and the condition their unbelief
has placed them. They take full responsibility for the sins that they have committed, the
transgressions and the iniquities. They take full responsibility for the effects and the
consequences of those sins, that meaning the griefs and the sorrows that fill up their lives. “It’s
all about us,” they say. And in every true and saving confession, there is no blame on anyone
else. The sinner accepts full responsibility. Every penitent must.

76. This is not just them then, this is you now and this is me. So here we have a genuine model for
true repentance. They recognize they are the many, and they are sinful, and it’s all about them,
and it’s their responsibility. And they also recognize there is the One against many who can
provide the only salvation and that one is the Righteous Servant who died in their place. That’s
the heart of this confession here.
Now as we come to verses 4 through 6, we come to the middle stanza in this song. There are five
stanzas; we’ve done two. This is the middle. We'll do two more. It’s the most important truth.
These three verses may be the most magnificent verses in the entire Old Testament. I will
confess it’s a little daunting to stand before you and try to represent these verses. I feel
inadequate and inept in doing this because they are so incomprehensible and unfathomable as to
be beyond the reach of any mind. I will do my best to set you on a course and to set you in a
direction to grasp the greatness of this portion of Scripture.
The many who are sinners, who are honestly willing to confess their sin and are consequently
genuinely saved are the ones who believe verses 4, 5 and 6. This is saving truth. And here we
have, just to follow our little outline, in stanza one, we had the startling servant, the Messiah is
called the Servant of Jehovah. We saw the startling Servant in verses 13 to 15 at the end of
chapter 52. Then last time we saw the scorned Servant, verses 1 through 3, and now we come to
the substituted Servant. Looking continually at the Servant of Jehovah, we now see Him in His
role as a substitute.
In the opening three verses, you will remember they looked at His life. The Jews will confess,
“We looked at His life and we were unimpressed, we didn’t believe the message about Him, we
didn’t believe in the arm of the Lord, that is the power of God that came in Christ so that Christ
is literally the arm of the Lord personified. How many of us actually believe? Very few. To how
many of this did this revelation come and be received with faith? Very few.” Why? “Because we
looked at His origin and He was like a sucker branch and He was like a…He was like a piece of
root in a parched ground, insignificant, utterly unimportant, unnecessary. His beginning was that
way, came out of nowhere town from nowhere family, had no influences around Him that were
religious in terms of elite people in leadership. He’s just a very common man from a very
common family in a very common town, who surrounded Himself with more common people.
He was nobody from nowhere. That was His beginning.
“And then we looked at His life and there was nothing about Him. Nothing majestic about Him,
no stately form. His appearance was nothing to attract us. There was nothing about Him that said
‘Messiah.’ And then His end was the worst. He was despised, forsaken by the rulers. He became
a man of sorrows and grief and He was so malformed, misformed, disfigured that we hide our
faces, that we hid our faces from Him, wouldn’t even look at Him. He was a horror in His end.
An inauspicious beginning, an inconsequential life, and a horrendous death, and so we despised
Him. We considered Him nothing, nobody.”
That’s the scorned Servant in verses 1 to 3 and that’s where the confession of the sinner begins.
“I was so wrong about Jesus Christ.” That’s what Israel was saying. “Were we ever wrong.” And
the transition comes in verse 4 with the first word, “Surely or truly, or verily.” This is an
exclamation. This is a sudden recognition of something unexpected, a dramatic change from the
previous perception. This is a reversal; this is spinning on their heels fast. Surely, as if to say,
“Whoa, stop in our tracks, and turn and go the other way.” Now we see our griefs He Himself
bore, our sorrows He carried. He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities,
chastened for our well-being, scourged for our healing.

77. We have a whole new view of this. Our consideration was that He was nobody. We will not have
this man to reign over us, we said. And when we had the option of Barabbas or Jesus, we said
kill Jesus, crucify Him. And now we know. Surely, He didn’t die for His own sin. He didn’t die
for His own iniquities. He didn’t die for His own transgressions. He didn’t die because He was a
blasphemer like we thought He was. He didn’t die because God killed Him for claiming deity.
He didn’t die because God killed Him because He claimed to be the Messiah when He wasn’t.
He didn’t die because He claimed equality with God.
That’s what they thought. They thought that God killed Him for His blasphemies. He was a
blasphemer, they said that, and that God killed Him as a blasphemer for His own sins and His
own iniquities, and His own transgressions, which in their mind were supreme blasphemies.
Claiming to be the Messiah, claiming to be alive before Abraham, claiming to be equal with
God, claiming to be able to raise Himself from the dead, claiming to be the Creator.
This blasphemer died by the hand of God for those horrendous, horrific sins. That’s what we
thought. Now we know. It was our griefs He bore. It was our sorrows He carried. He was
pierced, crushed, chastened, scourged for us. That is the complete reversal of how they viewed
the cross. He took our place, died in our stead, gave His life for us. Technically, we would call
this vicarious penal substitution.
Finally as a nation they’re going to see it and believe it. And they’re going to be saved in that
hour. These three verses, by the way, verses 4, 5 and 6, are so connected that they’re like
concentric circles. They kind of weave around and around each other. And each of them
mentions the wrongs and the provision of the Servant to provide atonement for those wrongs,
and they do cycle around the same theme. But they are so profoundly rich that we can’t even
work our way through them this morning, so we’ll have to finish next time. They understand
how wrong they were.
They had a wrong attitude, manifest in wrong behavior…listen…coming from their nature.
Repentance grasps all three. True repentance takes the recognition that we think wrong, we act
wrong, because we are profoundly corrupt in nature. Verse 4 is about their wrong attitudes, verse
5 is about their wrong behavior and verse 6 is about their wrong nature. They go all the way
down deep. Our attitude was wrong, terribly wrong. We esteemed Him, stricken, smitten of God
and afflicted. That’s wrong. We thought He was being punished for His own iniquity. Our
behaviors were wrong, transgressions, iniquities. But mostly because our nature is wrong. Verse
6 is about nature. We’re like sheep who have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.
You say, “In what sense is that speaking of nature?” Sheep do what sheep do. That’s the analogy.
They wander off into danger. That was us. Our nature was wrong and we went our own way. So
they have come to a place, this future generation of Jews, that every sinner must come to, to be
saved, in which you understand that you have to change your mind about Christ, how you think
about Christ. You have to recognize the transgressions and iniquities that mark your behavior
and the subsequent alienation from God and soul sickness that you possess. And then you must
recognize that there’s a problem deep down, profoundly embedded in your humanity. You’re a
sinner. And that’s what you have here. The awakening is stunning. They get it. Our griefs He
Himself bore, our sorrows He carried. We ourselves, we are the issue here. Our griefs.
The word for “griefs” is sickness. It’s diseases, infirmities, calamities, pretty broad word. And
here sins are viewed from the perspective of their effects. Sins are viewed from the perspective
of what they produce, the conditions that come from sin. Life becomes full of sickness, disease,

78. infirmity, calamity. These are the griefs. And it’s a word that looks mostly at the objective, the
outside, the agonies and struggles and issues that we deal with in life. Our griefs He Himself
bore. The word “bore” means to lift up, pick up and place on oneself. He picked up all of that
that sin produced and put it on Himself.
And then they say it another way. Our sorrows, that’s the word for pains, that talks more about
the subjective or the inward. Griefs is a word that refers to the outward effects of sin, and
sorrows is a word that refers mostly to the inward effect of sin. But sin is viewed here not as a
moral entity, which the word “sin” would convey, but rather from the distress and horrors and
issues of life that flow out of sin. He picked up sin with all that it produces and carried it, put it
on Himself, carried it. Well, we know He carried it to the cross and He bore the full punishment
of God. The Lord was pleased to crush Him, verse 10 says. He took the punishment for our sin
and thus carried the full weight of sin and all its effects away.
All through the Old Testament there are warnings to the Jewish people, and to all people for that
matter, that to violate God’s Law will make you guilty. In fact, there’s a little phrase, “Bear their
guilt, bear their guilt,” and you find that little phrase throughout the book of Leviticus. You find
it in Ezekiel chapter 4, that people who violate the Law of God will bear their guilt and thus be
punished. So here the Servant, the Messiah takes on the full burden of the sinner’s guilt and takes
on the full effects of sin, places them all upon Himself and pays in full the penalty for those sins
and thus carries them away.
You remember in Leviticus 16 that when atonement was made, one animal was killed and one
animal was kept alive. And the priests would lay their hands on that one animal, the scapegoat,
as if to place all the sins of the people on the scapegoat and he would be sent out into the
wilderness, never to return again, never. Jesus is the scapegoat. He picks up all our sin, pays the
penalty in full. He’s the sacrificial animal as well, and He’s the scapegoat and carries them all
away.
This is not saying Jesus sympathetically feels our pain. It’s not saying that. It is that He takes our
sin and its full punishment, pays for it in full, and thus brings to an end the reign of sin in our
lives with all of its effects, and all of its manifestations, all of its griefs, and all of its sorrows.
And one day we’ll enter into the fullness of that, won’t we? One day when we enter into heaven,
no more sin and no more effects. We should have suffered for our sins, but He did. He took away
from us all that belonged to us, all that we should have felt by way of judgment, pain,
devastation, even eternal punishment and put it on Himself. And thus He shifted the load
completely away from us.
He takes our sin and removes it, having paid for it in full. Now that’s the prophecy of Isaiah
about this one who will come. And you’re going to see that same truth reiterated in the remaining
sections of this great chapter because it is the cardinal truth. Verse 8, for example, “He was cut
off out of the land of the living for the transgression of My people to whom the stroke was due.”
The question then is, “Who is this person? Who is this person? Who is this person who gathers
up sin and all its manifestation and all its effects and pays in full the punishment that satisfies the
judgment and the wrath of God, and then takes all of it and carries it away, never to see it again?
Who is this person who does that?”
Peter, no doubt, having this passage in mind, tells us in 1 Peter 2, speaking of Christ, he says of
Christ, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross. And by His wounds you were
healed.” That’s a direct allusion to Isaiah 53. It can be no one but Christ. No one but Jesus Christ

79. can fulfill this. Israel will come to that knowledge; come to that awareness, weeping and wailing
in repentance, having seen the truth about the Servant, Messiah, Yeshua, Jesus. And they will
testify to the massive error that they have made. Generations have made it; for thousands of
years they have made this error. And here they declare how wrong they were. It wasn’t for His
sin that He suffered. It was for their sin.
And then comes this confession, “Yet…reaching back…we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
smitten of God and afflicted.” And there’s the confession, that we thought God was punishing
Him for His own sins. We considered or reckoned Him stricken, smitten, afflicted by God for
blasphemy. The word “God” is Elohim and all those verbs connect with Elohim. Stricken by
God, smitten by God, afflicted by God, we thought God was punishing Him for His sins.
And the language here is very strong. The word “stricken” is to strike violently, a very violent
word used in Exodus 11:1 of the plagues. The word “smitten” means basically to beat someone
even to death. And the word “afflicted” a general word, to be humiliated, to be degraded, to be
destroyed. So we thought that when He was being smashed and beaten and degraded and
humiliated, that this was God doing it because He was a blasphemer. And by the way, that is still
the Jewish assessment today. The Jewish assessment is just that today. That’s their view. But
there are Jews who see the truth, aren’t there? Some of you. And you say that’s what we thought
but now we know different.
And they will, some day in the future, know that this is the Lamb of God chosen by Him to be
the vicarious substitute bearing their sins. They get it, and so in verse 5 they will say He was
pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, chastened for our well-being, scourged
for our healing. This is such marvelous language here, very graphic. The words pierced, crushed,
chastened, or punished, scourged, very strong words. Let’s talk about those for a moment.
The prophet has no knowledge of the cross; He doesn’t know what’s going to happen 700 years
hence. The Spirit of God leads Him to pick these words and we could say that these are
metaphoric words in some way, or these are sort of general words that saying pierced, crushed,
punished, scourged, simply trying to pick words that are graphic and dramatic and sort of
repulsive to think about someone being treated this way, that they’re intended to be somewhat
general. And you would be right about that.
There are Hebrew scholars that suggest that the word pierced, for example, is the strongest
Hebrew expression for violent death. So that if you look at it in a general sense, you could say,
“Well, whoever this is, He’s going to have a violent death,” and you would be right. And you
could look at the word “crushed,” and that word can refer to anything from being trampled to
death, literally trampled, crushed under foot, such as Lamentations 3:34, all the way to being
battered and bruised. That would be a lesser of it. It could be simply a broad word for
somebody’s life being crushed out. But it can be anything, as I said, from being trampled to
death to being severely bruised.
And then the word chastisement, very interesting word. It is the only Hebrew word to express
punishment, and punishment is a technical term. It’s a legal term in some sense. And you could
say, “Well, this definitely was a punishment, generally speaking,” and you would be correct
about that. And the word “scourged” could also be viewed in somewhat of a general sense.
Scourging meaning lashing someone, slashing someone, inflicting wounds on someone. They
could be general words and perhaps when Isaiah wrote that, that’s what he thought. Well this
is…this is just picking all the worst possible descriptions of a horrific, horrendous death.

80. But, the truth of the matter is, they’re not just general terms because every one of them
specifically happened to Jesus. He was pierced five times, both feet, both hands and His side.
Psalm 22 is a Psalm that looks forward to the cross. Psalm 22 begins, “My God, My God, why
have You forsaken Me?” The very words Jesus said on the cross. But in Psalm 22:16 the
psalmist writes, “They pierced My hands and feet.” Zechariah 12:10, Zechariah says, “They’ll
look on Him whom they’ve pierced.” And they actually pierced Jesus on the cross. That actually
happened. In John 19 there are a couple of verses that are tied to this. Verse 34, John 19, “One of
the soldiers pierced His side with a sphere and immediately blood and water came out.” Verse 37
says, “And another Scripture is fulfilled, they shall look on Him whom they pierced.” Yes, He
was pierced. How specific a prophecy is that?
What about the word crushed? It can refer, as I said, to anything from a sort of severe bruising to
being trampled to death. Listen, we know what happened to Jesus. We know that He was
slapped. We know that He was punched in the face, John 19:3. And we also know, according to
Matthew 27 verse 30, that the Romans took sticks and beat Him in the face with sticks. Punching
Him in the face, slapping Him in the face, and beating His head and His face with sticks would
raise bruises and welts that would be within the framework of that word “crushed.”
What about the next one, chastening, as I said the Hebrew word for punishment. Was His
execution a form of punishment? Absolutely it was. There was an indictment of Him. You
remember the Jews called Him together and brought in false witnesses to tell lies against Him.
The indictment went from place to place in the house of Annas and Caiaphas, they passed Him
over to Herod, they passed Him back, mock series of trials in which they tried to bring that
indictment to an actual crime. And then they wanted an execution so they put Him before Pilate.
And Pilate was intimidated and blackmailed into sentencing Jesus to death, and His execution
was an official punishment by the government of Rome. It was a punishment…result of an
indictment, a trial, a verdict, a sentence; a formal punishment was carried out.
And what about the word “scourging”? Is that just a generic term? Well according to Mark
15:15, it says He was scourged. We all know the story of that. Heavy stick with leather thongs
extending from it, embedded with bone and rock and glass, lacerating His body over and over
and over again.
The Jews knew all that. They know it now. They know it today. They know about this man Jesus
who was pierced and bruised and punished and scourged. They know that very well. It’s in the
record. But on the day of national salvation, they’re going to look back and realize that God did
not do that to Him because it was God who crushed Him. It was God but God did not do that to
Him because of His own sins, but He did it to Him because of their sins. That’s the difference.
They will confess…I love this…for our transgressions, for our iniquities, for our well-being, for
our healing.
That’s what’s going to happen someday. They’re going to confess that. In the meantime, folks,
the only way you can ever be saved is to confess it now. Now. I can’t go any further because I’m
out of time, so I want you to turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. In 2 Corinthians chapter 6, Paul
borrows from the forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah in the second verse. And in Isaiah 49 we read, “At
the acceptable time, I listened to you. On the day of salvation I helped you.” Isaiah said that
to…a word from the Lord to the people, “This is a day when I will listen; this is a day of
salvation when I will help.” And then Paul pulls it into the present, and says, “But now is the
acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.”

81. Israel’s national salvation, that’s future…at the end of a time called the Tribulation. But now is
the day of salvation. Now is the acceptable time for you, Jew or Gentile. The sad reality is that
between the death of Christ and the salvation of Israel in the future, generation after generation
of unbelieving Jews have gone into eternal punishment for which there is no remedy. And
generation after generation and nation after nation of Gentile unbelievers have gone into eternal
punishment for which there is no remedy.
In the end, there will be a revival in Israel. In the end, in that same period of time, there will be a
massive revival, a massive expanse of the gospel, angels in the heavens, according to the book of
Revelation, will preach the gospel, two witnesses who die and rise again will preach the gospel,
144,000 Jews will preach the gospel, 12,000 from every tribe. Israel will come to faith, that
people will come to faith from every tongue and tribe and people and nation. There will be a
great gospel outpouring.
People will be saved in the end. But between now and then, people continue to die and perish
without remedy forever. And now is the acceptable time for you. Now is the day of salvation.
This is available if you will receive the gift. Maybe this is that “surely” moment. We were wrong
about Him. It was for us that He died. He took our griefs, our sorrows, our sickness, our
calamities, our disasters, and our sin, paid for all the sin and carried away all its effects forever.
This is your day to put your trust in the Savior. I trust that you will do that. Let’s bow in prayer.
Lord, we are so deeply moved by the amazing realities of this chapter. The details known and
revealed hundreds of years before they came to pass that unmistakably point to Christ and no
other. And we know that there is salvation in no other name than Christ. It was He who said, “I
am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me.” “Faith comes by
hearing, and believing the truth concerning Christ.”
I pray, Lord, that today would be the day of salvation, the acceptable time for some here to have
that surely event when they look back at what they know to be true about Christ and it all
becomes crystal clear and compelling, so that they would turn to Him in genuine repentance,
taking full responsibility for their sins and transgressions and asking for the forgiveness that only
comes through Christ and that eternal life which is the promise to all who believe. Do Your
work, Lord, in our hearts. Fill us with joy in the truths that we have celebrated this morning. And
bring those who have not yet embraced Christ to Him even now.
Before I close in final prayer, a reminder that the prayer room is open to my right in the front,
double doors with an exit sign over them, right up here in front. If you want to talk with someone
or pray with someone about your salvation, about your eternity, about your repentance, you want
some help, we’re here to serve you, to love you, to share with you. But you need to talk to the
Lord and pour out your heart to Him.
You’ve heard the truth; you know why He came, why He died. And that’s just the start. We’re
going to get to the resurrection as well. But if you desire to embrace Him as Savior and Lord,
you need to do that today, don’t put that off, don’t push that into some unknown future. And
we’re here to serve you and the prayer room will be open right here in front after the prayer’s
finished.
Our Father, we do now ask that You would help us to understand the urgency of the times in
which we live, the urgency of evangelism in bringing the gospel to people who need so much to
hear this, and how will they hear if there’s no one to preach? Help us to proclaim this glorious
gospel and tell sinners that this is the acceptable time. This is the hour of grace. This is the day of

82. salvation if they will come. Do that work in all our hearts that motivates us to the high ground in
life, to the things that matter. And nothing matters more than proclaiming Christ. By our lives
and by our testimony may we call people to Him. And would You be gracious and save sinners
even today we pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. JOHN MACARTHUR


JOHN MACARTHUR
The Substituted Servant, Part 2
• Sermons
• Isaiah 53:4–6
• 90-440
• May 6, 2012 T h e S u b s t i t u t e d S e r v a n t , P a r t 2

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Now, let’s open the Word of God to the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. This is our sixth journey
into this marvelous chapter. And with every passing week as I survey the text that is here and all
of the trails that it leads to other places, I am reminded of how fathomless this chapter really is.
One could spend a lifetime here, and going from here to all of the things that are implied and
elucidated by this great chapter. Isaiah 53 poses a challenge to any preacher, and that is to edit
himself so that it does not become overly cumbersome and you miss the main point. I’m fighting
against that a little bit.
I’m further challenged because I normally prepare to have a beginning and an end and a middle,
a whole sermon. I did last week and to cover verses 4 through 6. I didn’t make it. I got through
verses 4 and 5, two thirds of the way, but we didn’t have enough time for verse 6. So I have sort
of a third of a message left. Well that presents to me is a great opportunity then to fill in with
things that are really needful and related and I think helpful. It allows me to take a tangent of
necessity rather than whim. And I’m going to do that with you a little bit this morning.
It is always helpful to me to get altitude when I’m looking at a passage. The higher above the
passage I get, the further the range of what I see. And I even love to get 40 thousand feet above
the passage and I can look down and see everything from Genesis to Revelation and then
eventually kind of get down out of that altitude and put the landing wheels down and arrive at the

83. given passage that we’re looking at. And that’s what we’re going to do. I want to get some
altitude here for you and then we’ll eventually put our wheels down in a little while at Isaiah 53
and wrap up our understanding of verses 4 through 6. But I want to start from a much wider
perspective.
The history of the Jewish people is the most remarkable ethnic history in the…in the history of
the world. It is a long and amazing saga of survival from their point of view. To think that there
are still Jews in the world, and 14 or 15 million of them at that, is to understand that they have
survived when all odds were against that survival. Nobody here has ever met a Hivite, a Jebusite,
a Perizzite, an Amorite, or any other “ite” from the Old Testament because they’re long gone.
But we actually have Israelites sitting here today and many of them in our church, and there are
many of them around the world. And they are that pure strain of Jews that has gone down
through the history of the Old Testament and the New Testament right through until today. From
their viewpoint, it is a great story of survival. However, from God’s viewpoint, it is an even more
amazing story of preservation.
I suppose that we could hail the human side of it and say this is a people so committed to their
perpetuation and their existence that they are the greatest testimony to the will to survive of any
people in the history of the world. But from the divine viewpoint, we would have to hedge that a
little bit and say this is not a story of the human will to survive or to stay together as a nation.
This is rather a story of divine protection and divine preservation. There are still Jews in the
world because God has made sure there are still Jews in the world.
They are still identifiable to their very tribe, although they don’t know what tribe they belong to
because the records were destroyed in 70 A.D. when the Romans destroyed the temple. God
knows what tribe they’re in and God will re‑identify those tribes and pick out 12,000 from each
tribe to constitute the 144,000 Jews who will preach the gospel at the end of human history. They
will still be able to be identified with their original tribes, even in the time of Tribulation right
before the return of Jesus Christ. They are a remarkable story.
Yes, there’s a human element in that survival, but far more importantly, they are a remarkable
story of the protection and preservation of God. God has protected and preserved them,
providentially. That is by ordering the circumstances for their survival. But on a number of
occasions He has also protected them miraculously, suspending the normal course of history and
the way things operate in the world for their protection, such as parting the sea so they could
walk across on dry land when leaving Egypt. So under the providence of God, where He orders
the circumstances, and under the miracle power of God, where He suspends nature, God has
made sure that the Jews are not extinct.
Now this is remarkable. First of all, because they are a small group of people. They’re a small
group of people. They are an exceptional people by all measure. As concerns humanity, they are
the noblest of human beings. They are a very exceptional people. But they have been chosen by
God for His own purposes. And they are not what they are because they have earned it. They are
not what they are because they have gained it. They are what they are because God decided it
would be that way. And they have been chosen by God to be blessed as a nation and through
them to bless the world.
Because they have been chosen by God for purposes yet unfulfilled, they are the target of the
enemies of God. They are the target of Satan, the archenemy of God. They are the target of
demons, the co-conspirators, and purveyors of supernatural wickedness in the world. They are

84. the target of men, humans who are under the power of the kingdom of darkness. There have been
repeated efforts on a demonic and human level to eliminate the Jews throughout history.
Unsuccessful. But they are the particular target of the forces of hell and the humans that serve
those forces in order to thwart the final purposes of God. Unsuccessful efforts I might add.
But when you think back about their history, you understand this is a small group of people
living in a very vulnerable place in the Middle East, surrounded by all kinds of pagan powers,
who throughout all their history wanted to obliterate them. They have survived. So many times
they could have gone out of existence. A famine during the time of Jacob and his sons could
have taken them. They could have literally disappeared from starvation, but God didn’t let that
happen.
God deposited one of the sons of Jacob, by betrayal, in the midst of Egypt and gave him all the
power to disperse food and they knew it was available. Because of a dream that Joseph had, you
remember, Egypt was ready for the famine and could provide food for other nations that might
have perished without them. God planted Joseph, made him an interpreter of dreams, had him
prepare Egypt for famine, and thus saved Jacob…or Israel. And when the brothers of Joseph
came down to try to get some food from the stores of Egypt, it could have been that Joseph was
so angry and so full of vengeance because they had betrayed him and sold him into slavery, that
he might have decided to kill his brothers, but God didn’t let that happen either.
God worked through the compassion and the forgiveness in the heart of Joseph to spare his
brothers and thus perpetuate the family. That family stayed in Egypt, grew from one little family,
Jacob and his family, to several million people, two million people in the land of Goshen. Four
hundred years it took for that nation to develop. At the end of that period of time, plagues hit
Egypt. Those plagues had devastating deadly effects on the Egyptians. They well could have also
affected the children of Israel had God not made sure that they did not.
The killing of the firstborn could have devastated the Jews had God not stepped in and provided
a way to the firstborn could be saved by putting the blood from the sacrificial lamb on the
doorpost and the lentil. Pharaoh could have massacred the escaping Jews en masse and that’s
what he attempted to do when he chased them, had not God opened the sea, let them through,
and then drowned Pharaoh’s entire army when the sea collapsed on them. They could have
disappeared from history in the forty years they wandered in the wilderness. They…they…they
complained, they rebelled, they sinned violently against God and a whole generation died, their
corpses drying out in the desert.
But there was a remnant of them, under the leadership of Joshua, that made it into the Promised
Land. When they entered Canaan, they could have been destroyed again because they were
entering a land, and they were a meager group of people, and they were facing formidable pagan
enemies who didn’t want to give up their land and their property. They could have been
destroyed by any number of the enemies that occupied the land of Canaan which they were to
conquer. But God made sure that that didn’t happen. It was sort of metaphorically demonstrated
in the fact that a massive Goliath was slain by a shepherd boy with a stone and a slingshot. That
is how it was. Israel was like a shepherd with a slingshot against a massive giant in the land of
Canaan. But God made sure that they survived.
It isn’t just the story of human survival. It’s a story of divine preservation. When they got in the
land, and they settled in the land, and they were scattered around the land and divided into
sections by tribe, you know what happened. They got caught up in idolatry. They got caught up

85. in apostasy. They got caught up in the worship of false gods. And then they were caught up in
immorality. And then their religion became superficial and hypocritical. They began to be
absorbed into the pagan culture, and they could have literally disappeared by melting into the
nations. But God made sure that didn’t happen. They could have been lost forever by
intermarriage with pagans and their ethnicity dissipated.
And when the kingdom split, ten tribes went to the north and established what became known as
Israel, and two tribes stayed in the south, Judah and Benjamin, which became known as Judah. In
the subsequent years there was not one good king in the north. They were so rebellious and so
evil that God brought judgment on them, and the Assyrians came in 722 B.C. and sacked the
northern kingdom and took captive all that they didn’t kill, and those people never ever returned.
They disappeared into the melting pot of the nations. They completely faded out of existence,
which left the two tribes in the south and people from the other ten, who had migrated south
before the northern kingdom was destroyed. And so there were people from every tribe now in
the south.
But then the Babylonians came around the year 600 and they sacked Jerusalem and massacred
people. And those who didn’t get killed, they were hauled off to Babylon where they were to be
mingled into the Chaldean culture. People like Daniel and his three friends were given names
that weren’t their own names. They were given names that connected them with the
Chaldean/Babylonian gods, and then they were to be trained in the culture.
That could have spelled the end. The whole of the people of God in Babylon could have literally
been absorbed by intermarriage and mixed religion and lost forever to human history. But it
didn’t happen. They were never absorbed in to Chaldean culture. Seventy years later a massive
remnant of them came back and they reestablished their land. That’s how their history went.
A king arose in Persia. His name was Xerxes…it would be the Greek way to say it. His other
name, perhaps the one you know him by, Ahasuerus… he reigned in Persia from about 486 to
465, and the Jews were still there intact in Persia. However, there was an effort at genocide led
by a man named Haman, who wanted to exterminate the Jews. And you remember the story
because the story is told in the book of Esther, how that God used Esther in the Kingdom for just
such a time as that to save the Jewish people from genocide in the land of Persia. And God had
to order the providences so that the king, who had a beauty contest, selected Esther as the winner
of the beauty contest.
She became his wife and her favor with him saved her people. Every year there’s a feast that
Jews hold. It’s called “The Festival of Purim,” P-U-R-I-M. It is a non-biblical feast. It’s not
recorded in Scripture. It’s like Hanukkah, which is the other of the Jewish feasts that’s not in
Scripture. Purim is a celebration of their survival. It’s a celebration of Esther and the survival of
the Jewish people.
Then came the Greek power, and Antiochus Epiphanes attacked and slaughtered the Jews. Then
came the Romans in 70 A.D. and massacred hundreds of thousands, by any count of Jews,
destroyed Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and then went into about a thousand towns and
villages in subsequent years in the land of Israel and massacred people. It went on after 70 A.D.
The story of their survival is an astonishing story of divine protection.
From the year 250 A.D., let’s go from there to 1933, just summing it up. You can check this
history; it’s all chronicled very, very well. Jews in various places…and we’re talking mostly in
Europe, but in and around Europe that would stretch into the Middle East and into Africa…Jews

86. in various places and times were attacked, expelled from cities, expelled from countries, forced
to convert on the threat of death, enslaved, outlawed, massacred, had their property confiscated,
were forced to wear identifying badges so they could be alienated socially, put through
inquisitions that were deadly. On a number of occasions they were burned alive, that’s from 250
to 1933. And then you pick it up in 1938 to 1945 and you have the Holocaust under Hitler and
multiple millions of Jews are slaughtered.
And, today, they are the direct object of all the accumulated hate of the Islamic world that wants
to obliterate them, remove them from the planet. So when you talk about the survival of the
Jews, you’re talking about something that is really astonishing. And it is more than a testimony
to their will to survive. It is a testimony to God’s preservation. That is the only explanation. They
are a small people. They are not a powerful people. Oh, they have gained some powerful
weapons in the modern era but throughout their history they were a small and beleaguered and
somewhat weak people, militarily speaking.
Yes they’ve had a strong will to live, but that’s not an explanation. The explanation is the
purpose of God. Why have they survived as an ethnic people until today? And the answer is
because God has not yet fulfilled His promise to Abraham and His promise to David, and His
promise to the prophets to bless Israel with salvation and make Israel a blessing to the world.
That will not happen until they put their trust in Jesus Christ as a nation, and that will happen in
the future.
We’ve looked at it, Zechariah 12:10, “They’ll look on the One they’ve pierced, mourn for Him
as an only Son, and a fountain of cleansing will be opened to them. They will be saved and then
through them the world will be blessed when the Lord brings His Kingdom (Zechariah 12 to 14).
The future salvation of Israel is a promise in the Old Testament, as well as a promise in the New
Testament. In the eleventh chapter of Romans, very, very important chapter, the apostle Paul is
talking about this very issue. He says, “I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this
mystery so that you will not be wise in your own estimation that a partial hardening has
happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
That’s the church. “When the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, – ” in other words, when all the
elect in the church are gathered together, when that is complete – “then all Israel will be saved.”
And Paul says, “Just as it is written – ” and then quotes from Isaiah – “the Deliverer will come
from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is My covenant with them when I take
away their sins.” That’s from Isaiah 59. So Paul says there’s coming a time that the church will
be complete. And then when that is complete will come the salvation of Israel; that’s God’s
covenant with them.
They are preserved for a future salvation. They need to be saved so that they can be blessed,
because that was the promise of God in Genesis 12 and repeated again and again to Abraham.
Not only so that they can be saved, and blessed by salvation, but that through them the world will
be blessed. When they are saved, the Messiah comes, sets up His Kingdom, reigns in Jerusalem
over Israel and the world. Israel becomes the most powerful and influential nation in the world
and they are an influence for peace and righteousness. They will not only be blessed, they will
bless the world. That’s the promise of God. And it hasn’t changed. And that’s why they’re still
around.
And there’s another powerful reality to consider. You’re talking about a nation that, in and of
itself, is vulnerable and weak, and you’re talking about a nation that is beleaguered by attacks

87. from hell and humanity. But you’re also talking about something else that has to be brought into
this, and it is simply this. Not only have they survived the hatred of the forces of hell and
survived the hatred of the forces of humanity, but at the same time, listen, they have been under
divine judgment.
I mean, that’s three strikes. They have been under divine judgment. And this goes way back to
Deuteronomy, back to the writing of Moses when they got on the edge of the land ready to go
into the land; God said this to them, “You obey Me and you’ll be blessed.” Remember that?
Deuteronomy 27:28? You obey Me, I’ll bless you. You disobey Me, I’ll curse you. And God
spelled out the blessings and spelled out the cursings. And you can go back and read them and
that’s their history. They disobeyed God; they continue to do that. They are a cursed people.
They are under God’s judgment.
So God is preserving the very people that He is judging. He’s done that all along. He started
judging them way back in the Old Testament and He’s been judging them all the way through
human history, at the same time preserving them under that judgment. Israel’s judgment continue
day; the judgment of Jewish people continues today, because they rejected Christ. First
Corinthians 16:22 says, “If any man doesn’t love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed.”
They are cursed for their disobedience through past history, but they’re doubly cursed because
they’ve rejected Jesus Christ. And when you look at Israel today, you’re seeing a nation that has
not yet experienced the blessing of God. It is an apostate nation. It is a Christ-rejecting ethnicity.
Religion is not godly. They claim to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They do
not; they cannot, because you cannot honor the Father unless you honor the Son. They are
disloyal. They are disobedient to God.
They are the enemies of the gospel, Romans 11:28 says. They are the enemies of the gospel.
They deny the Trinity. Jewish people deny the deity of Christ. They deny the true teaching of the
Old Testament and they deny the whole New Testament. That is not a formula for blessing. They
reject their Messiah. They believe Christians are blasphemers because we worship a man who
Himself was a blasphemer in their view. They follow the lie of salvation by works and human
effort and self-righteousness. And so they are a cursed people right now under judgment, but at
the same time being preserved by God.
If you suggested that a nation that weak and that small and that ancient would still be around,
just history alone would tell you that’s a nonsensical idea. Then if you added the component of
the fact that there has been set against them such massive supernatural and natural powers, there
would be no possibility of their existence. And then if you throw in the fact that God has been for
millennia heaping judgment on them, you would assume that their survival was utterly
impossible. But there they are and God has preserved them to save them in the end as a nation.
In Luke chapter 13 and the end of the chapter, our Lord looks at Jerusalem…sort of the city that
stands for the whole of the nation…and He says this, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem – ” verse 34, Luke
13 – “the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her.” They were about to kill Him.
“How often I wanted to gather your children together just as a hen gathers her brood under her
wings and you wouldn’t have it. Behold, your house is left to you desolate.” That house is still
desolate. The Jewish people are desolate. They have no relationship to God.
Now there are believing Jews who have come to faith in Christ that make up the church, Jew and
Gentile. But I’m talking about the nation itself, the people. But He says this to them in Luke
13:35, “I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who

88. comes in the name of the Lord.’ ” There is a time in the future when Israel will look at Jesus
Christ and say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” They will recognize the ir
Messiah. That’s what Zechariah wrote about, that’s when they look on the One they’ve pierced
and mourn for Him as an only Son, and a fountain of cleansing is opened to them. That’s their
future salvation.
Now the Old Testament prophets wrote about this, and they wrote about it in no vague terms. I
want to show you two portions of Scripture. Since we have the time this morning, we’re going to
do this. Go to Ezekiel 36. There are two other prophets that stand out, of course…Major
Prophets, along with Isaiah. That would be Ezekiel and Jeremiah. And, of course, you can add
Daniel to that. But Ezekiel and Jeremiah were prophets at about the same time. They come about
a hundred years after Isaiah, and they actually are prophesying right at the time the Babylonians
are attacking. Ezekiel gets hauled off into captivity in 597; Jeremiah gets thrown in a pit and
ends up escaping to Egypt. And so they were alive when the holocaust of the Babylonian
invasion came. Their prophecies, their messages, are very important and very pertinent and
received from God and dispersed at a time of great crisis.
Ezekiel 36, some very important insight in verse 16. Here’s the message that comes to the people
of Israel, the Jewish people. Verse 16, “Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying – ” and
here’s the history – “Son of Man – ” that’s a title given to Ezekiel – “when the house of Israel
was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their way before Me
was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.” Very gross description. “Therefore I
poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land because they had
defiled it with their idols. And I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed
throughout the land. According to their ways and their deeds, I judged them.”
And that’s exactly what happened. That’s called the Diaspora, and every Jew knows about that.
And it started with the Babylonian deportation. Some came back to reconstitute the nation, but
that was the beginning of the scattering. And even subsequent to the rebuilding and restoring of
the nation, the Jews have been scattered to the far corners of the world as we all know. And
that’s part of their judgment. However, verse 20, “When they came to the nations where they
went, when they got scattered all over the world, they profaned My holy name.”
How did they do that? “Because it was said of them, 'These are the people of the Lord. Yet they
have come out of His land.'” What is that saying? It’s saying this. When they were scattered all
over the world, they profaned My holy name because people said, What kind of a God do these
people have who can’t even keep them in their land? And they mocked God. The nations have
mocked God. The God of the Jews has been mocked by the nations into which they have been
scattered through human history.
And so, in verse 21 God says, “I had concern for My holy name which the house of Israel had
profaned among the nations where they went.” Jews all over the world, beleaguered Jews all
over the world struggling throughout all their history, it was hard to sell the rest of the nations on
the greatness and the glory and the power of their God. He couldn’t even keep them in their own
land. And if you ask somebody in the Middle East today, “Who has the more powerful God,
Islam, or Judaism?” What do you think they would say? The God who has the money and the
arms and the power and the population and the masses is Allah. This is a picture of the profaning
of the name of the true God in the scattering of the Jews through history.

89. Verse 22 is the “therefore.” “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, it’s
not for your sake, O House of Israel, that I’m about to act – ’ ” This isn’t about you – “but for
My Holy Name which you have profaned among the nations where you went.” I’ve got to do
something to gain My reputation back. That’s what God is saying. “ ‘I will – ” verse 23 –
“vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations which you
have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,’ declares the Lord
God, ‘when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.’ ”
The only way that I’m going to be able to put My glory on display in the nations is to put My
glory on display through you. How am I going to do that? First, verse 24, “I’ll take you from the
nations and gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.” Well, we have a
preview of that, don’t we? Nineteen forty-eight, they went back, reconstituted their nation. That
is a fact…incontrovertible fact…they are there. This is not the salvation of Israel, this is simply a
preview, and an indication of what is to come. I’ll bring you back, and then it will happen. When
I get you back in the land…and this is coming as we watch, isn’t it? Jewish people from all over
the world, migrating in, rolling in. Some of them even coming to Christ now as individuals.
Some of them embracing the gospel now, embracing Jesus as their Messiah now.
But the nation remains fixed against Christ as a people. But the day will come in the future, and
He’s talking about the people, the nation, the house of Israel, verse 25, here’s the key, “I will
sprinkle clean water on you and you’ll be clean. I’ll cleanse you from all your filthiness and all
your idols, moreover I will give you a new heart, put a new spirit within you, I will remove the
heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and
cause you to walk in My statutes and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” That is a
statement of salvation. That’s dramatic.
In concern for His own holy name, to vindicate His faithfulness and demonstrate His glory, God
will one day save the Jews. He is already in the process of re-gathering them, and in the future
He will save them. Now look at the components of this. These are elements of salvation. Verse
25, “I’ll sprinkle clean water on you and you’ll be clean. I’ll cleanse you from all your filthiness
and your idols.” That’s what salvation is. It’s the washing of regeneration, isn’t it? It’s the
cleansing, a sanctification.
And then He says in verse 2,…verse 26, the second of these two verses, “I will give you a new
heart.” That’s regeneration. You could say that the cleansing is the sanctification and the new
heart is the regeneration. A new heart means new life. And I’ll give you a new spirit, a new
disposition, a new attitude, a new nature…that’s conversion…a new mind, new affections. I’ll
give you a new power. A new power, what is that? I will put My Spirit within you. And based on
the power of the Spirit in you, cause you to walk in My statutes and to be careful to observe My
ordinances. A new behavior, obedience; a new condition, sanctification, cleansed from sin; a
new heart, regeneration; a new disposition or spirit, conversion; a new power, the indwelling
Holy Spirit; a new behavior, obedience.
All that will come to Israel in the future. That is the salvation of the people. I love this, verse 28,
“You’ll live in the land that I gave to your forefathers so you will be My people and I will be
your God. Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness.” Down in verse 31, he says,
“You will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good and you will loathe
yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations.” That’s the stuff of real
repentance, isn’t it? They’re going to look back over their sins and transgressions and they’re
going to hear the preaching of the gospel. Who will they hear it from? A hundred and forty-four

90. thousand Jews, converted Gentiles out of every tongue, tribe, and nation that happens during the
time of the Tribulation; angels in the heavens, two witnesses.
The gospel will be everywhere during that final time of divine judgment on the earth before the
return of Christ. They will hear the gospel; they will see their sin; they will repent of their sin;
they will look on the One they’ve pierced; they will mourn for Him as an only Son. They will be
sanctified, regenerated, converted, Spirit-empowered, and turned into obedient followers of
Christ. This is the real stuff. Verse 32, “I’m not doing this for your sake, for My sake. On that
day – ” verse 33 – “I’ll cleanse you from all your iniquities.” This is salvation. This is promised
to Israel here. True conversion for the glory of God.
Now I want you to look at Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah 31. And I just want to cover this very briefly
because our time is getting away. Jeremiah 31:31, this is the high point of Jeremiah’s prophecy.
“Behold the days are coming, future, declares the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with
the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers
in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant which
they broke although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord.” What covenant is that? That’s
the covenant of the Law, that’s the Mosaic Covenant given on Sinai, and they broke it even
before Moses could get down and read it to them. When he came down, holding it in his hands,
they were breaking it. They couldn’t keep it. It’s a covenant no one could keep. So I’m going to
give you a new covenant. I’m going to make a new covenant, not like that one.”
What’s the nature of the new one? Verse 33, “I’m going to make this covenant with the house of
Israel after those days, at the end of history.” Here’s the difference. “That law was on the
outside, this one is different, I will put My law within them and on their hearts. I will write it and
I will be their God and they shall be My people – ” same thing that Ezekiel said –“and they will
not teach again each man his neighbor and each man his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord.’ ”
Evangelism will end in Israel 'cause they’ll all know the Lord. “ ‘They’ll all know Me, from the
least of them to the greatest of them,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will forgive their iniquity and their
sin, I will remember no more.’ ”
That’s the conversion of the nation. The components are the same. There is here forgiveness,
regeneration, conversion, true knowledge, obedience. They will believe themselves to be
wretched sinners, and they will believe the Lord Jesus is the only Savior. They will believe it
collectively as a nation. That in itself, folks, is a testimony to the sovereignty of God in salvation.
The only way people get saved individually is by the sovereign work of God. The only way
nations get saved, because there’s only one nation promised salvation in one moment, would be
by a sovereign act of God because not all individual Jews are going to come to the same
conclusion by some act of personal free will in the same moment. God saves them.
And wonderfully, this New Covenant was made with Israel, but Israel rejected their Messiah.
And after the death and resurrection of Christ, the New Covenant was opened to embrace
everyone, everyone. Not ashamed of the gospel for it’s the power of God unto salvation, to the
Jew first, chronologically, but also the Gentile. Or Romans 10, salvation is for Jew or Gentile.
Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So the New Covenant has been ratified in
the death of Jesus Christ and extended past Israel to the church. There was no church when it
was promised to them. But now that the church has come, we are saved in the same way, by the
same new covenant. That’s why Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:6 says, “We are ministers of the New
Covenant.” And Paul was talking to Gentiles when he said that in Corinth.

91. And after the fullness of the Gentiles comes in by the New Covenant, then comes the salvation of
Israel. Verse 31 talks about reconciliation. Verse 31 says, “I’m going to make a new covenant.”
Verse 33 talks about regeneration, “I’m going to put My law in them, on their hearts write it. I’ll
be their God, they’ll be My people – ” fellowship. It talks about knowledge. They’ll have a true
knowledge, they’ll know the Lord. It talks about forgiveness. All these are components of
salvation.
All right, you get the picture. Now let’s come down for a landing. Go back to Isaiah 53. When
they come to this point in the future, they will make the confession that is here in Isaiah 53; these
will be their words. And let’s just go to our text, verses 4 to 6. They’re going to look back at
Christ whom they’ve pierced. They’re going to reevaluate the attitude. They didn’t believe.
Verse 1 says, “Who believed the message given to us? Few. Who actually understood the
revelation of the arm of the Lord, the power of God in the Lord Jesus Christ? Very few. We
weren’t impressed with His origin. He was like a sucker branch. He was like a root in parched
ground. We weren’t impressed with His life; He had no stately form or majesty. Nothing about
Him attracted us. We were certainly not impressed with His death. Despised, forsaken of men, a
man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. He was so despicable in His death we wouldn’t even look
at Him. He was despised and we thought of Him as nothing. He was a nobody. That’s what we
thought.
“But now, everything’s changed. Now we know all those griefs, all those sorrows were ours.
Truly our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried. We had esteemed Him stricken,
smitten by God and afflicted. We thought that God was punishing Him for His blasphemy. Now,
we know He was pierced through for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, chastened for
our well-being, scourged for our healing.” Complete reversal of the estimate concerning Christ.
They admit their horrible error in that future day. They will confess. They know the history of
Jesus. They know He was pierced; they know He was crushed, or bruised. They know He was
punished at the end of a mock trial. They know He was scourged. That’s part of their history;
every Jew knows that.
But one day they’re going to admit that it wasn’t for His blasphemies, it was for theirs. They’re
going to say, “We understand our transgressions. We understand our iniquities.” Our
transgressions, our iniquities, those are negatives. They will confess that Jesus was punished by
God for their transgressions. That means violations; transgressions means you step over the line,
violating the Law of God. Iniquities, that’s a different word. Essentially it’s a word that means to
bend double, twisted like a pretzel, to bend double. It’s perversions. We now know that He
suffered for our violations and our perversions. That’s the negative.
The positive is He suffered to bring about our well-being. See it there in the middle of the verse,
our well-being. Punishment for our well-being fell on Him. "And by His scourging we are
healed.” There’s the positives. He died under the weight of the punishment of God against our
transgressions and our iniquities, our violations and our perversions. And in so doing, He
purchased for us well-being and healing. Well-being is Shalom in Hebrew. Shalom, peace, full
blessedness and healing, spiritual wholeness, spiritual health. The death of the physician made
the patient well. We were sinful and thus sick, grieving, sorrowful, guilty…guilty of violations,
guilty of perversions, separated from God, no peace, no spiritual health.
But He took our sins and our griefs and our sorrows and everything that comes with sin and He
placed Himself under the…voluntarily under the judgment of God to be punished for our sins
and to then purchase our peace with God and our true blessedness. Thus does the whole nation of

92. Israel, at least a third after the two thirds of the rebels are purged out, according to Zechariah.
One third of the nation confesses its long, long rejection of Christ, its long blasphemy of God,
and they will be saved. This is the stunning reality of the future for the nation Israel.
There’s one other thing that I want to do this morning and that is to help you see verse 6 in
another way. In verse 6, we have the deepest recognition of sin. They talk about their attitudes;
they will when they say, “We had the wrong estimation of Him, we esteemed Him, or considered
Him, or thought of Him, or reckoned Him.” In other words, our thinking was corrupt. We were
wrong in what we thought about Him. They talk about behaviors, that’s the transgressions and
iniquities. And they talk about deprivations. Sinners recognize this. They lack well-being; they
lack Shalom; they lack peace with God. They had no, as Isaiah 54 calls it, covenant of peace,
which couldn’t be shaken. And they also lacked wholeness, spiritual health. They were sick.
Chapter 1 says, “Sick from head to toe, sick in sin.”
So they understand those issues—the corrupt thinking, corrupt behavior, and the absence of all
that is good. They know that. But there’s something else that a sinner must come to grips with.
And that is it isn’t just a matter of how we think, attitudes; it isn’t just a matter of what we do; it
isn’t just a matter of what we lack, confession of sin gets down to the bottom line. It is a matter
of who we are. The problem is in our nature, and that’s where verse 6 comes in. It’s in our
nature. It is more profound than most would recognize, looking at this section. This part of the
confession looks not at the manifestations of sin, but the cause. Here’s the problem. All of us are
like sheep, and we’ve gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way. And he says it’s in our
nature.
Sheep act like sheep. Sheep don’t act like anything but sheep. We’re acting consistently with our
nature. And, in fact, they will find a parallel in sheep. Sheep are stupid, defenseless, helpless
wanderers. They don’t…they don’t get in flocks like geese, and they don’t hang around herds
like cows. They don’t stay together. So they’re a good analogy. They have built into them a
tendency to wander away from security and safety, and provision, and wander off, not in a group,
but all by themselves, each going his own way. They follow that internal impulse that leads them
away to all that is safe and secure and helpful. Our problem is deep in our nature. We are like
sheep, defenseless, stupid, helpless wanderers.
Remember in Matthew 9:36, Jesus looked at the people and said, “They’re like sheep without – ”
what? – “a shepherd.” They’re just going their own way, following their own sinful path that
their nature dictates. They follow the intuition of their own wretched fallenness. That’s what
sinners do. That’s what sinners do. I mean, how many options do sinners have today? How many
do you have? There’s no end to the options. You can follow your own way. And without Jesus
Christ, you will; you’ll follow the path of sin that you choose. You’ll go your own way like
sheep does. Oh, there will be some others that are going your way, so you’ll eventually bump
into them. But it’s all very personal, and very independent. This is how sheep function.
And this is a part of a true confession, folks. This is a genuine repentance that recognizes that the
evidences of sin betray a nature of sin. Gathering all that guilt and all that just punishment, and,
as it were, dying for not only what we’ve done, but who we are. Jesus bears the full weight of
our sinfulness on Himself in the sense that He takes the punishment of God. That’s what the
verse says at the end. “The Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” Our evil deeds,
our evil thoughts, our evil deprivations, and our evil nature, for all of that, for all of that, the
Servant of Jehovah bears the full weight of punishment.

93. That’s what it says. The Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. The Lord God
Himself chose the sacrificial Lamb, the Servant, Messiah, the sacrificial Lamb. The Servant
Messiah was voluntarily willing to submit Himself to become the vicarious substitute. God
caused Him then to pick up all the guilt that belonged to us and take the full fury of divine wrath.
Five different ways in those verses, five different ways it speaks of the vicarious, substitutionary
provision of Jesus Christ, dying in our place. This is the heart of the gospel.
Now, just a footnote. It wasn’t the sin that killed Him; it was God who killed Him. It wasn’t the
sin. He didn’t have any sin. He was sinless, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sin. Sin did
not kill Jesus. God killed Jesus to pay for sin that He never committed, but you did and I did.
Jesus didn’t die as a moral influence, showing the power of love. Jesus didn’t die as an example
of sacrifice for a noble cause. Jesus didn’t die as nothing more than Christus Victor. That was a
theory that came out in the 1930s and is still around. The idea was that Jesus died to gain a
victory over hostile powers and to liberate humanity and the cosmos from social injustice. Jesus
didn’t die because we are victims trapped in unjust circumstances and need to be rescued.
There’s only one way to understand the death of Christ and that is under the principle of penal
substitution. He was our substitute to take the penalty for our sins, to satisfy the justice of God.
The New Testament affirms this, doesn’t it? Second Corinthians 5:21, “God made Him who
knew no sin to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” Peter puts
it this way, “He bore in His own body our sins.” And Paul says in Galatians 3, “He was a curse
for us.” That’s the New Testament affirmation of the truth of Isaiah 53. God has then not dealt
with us according to our iniquities, He has not dealt with us according to our transgressions. But
nor has He overlooked our sins, rather He has punished His Son, the Servant, the Messiah in our
place and grace reigns over righteousness.
This will be the confession that Israel makes in the future. But this is the confession that any
sinner can make now, and you can make it today. You remember 2 Corinthians 6:2, “Now is the
acceptable time.” “Today is the day of salvation,” words borrowed from Isaiah again. Today is
the day. Now is the time of salvation. Paul says in Romans, quoting again from Isaiah, Romans
10:11, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed. There’s no distinction between Jew
and Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him, for
whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” That’s now. This is the acceptable
time. That means God will accept you now. This is the day of salvation.
Father, we have come again through the rich treasures of this incredible chapter. And even
though we’ve just touched so lightly on one verse, really, verse 6, we’re swept up in this massive
reality that is the point of this great section of Scripture. And it’s not for an exercise in learning.
This is not about information; this is about salvation.
I pray for people here who now fully understand the gospel, understand the sacrifice of Christ,
Jew or Gentile. I pray that today would be the day of salvation. That this acceptable time will
become their time, even…even this morning, that they would turn to Christ, they would call on
His name for salvation. Save sinners now, Lord, for the glory of Your name, for the glory of
Your name. Father, do that work in hearts, we pray even now, in Christ’s name.

94. The Risen Christ: Satisfied with His
Suffering
Easter Sunday

• Resource by
John Piper
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• Scripture: Isaiah 53:3–12 Topic: The Resurrection of Christ
He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And
like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves
esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5
But He was pierced through for
our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being
fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
6
All of us like sheep have gone
astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us
all To fall on Him.
7
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His
mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its
shearers, So He did not open His mouth.
8
By oppression and judgment He was taken
away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of
the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
9
His grave
was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He
had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
10
But the Lord was
pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt
offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of

95. the Lord will prosper in His hand.
11
As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it
and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the
many, As He will bear their iniquities.
12
Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the
great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to
death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.
One of the great advantages of having the Old Testament and the New Testament in one Bible is
that they give support to each other. Together they strengthen our faith that both are God's word.
So if you are Jewish or come from a Jewish background your confidence in the Old Testament –
the Jewish Scriptures – may be strong. Yes, and with good reason. And so when you see the
amazing fulfillments of the Old Testament in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and his
teachings, and the movement of Christianity that he unleashes, your confidence in the New
Testament is made stronger.
Or if you have never read a syllable of the Old Testament and hear the story of Jesus Christ and
his life and teaching and death and resurrection and the movement he unleashed you may be
overpowered by the truth and relevance and credibility of Christ and believe that he really is who
he says he is and become a Christian. And then you discover that this Jesus embraces and
endorses the whole Old Testament as true and reliable Scripture (as in Matthew 5:17 when he
said, "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but
to fulfill."). And so your confidence in the Old Testament grows because of the New Testament.
And so it works all through the Christian life. The better you know Jesus Christ, the better you
know the roots of his life and ministry in the Old Testament where God was at work to prepare
for the coming of his Son into history. And the better you know the Old Testament, the better
you know the meaning of Jesus Christ and what he came to fulfill that God had been planning for
so long.
So this morning I thought it would deepen our understanding and strengthen our faith if we fixed
our gaze on the resurrection of Jesus as it was described by the prophet Isaiah 700 years before it
happened. Here in Isaiah 53 we will see the content and the confirmation of the resurrection of
Christ – content because the precious meaning of it for our lives is opened to us; and
confirmation because it was predicted 700 years before it happened.
The View of Islam
\l "
Don't miss the significance of this in a day when the question of Islam is much on people's mind.
I had my first serious conversation with a well-trained Muslim about 20 years ago. I discovered
for the first time that if you share the good news of the death and resurrection of Christ with a
Muslim you will find out that Muslim's do not believe Jesus died on the cross for sinners and
rose again but that there was a replacement on the cross, he escaped death and later was taken to
heaven. The Q'ran, sura 4:156-157 says:
. . . and for their [the Jews'] saying: "We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of
God" – yet they did not slay him, neither crucified him, only a likeness of that was shown to
them. Those regarding him; they have no knowledge of him, except the following of surmise;

96. and they slew him not of a certainty – no indeed; God raised him up to Him; God is all-mighty,
All-wise.
Therefore Muslims in general believe that the central message of the New Testament and of
Biblical Christianity is built on a mistake: Christ did not die, and Christ did not rise. Therefore
the very heart of Christianity is false.
There are significant historical reasons why the Islamic reconstruction of the life of Jesus is not
true. But here's the point in taking our text from Isaiah 53 this morning. This chapter was not
written by Christians after Christ's coming, trying to distort or failing to understand what really
happened on Good Friday and Easter. This chapter was written by a Jewish prophet 700 years
before Christ came. And what he saw in the future was not a Messiah who escapes death and
resurrection, but a Messiah who dies – and dies explicitly in the place of sinners – and then rises
again to make intercession for his redeemed and forgiven and justified people for ever.
So let's go to Isaiah 53:3-12 and see the prophecy that the Servant of the Lord (52:13; 53:11), the
Messiah, would die and would rise again, and that this death and resurrection are planned by God
and necessary. And as we look at this, keep in mind, it has to do with you here and now and for
the rest of your life and eternity. What becomes clear from this chapter and from its fulfillment in
the New Testament is that your sins can be forgiven, you can be declared righteous before God,
and you can have eternal life with the risen Christ in everlasting joy.
The Promised Servant of the Lord Was to Die
\l "
First, let's notice that the promised Servant of the Lord was to die and why.
The death is made explicit in verses 8, 9, and 12. First verse 8. After verse 7 says he was led
"like a lamb to the slaughter," verse 8 says that the slaughter actually was successful: "By
oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he
was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?" He was "cut
off out of the land of the living." He was killed. It was execution, not accidental.
Then verse 9 makes the death clear by referring to his burial: "And they made his grave with the
wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no
deceit in his mouth." He died and he was buried, and if we had time we could draw out the
details of fulfillment in the life of Jesus here in relation to where and how he was buried. But I
focus now simply on the fact that the death of God's redeeming Servant is predicted clearly.
One more confirmation from verse 12: "Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and
he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death."
Ten Statements of Why God Planned for His Holy Servant
to Die
\l "
Now, why did he die? Ten times we are told why. I will let the words of scripture have their own
multiplying effect by just saying them to you, without comment on each one. Ten times. Before I
mention them notice verse 10, "But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief."
This death is not a historical accident. It is the purpose and plan of God. So as we hear these ten

97. statements of why he died, keep in mind: these are God's purposes, not human accidents. And if
you will receive it, they are God's love to you. Here they are. Ten statements why God planned
for his holy Servant to die:
1. Verse 4: "Surely our griefs He Himself bore."
2. Verse 4: " . . . And our sorrows He carried."
3. Verse 5: "But He was pierced through for our transgressions."
4. Verse 5: "He was crushed for our iniquities."
5. Verse 5: "The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him."
6. Verse 5: "And by His scourging we are healed."
7. Verse 6: "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
8. Verse 8: "[He was] stricken for the transgression of my people."
9. Verse 11: "He will bear their iniquities."
10. Verse 12: "He bore the sin of many."
If you are here this morning and you have ever asked, What is the essence of Christianity?
What's at the heart and center of it all? Here is the answer. Let's use the words of verse 6: All
humans have gone astray. All of us have turned to our own way. This is called sin. Turning from
God and making ourselves our own master and our own treasure.
But God was not willing to leave us in this guilty and condemned condition. He planned from
ages past to send a Suffering Servant, not mainly to model love for us, but to bear our sins as a
substitute for us. "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." This is the heart of
Christianity. Jesus Christ came into the world to fulfill this prophecy – yes, many others to be
sure, but this one is central and basic. He came to die. He came to die in our place. He came to
die for our sins. This is our only hope. And the New Testament is all about how this happened
and how it affects our lives now and in the ages to come. I urge you to pursue the knowledge of
these things with all your heart and all your mind.
The Redeeming Servant of the Lord Was to Rise
\l "
Now what about the resurrection? Let's look at the resurrection of the redeeming Servant of the
Lord in these words written 700 years before it happened. At least three times Isaiah tells us that
the sacrifice that the servant made in dying results in a resurrection triumph. He does not use the
word "resurrection," but the reality is plain.
First, verse 10b: "If He would render Himself as a guilt offering [which he did] . . ." now three
things will result: "(1) He will see His offspring, (2) He will prolong His days, (3) And the good
pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand." In other words, if he dies for others as a guilt
offering – as a substitute – 1) he will live to see his offspring – those whom he has saved by
dying for them – and 2) he will live for a long time ("prolong his days"), by implication, forever
since when death is conquered it can't defeat you again (Romans 6:9); and 3) God's great
purposes will triumph in his hands – he will take the scroll of history and unroll it as the Lord of
heaven and earth (Revelation 5:5). This is a picture of the Messiah who was dead and is alive
and victorious forever as the Lord of all those who receive his salvation.

98. Then verse 11. Again triumph comes from death. "As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will
see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities." Again three results from his dying for sinners: 1) He sees the
fruit of his death and is satisfied. He is not dead. He is living and satisfied. His work is complete,
and he is glad. He is alive and satisfied. 2) He justifies many – all those who trust in him. If you
trust him, you are declared just and righteous before God. That is what "justify" means. A dead
Christ does not justify. A living Christ justifies. 3) "He will bear their iniquities." Yes, he bore
these iniquities when he died. But he goes on making intercession and bears them forever in the
sense that as long as he lives it is plain that his death was utterly sufficient to pay for all your
sins.
He is satisfied. We are justified. And all our sins are carried by another forever. We will never
bear them again.
Finally, verse 12. God speaks. "Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will
divide the booty with the strong; Because [there is the third statement that this resurrection
existence is because of his obedient death for sinners] He poured out Himself to death." In other
words, after he pours out himself to death he lives and divides the booty with the strong – as
though his death were a great triumph in war with much booty.
He Will See It and Be Satisfied, among His Offspring
\l "
Let's end on this note. The resurrection of Jesus did not happen for his sake alone. It was for his
sake! O yes! And we would not have it any other way. Let him be honored for his great work of
salvation on the cross! Verse 11: "He will see it and be satisfied." Christ was raised from the
dead for HIS satisfaction.
But what is the Son satisfied with? Verse 11 says, literally "He will see [it and] be satisfied."
Verse 10 says, "He will see his offspring." I conclude that part of Jesus' satisfaction in the
resurrection is looking out on a great assembly of people from every race and tribe and language
and nation who have trusted him and been forgiven and justified. And with tremendous joy he
walks among them now and in the ages to come – a people "great" and "strong" (verse 12). And
he divides the spoil of his triumphs with them all. This is what he loves to do. This is his
satisfaction. He delights to save. He loves to bring people from death to life so they can enjoy his
majesty forever.
In just a moment we are going to sing two songs. One is "Crowns Him with Many Crowns" and
the other is "Victory in Jesus." One rivets our attention on the Majesty of Christ the risen Lamb
upon the throne. The other catches us up into the victory and celebrates our salvation: "He sought
and he bought me with his own precious blood." That's exactly the way it should be: Exult in
your salvation and make much of Christ in his majesty.
But first: Are you his? You can be. You can belong to that great and strong people, even though
you feel utterly unworthy. That is the whole point of the death of Christ. He died in our place.
And all who trust him as the Savior and Lord and Treasure of your life will be forgiven and
justified and live forever with him. I urge you to say "no" to all that pulls you away and say "yes"
to Jesus Christ.

99. Isaiah 53:4-6 The Divine Substitute
The Song of the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)
The Divine Servant (52:13-15) PDF
The Divine Sufferer (53:1-3) PDF
The Divine Substitute (53:4-6) PDF
The Divine Sacrifice (53:7-9) PDF
The Divine Satisfaction (53:10-12) PDF
What is the meaning of suffering? Why do the righteous suffer? Why do bad things happen to
good people? Why do good things happen to bad people? You have asked those questions in
quiet moments of reflection.
Isaiah probes the meaning of suffering far beyond Job. The meaning of suffering is found in
vicarious, substitutionary atonement that results in full redemption of the guilty sinner. In the
Suffering Servant we see the pure suffering for the unholy and impure, and the righteous
suffering for the unrighteous. Isaiah sees the accumulated sufferings in the Servant’s being
wounded, bruised, chastised, pierced-through, plagued, crushed––not for His own sins, but for
ours. He carried on His own person the sins of the world. Yahweh provided His own holy
Substitute for the unholy.
In the passage before us Isaiah explains the reason for the unparalleled suffering of the divine
Substitute. It is as if the prophet stands beneath the cross of Jesus Christ with Mary, Martha and
John and looks intensely at the bleeding body of the Suffering Savior.
Isaiah concentrates on the divine Substitute who suffers in our stead. As we stand at the foot of
the cross with Isaiah, we see Him taking our place. He makes atonement for our sin. He died for
you and me. Perhaps there is no better commentary on this great stanza than 2 Corinthians 5:21.
God made the Servant "who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him." Isaiah takes us directly to the cross.
THE VICARIOUS SUFFERING OF THE DIVINE SUBSTITUTE (v. 4)
"Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted."
The word the prophet uses for "sickness" can mean a variety of illnesses. Isaiah is speaking of
sin sickness. But he also refers top the removal of the consequences of this sin sickness.
Isaiah introduces a confident majesty. The idea of a substitution now clearly comes to the
foreground. He brings out the contrast between the righteous One and the sickness and grief of
the many. The griefs and sorrows the divine Sufferer bears are not His own. The observers now
realize the Sufferer is suffering because of His identification with them. He is not the target of
divine wrath because of something He has done. He is dying as a substitute. He is dying on their
behalf.

100. The emphasis is on the pronoun "He." "He bore" our griefs. He lifted up and carried away our
griefs and sorrows. "He lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain" (NET). The divine Substitute
takes the sin in its consequences that belong to us, lifts them up, i.e. loaded them upon Himself,
and carries them away.
The Hebrew scholars Keil and Delitzsch are very helpful suggesting that it is, "the toilsome
bearing of a burden that has been taken up." He has taken the debt of sin upon Himself, and
carries it as His own, i.e. "to look at it and feel it as one's own (Lev. 5:1, 17)." Therefore, He has
born the punishment occasioned by sin and made expiation for it. The person bearing the sin is
not himself the guilty person. He bore them in His own person that he might deliver us from
them. This is the whole idea of substitution or representation. He became our representative for
sin and died in our place.
What are the consequences of our sins? We live in a day when people want the freedom to do as
they please, but they do not want the consequences of their choices. You are free to choose, but
you are not free to choose your consequences.
The listeners to Isaiah's poem did not want to face the consequences of their sins. They pointed
their finger and said we regard Him as being punished by God with this loathsome and horrible
disease. They looked upon the punishment as the punishment for His own sins. They measured
the sin of the Sufferer by the sufferings that He endured. They reasoned like Job's friends, He
must have been suffering for His own great sins. They saw Him as the one stricken with a
"hateful, shocking disease."
Those who gather around the cross shouting their insults had come to the same conclusion in
their biased minds. "Let's see if God will deliver Him" (Luke 23:35). The implication is that if
He is innocent God will deliver Him. If He doesn't deliver Him from the cross we will know He
is guilty. They believed the lies of the religious leaders who claimed He was guilty of
blasphemy. They had no idea that it was for their sins He was dying.
Please don't miss the emphasis Isaiah is making. I like the way Alexander Maclaren worded it.
"You thought that He was afflicted because He was bad and you were spared because you were
good. No, He was afflicted because you were bad, and you were speared because He was
afflicted." The he adds, "The transgressions are done by us, and the wounds and bruises fall on
Him. Can the idea of vicarious suffering be more plainly set forth? . . . It says as emphatically as
words can say, that we have by our sins deserved stripes, that the Servant bears the stripes which
we have deserved, and that therefore we do not bear them."
"We ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted" (v. 4b, c).
He was a marked man. God singled Him out for punishment. God had both "stricken," "smitten"
and "afflicted" Him. He was "bowed down" by the hand of God. He was "struck down by God"
is the alternate reading in NASB. God afflicted Him with the suffering. God's vengeance
appeared to have fallen upon Him. There is no record of Jesus having any physical illness. He
was healthy. However, our sins burned like the fire of a hot raging fever in His soul. He bore the
penalty of our sins. There was nothing wrong with Him. The problem is with us. We are the
guilty sinners.
Our problem is spiritual. The "transgressions" and "iniquities" is evidence that the law of God
has been broken. You can't miss the emphasis Isaiah makes: "transgressions" (v. 5, 8),

101. "iniquities" (v. 5, 6, 11), "wicked" (v. 9), "sin" (v. 12). We need spiritual healing. "Healing" in
verse five is a metaphor for forgiveness.
Several scholars point to a Jewish tradition drawn from this verse that the Messiah would be
stricken with leprosy. That is no doubt going too far. The picture is that of a "loathsome,
disgraceful disease." They saw Him as being severely humbled, oppress and punished by God.
They were correct in that God struck Him down because of sin. But it was not for His sins that
He was being punished. It was for our sins that He was being punished.
The punishment of Jesus Christ was vicarious. The dictionary definition of the word is
"performed or endured by one person substituting for another; fulfilled by the substitution of the
actual offender with some other person or thing. Vicarious punishment. 2. Acting in place of
someone or something else" (American Heritage Dictionary).
The apostle Peter recognized this great truth when he stated Christ "Himself bore our sins in His
body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds we were
healed" (1 Peter 2:24). He became our substitute and bore our sins.
Matthew in his gospel account quotes this verse in Matthew 8:17. Jesus had just healed the
mother-in-law of Peter who had a high fever (vv. 14-15), along with many people who were
demon-possessed, and "all who were ill" (v. 16). Matthew tells us He did it "in order that what
was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, 'He Himself took our
infirmities, and carried away our disease'" (v. 17).
Jesus' dealt with the root of suffering––our sin. This passage does not teach "faith-cure" theory of
healing. Atonement does not include provision for bodily healing. (Cf. Romans 8:23; Revelation
21:4; 2 Corinthians 12:1-9; 2 Timothy 4:20).
On occasions Jesus did heal the sick, but He did not heal everyone on all occasions. He still heals
on occasion, but He does not heal on all occasions. What Jesus was concerned about was our
spiritual sickness. We are sinners and we need salvation from our sins. Jesus died as our divine
Substitute.
THE VIOLENT SUFFERING OF THE DIVINE SUBSTITUTE (v. 5)
The Divine Substitute bore the sins of those who rightly deserved the punishment of God. He
was the innocent sufferer dying for the guilty. He was suffering for our transgressions. Isaiah
changes the figure from that of the sick man to one who is wounded.
Observe the strong verbs Isaiah uses to describe the extreme painful judgment of God on the
Sufferer.
"But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed."
The thought in the word "pierced through" is a "piercing through unto death." The fact is He has
died, and is not merely suffering. His death is violent and gruesome. Because of our
transgressions, He was pierced through unto death. Cf. Zechariah 12:10. These are the strongest
terms to describe a violent and agonizing death. Keil says, "There were no stronger expressions
to be found in the language, to denote a violent and painful death."

102. Of the crucifixion Cicero wrote; "Let it never come near the body of a Roman citizen: nay, not
even near his thoughts, or eyes, or ears."
The Servant bore the punishment for the sins we have committed. We were guilty before God
and the Servant bore the guilt of our sins. He took our punishment that was due us because of our
falling short of the glory of God. He was our substitute. He took our place and died our death
that we rightly deserved.
Isaiah uses a series of emphatic personal pronouns in the plural––"our transgressions," "our
iniquities," "our well-being," "we are healed," etc.
"He was crushed for our iniquities" runs parallel and reinforces the preceding line. He was
"crushed, broken in pieces, shattered" for our iniquities. He was completely destroyed because of
our iniquities.
He was pierced and crushed because of our sins and iniquities. It was not His own sins and
iniquities, but ours, which He had taken upon Himself, that He might make atonement for them
in our stead, that were the cause of His having to suffer so cruel and painful a death" (Keil and
Delitzsch).
He bore our sins in the fullest sense of the meaning and was completely destroyed as a result of
that punishment. Our transgressions and our iniquities were the cause of His suffering the violent
judgment of God. God executed His judgment upon the divine Substitute.
In order for the substitution to be effective the innocent sufferer had to be without sin. He was
completely free of any transgressions. He was guiltless. If He has been guilty it would have been
a travesty upon justice to say He died in our place. Our substitute bore the penalty that we justly
deserved. He was pierced through and crushed on our behalf. Since the innocent sufferer was
without sin He sets us free in the sight of a holy God.
The only person who ever lived such a life and was perfectly capable of dying in the place of
another was Jesus Christ. "While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the
ungodly. . . . God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ
died for us" (Romans 5:6, 8 NET).
Our peace was procured by His "chastisement." This "chastisement" was the evil that was
inflicted upon the Servant. The best translation would be in the sense of "punishment." The
Servant is not suffering for His own sins, as with the idea of chastisement. The idea is that of the
justice of God being served. It is the infliction of punishment and the execution of judgment. As
a result of His punishment, He has obtained our peace with God. Shalom in the highest sense of
the blessing of God. Luther translated: "The punishment was laid on him that we might have
peace." The punishment of the Servant resulted in our shalom, "peace."
Shalom is a very strong word suggesting "wholeness," "at-one-ness," "blessedness" which is the
condition of salvation. God's storehouse of spiritual blessings comes through His gracious
provision of salvation. This "peace" is the result of a right relationship with God. He is the cause
of our "well-being." The judgment of God administered to Him made our peace. His
"chastisement" brings us peace with God. His stripes have made us spiritually well.
"As He enters into our guilt, so we now enter into His reward" (Hengstenberg).
Because of our sins God was not at peace with us. The cause of the enmity must be removed. Sin
must be punished. "The wages of sin is death." We deserved the punishment because we are

103. guilty. But the punishment fell upon Him. He was punished in our place. "The chastening of our
well-being (Shalom) fell upon Him." Because God punished Him in our place, we are now at
peace with God.
God's justice is satisfied by His holiness. God was executing divine judgment upon our sin
bearer. The righteousness of God demands that sin be atoned. The debt has to be paid. Jesus
Christ paid it at Calvary. One sinless, innocent person voluntarily submitted Himself to the
divine wrath to pay our sin debt. Because the debt is paid God is free to give us a right
relationship with Himself if we will trust in Christ.
The apostle Paul used the word "propitiate" to describe the turning away of the wrath of God that
we rightly deserved. The wrath of God was turned against the Suffering Servant of Yahweh
instead of being turned against us (Romans 3:21-26). This is the only way God can be just and
the justify the sinner who has faith in Christ. The death of Jesus Christ as our vicarious substitute
appeases the wrath of God and turns it away from us. He took the full force of it on our behalf,
and in our place. What an awesome Savior.
"And by His scourging we are healed" (v. 5d). "Because of His wounds we have been healed"
(NET). It is by His wounds that healing came to us. "Healing" in verse five is a metaphor for
forgiveness.
The wounds were the stripes on His body from the scourging He received from His executioners.
His body was covered with bleeding welts left by the lashes.
Because of His beating we have healing from the dreaded disease of sin and all its consequences.
By His wounds we receive spiritual healing and reconciliation with God.
"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep,
but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls" (1 Peter 2:24-25).
It was the stroke of divine judgment that was inflicted upon Him. Our spiritual healing is set in
direct contrast to His scourging. He got the divine strokes of judgment and we got in return
spiritual wholeness.
Everything that would keep us from having a right relationship with God is removed. There is
spiritual healing. The cause of our spiritual death is removed completely. There is healing in His
wings. There is perfect peace with God. There is no greater message than that. Jesus Christ paid
the full payment of our spiritual dept when He died in our place on the cross. It is paid in full!
God can now save us by His grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. Because Jesus
Christ paid it all we need to do is receive His gift of salvation and reconciliation by faith. You
can have peace with God by simply believing or trusting in what Christ did for you on the cross.
THE VIRTUOUS OF THE DIVINE SUBSTITUTE (v. 6)
Why did the divine Servant have to suffer?
"All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him."

104. We are like a flock of dumb sheep that have all gone astray. All of us are destitute of salvation.
"We walked through life solitary, forsaken, miserable, separated from God and the good
Shepherd, and deprived of His pastoral care" (Hengstenberg). We are the guilty sinners who
have wandered farther and farther away from God. "Each has turned to his own way"––not God's
way. We have gone our own self-seeking way. We became egocentric instead of God-centered.
"All of us" has the idea of a flock of sheep, the solidarity of the people. The ones who lead the
sheep have gone astray and the people follow. Israel's kings, priests and prophets had all failed.
They led the people into sin. They were all false shepherds. There was no hope for the whole
human race because the people of God had failed! The Psalmist confessed, "I have gone astray
like a lost sheep; seek Thy servant, For I do not forget Thy commandments" (Psalm 119:176).
No where is there evidence in the Old Testament of Israel suffering vicariously for other nations.
She can not suffer for others; she suffers always for her own sins. Isaiah emphasizes that the
Suffering One is vicariously suffering for other people's sins. It is obvious the one suffering in
this passage was suffering for others. There is no other way to interpret the language Isaiah uses
here.
Sin separates us from God. It creates a giant un-crossable canyon between God and us.
Jesus' parable of the Good Shepherd (John 10) is quite fitting here. The Good Shepherd
voluntarily gave His life for the sheep (v. 11). It was His clear, volitional choice. No one made
Him do it (10:17-18).
"The LORD has caused" is emphatic meaning the LORD laid the iniquity on Him. "The Lord
made the Servant suffer by placing on Him the iniquity that belonged to us all," writes Young.
God caused the punishment for sin to fall upon the Substitute.
"To fall on Him," means "to hit or strike violently." It is to "cause to strike with great force." The
strong "arm of the LORD" was coming down in swift, firm judgment on sin. We rightfully
expect the hand of God's judgment to come down on us, but it doesn't in God's marvelous grace.
It struck Him! It was violent and it was bloody. I wish those who constantly complain that life is
unfair would get a good hold of this passage. It was unfair for Him because He took the fall. He
bore our punishment. He chose to do so.
The one innocent person voluntarily submits to the punishment of God in His own person.
The only cure for our sin problem is the vicarious, substitutionary death of Jesus Christ as our
Suffering Savior. Jesus has vicariously identified Himself with sinners. He are the ones who
deserved the wrath of God. No wonder Jesus cried out from the cross, "My God, My God, Why
has Thou forsaken Me?" As Luther once said, "God forsaken of God. Who can understand that?"
Observe carefully the sequence of thought in this stanza.
"He has born my griefs
He has carried my sorrows
He was pierced-through for my transgressions
He was crushed for my iniquities
Punishment for my spiritual well-being fell upon Him
By His scourging I am healed
The LORD has caused my iniquity to fall with a great force on Him."

105. What is the meaning of His suffering?
His suffering was vicarious.
His suffering was voluntary.
His suffering was in obedient submission to the will of God.
His suffering was for every one of us.
His suffering accomplished reconciliation with God.
His suffering turned the wrath of God away from us and we now enjoy peace with God.
His suffering was all-sufficient for the sinner.
All of these divine statements speak of the vicarious substitutionary atonement for sin. Isaiah
states and then restates it. Who can miss it!
God struck Jesus with the guilt that belonged to us. He bore our punishment for that guilt. He
died for "all of us" including the prophet and his listeners. He died not only for our sins, but for
the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins that turns away
the wrath of God.
The apostle Peter reminds us of the all sufficiency of the death of Christ. "For Christ also died
for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been
put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit" (1 Peter 3:18).
I pray to the LORD God that we will take seriously the consequences of our sins and
transgressions. "The wages of sin is death." However, "God made Him who knew no sin to be
sin on our behalf" (2 Corinthians 5:21a). "All this great multitude of sins, and mass of guilt, and
weight of punishment, came upon the Servant of Jehovah according to the appointment of the
God of salvation, who is gracious in holiness. . . It was our sins that He bore, and for our
salvation that God caused Him to suffer on our account" (Keil and Delitzsch).
Please allow me to paraphrase what He did for you and me.
"Surely my griefs Jesus Christ Himself bore,
And my sorrows He carried;
Yet I esteemed Jesus stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But Jesus was pierced through for my transgressions,
He was crushed for my iniquities;
The chastening for my well–being fell upon Jesus,
And by His scourging I am healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Jesus Christ."
http://www.abideinchrist.com/messages/isa53v4.html

106. Spurgeon's Morning and Evening
Morning Devotional for March 31


"With his stripes we are healed."
- Isaiah 53:5

Pilate delivered our Lord to the lictors to be scourged. The Roman scourge was a most dreadful
instrument of torture. It was made of the sinews of oxen, and sharp bones were inter-twisted
every here and there among the sinews; so that every time the lash came down these pieces of
bone inflicted fearful laceration, and tore off the flesh from the bone. The Saviour was, no doubt,
bound to the column, and thus beaten. He had been beaten before; but this of the Roman lictors
was probably the most severe of his flagellations. My soul, stand here and weep over his poor
stricken body.

Believer in Jesus, can you gaze upon him without tears, as he stands before you the mirror of
agonizing love? He is at once fair as the lily for innocence, and red as the rose with the crimson
of his own blood. As we feel the sure and blessed healing which his stripes have wrought in us,
does not our heart melt at once with love and grief? If ever we have loved our Lord Jesus, surely
we must feel that affection glowing now within our bosoms.

"See how the patient Jesus stands,
Insulted in his lowest case!
Sinners have bound the Almighty's hands,
And spit in their Creator's face.

With thorns his temples gor'd and gash'd
Send streams of blood from every part;
His back's with knotted scourges lash'd.
But sharper scourges tear his heart."

We would fain go to our chambers and weep; but since our business calls us away, we will first
pray our Beloved to print the image of his bleeding self upon the tablets of our hearts all the day,
and at nightfall we will return to commune with him, and sorrow that our sin should have cost
him so dear.



A SIMPLE REMEDY NO. 1068

107. A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD’S -DAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 1,
1872, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,
NEWINGTON.

“With His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5.

EVER since the Fall, healing has been the chief necessity of manhood. There
was no physician in paradise, but outside that blissful enclosure professors of
the healing art have been precious as the gold of Ophir. Even in Eden itself
there grew the herbs which would in later days yield medicine for the body of
man. Before sin came into the world, and disease, which is the consequence of
it, God had created plants of potent efficacy to soothe pain, and wrestle with
disease. Blessed be His name, while thus mindful of the body, He had not
forgotten the direr sicknesses of the soul; for He has raised up for us a plant of
renown, yielding a balm far more effectual than that of Gilead. This He had
done before the plague of sin had yet infected us. Christ Jesus, the true
medicine of the sons of men, was ordained of old to heal the sicknesses of His
people. Everywhere, at this present hour, we meet with some form or other of
sickness; no place, however healthful, is free from cases of disease. As for
moral disease, it is all around us, and we are thankful to add that the remedy
is everywhere within reach. The beloved physician has prepared a healing
medicine which can be reached by all classes, which is available in every
climate, at every hour, under every circumstance, and is effectual in every
case wherever it is received. Of that medicine we shall speak this morning,
praying that we may have God’s help in so doing. It is a great mercy for us
who have to preach, as well as for you who have to hear, that the gospel
healing is so very simple—our text describes it: “With His stripes we are
healed.” These six words contain the marrow of the gospel, and yet scarcely
one of them contains a second syllable. They are words for plain people, and
in them there is no affectation of mystery or straining after the profound. I
looked, the other day, into old Culpepper’s Herbal; it contains a marvelous

108. collection of wonderful remedies; had this old herbalist’s prescriptions been
universally followed, there would not long have been any left to prescribe
for—the astrological herbalist would soon have exterminated both sickness
and mankind! Many of his recipes contain from 12 to 20 different drugs, each
one needing to be prepared in a peculiar manner; I think I once counted 40
different ingredients in one single draught! Very different are these recipes,
with their elaboration of preparation, from the biblical prescriptions which
effectually healed the sick—such as these: “Take a lump of figs, and lay it for
a plaster upon the boil”; or that other one—“Go and wash in Jordan seven
times”; or that other—“Take up your bed and walk.” One cannot but admire
the simplicity of truth, while falsehood conceals her deformities with a
thousand tricks! If you want to see Culpepper’s Herbal carried out in
spiritual things, go and buy a directory for the carrying on of the ritualistic
services of the Church of England, or the Church of Rome! You shall find
there innumerable rules as to when you shall bow, and to what quarter of the
heavens you shall look; when you shall stand up, and when you shall kneel;
when you shall dress in black, in white, in blue, or in violet. There are
instructions on how you shall pray, and what you shall pray; a collect being
appointed for today and another for tomorrow. On the other hand, if you
would know the true way of having your souls healed, go to the Word of God
and study such a text as this: “With His stripes we are healed.” In the one case
all is mysterious; in the other all is simple and clear. Quackery cannot live
without mystery, show, ceremony and pretense; but the truth of God is as
plain as a pikestaff, legible as though it were written on the broad heavens,
and so simple that a babe may comprehend it! “With His stripes we are
healed.” I saw in Paris, years ago, a public vendor of quack medicines, and an
extraordinary personage he was; he rode into the market place with a fine
chariot drawn by horses richly adorned, while a trumpet was sounded before
him! This mighty healer of all diseases made his appearance clothed in a coat
of as many colors as that of Joseph, and on his head was a helmet adorned
with variegated plumes! He delivered himself of a jargon which might be
French, which might also be Latin, or might be nonsense, for no
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one in the crowd could understand it, but with a little persuasion the natives
bought his medicines, persuaded that so great and wise a man could surely
cure them. Truly, this is one reason why there is an adoption in the Romish
church of the Latin tongue, and why in many other churches there is an
affectation of a theological jargon which nobody can comprehend, and which
would not be of any use to them if they did comprehend it! The whole is
designed to delude the multitude. To what purpose are fine speeches in the
gospel ministry? Sicknesses are not healed by eloquence! It was an ill day in
which rhetoric crept into the Church of God, and men attempted to make the
gospel a subject for oratory! The gospel needs no human eloquence to
recommend it; it stands most securely when without a buttress; like beauty, it
is most adorned when unadorned the most. The native charms of the gospel
suffice to commend it to those who have spiritual eyes, and those who are
blind will not admire it, deck it as we may. I shall, therefore, content myself
this morning with declaring the gospel to you in the plainest possible
language, forfeiting any attempts at excellence of speech. I know it to be the
gospel of God; I know it will save you if you receive it—it has saved me; it has
saved thousands more! I shall put it before you in plain, unvarnished
language; I beseech you to receive it, and I pray that God’s Holy Spirit may
lead you to do so. Coming at once to our text, we observe, first, that these are
sad word: “With His stripes we are healed”; we remark, secondly, that these
are glad words; and, then, we shall notice, thirdly, that these are very
suggestive words. I. THESE ARE SAD WORDS. They are part of a mournful
piece of music which might be called “The Requiem of the Messiah.” hear its
solemn notes—“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet
we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was
wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.”
Do you not feel that the song so softly stated has touched your heart to pity,
and moistened your eyes with tears? “With His stripes we are healed.” This is
not the brine of woe, but yet it is salt with sorrow. The sun is not eclipsed, but
it shines through a cloud. No one reads the inner sense of these words without

110. feeling grief of soul. This is caused by the fact that the words imply the
existence of disease, and speak of great suffering connected with the remedy.
I say these are sad words because they imply disease. “With His stripes we are
healed. This, “we,” comprehends within itself all the saints, and hence it is
clear that all the saints needed healing. Those who are today before the throne
of God without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, were once as defiled as the
lepers who were shut out of the camp of Israel! Enoch, Noah, Abraham,
Jacob, David, Elijah, Hezekiah, Daniel—all these were once sick of the
accursed malady of sin! All the excellent of the earth among us now who have
been saved by sovereign grace were once heirs of wrath even as others—as
surely shaped in iniquity, and conceived in sin as the rest of mankind! There is
a confession here, by implication, of all who are washed in the blood of Jesus,
that they needed washing; of all who are healed by His stripes, that they were
sorely sick with sin. This confession is true. Every child of God will join in it,
and he who knows himself best will make it with greatest emphasis. We were
so diseased that nothing could have restored us but the precious blood of our
dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! It is a dread fact that sin has infected the
entire family of man; we are all sinful—sinful through and through; we are all
corrupt with evil passions, and depraved desires; our fathers were fallen men,
and so are we, and so will our children be. The putting of bitter for sweet and
of sweet for bitter; of darkness for light and light for darkness is engendered
in us all. “Every one of them is gone back; they have altogether become filthy;
there is none that does good, no not one.” Oh, mournful, miserable fact in a
fair world, “Where every prospect pleases”; beneath a glorious sky where
stars peer down upon us like the eyes of God, man lives a rebel to his God, a
traitor to the truth of God, an enemy of good, a slave of evil! He who was
made to rule the world rules not himself! Fashioned for wisdom, he drivels
like a fool! Ordained immortality, he labors for the wages of sin which is
death! Sin has dimmed his eyes, hardened his heart, uncrowned his head,
weakened his strength, filled him with putrefying sores, and left him naked to
his shame! The disease of sin is of the most loathsome character. Supposing it
possible for every man to have had the leprosy, and yet for no man to have
had sin, that would have been no calamity at all compared with that of our
becoming sinful! If it could have happened that we could have been deprived

111. of our most useful faculties, and yet had remained innocent, that would have
been a small catastrophe com
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pared with this depraving of our nature by sin. To inoculate the parent stock
with evil was the great design of Satan, for he knew that this would work the
worst conceivable ill to God’s creatures. hell itself is not more horrible than
sin! No vision, ghastly and grim, can ever be as terrible to the spiritual eye as
the hideous, loathsome thing called sin! Remember that this dread evil is in us
all; we are, at this day, every one of us, by nature only fit to be burned up with
the abominations of the universe! If we think we are better than that, we do
not know ourselves! It is a part of the infatuation of evil that its victims pride
themselves upon their excellence; our infernal pride makes us cover our
leprous foreheads with the silver veil of self-deception. Like a foul bog covered
over with green moss, our nature hides its rottenness beneath a film of
suppositious righteousness. And, brothers and sisters, while sin is loathsome
before God at the present time, it will lead to the most deadly result in due
season. There is not a man or woman among us that can escape the damnation
of hell apart from the healing virtue of the Savior’s atoning sacrifice; no, not
one! Your lovely little girl is defiled in heart, albeit that as yet nothing worse
than childish folly is discoverable; just leave that little mind to its own devices,
and the fair child will become an arch-transgressor! Yonder most amiable
youth, although no blasphemous word has ever blackened his lips, and no
lustful thought has yet inflamed his eyes, must yet be born-again, or he may
wander into foulest ways! And yonder most moral tradesman, though he has
as yet done justice to his fellow men, will perish if he is not saved by the grace
of God through Christ Jesus! Sin dwells in us, and will be deadly in the case of
everyone among us, without a solitary exception, unless we accept the remedy
which God has provided! Ah, dear friends, this disease is none the better
because we do not feel it. It is all the worse; it is one of the worst symptoms in

112. some diseases, when men become incapable of feeling. It is dreadful when the
delirious sick man cries out, “I am well enough! I will leave this bed! I will go
to my business!” hear how he raves— must we not put him under restraint?
The louder his boasts of health, the more sad the delirious patient’s condition.
When ignorance is known and felt, it is not dense, but he who knows nothing,
and yet fancies that he knows everything, is ignorant, indeed! Sin is also a
very painful disease when it is known and felt. When the Spirit of God leads a
man to see the sin which is really in him, then how he changes his note! Oh,
children of God, have you forgotten how acutely sin made you smart? Those
black days of conviction; my soul still has them in remembrance—
remembering the wormwood and the gall! The period of my conviction of sin
is burnt into my memory as with a red-hot iron; its wounds are cured, but the
scars remain. As Habakkuk has well put it, “When I heard, my belly
trembled, my lips quivered at the voice, rottenness entered into my bones, and
I trembled in myself.” Oh, ‘tis a burden, this load of sin; a burden which
might crush an angel down to hell! There I stood, and seemed like another
staggering Atlas, bearing up a world of sin upon these shoulders, and fearing
every moment lest I should be crushed into the abyss, and justly lost forever!
Only let a man once feel sin for half-an-hour—really feel its tortures, and I
guarantee you he could prefer to dwell in a pit of snakes than to live with his
sins! Remember that cry of David, “My sin is ever before me”? He speaks as
though it haunted him; he shut his eyes, but he still saw its hideous shape! He
sought his bed, but like a nightmare it weighed upon his breast; he rose and it
rose with him; he tried to shake it off among the haunts of men—in business
and in pleasure; but like a blood-sucking vampire it clung to him! Sin was
always before him, as though it were painted on his eyeballs; the glass of his
soul’s window was stained with it! He sought his closet but could not shut it
out; he sat alone but it sat with him; he slept, but it cursed his dreams. His
memory was burdened by it; his imagination it lit up with lurid flames; his
judgment it armed with a ten-thronged whip; his expectations it shrouded in
midnight gloom. A man needs no worse hell than his own sin and an
awakened conscience! Let this be instead of racks, and whips of burning wire.
Conscience once aroused will find in sin the undying worm, the unquenchable
fire, and the bottomless pit of hell. Though God Himself will punish sin, yet it
is a wolf which tears its own flesh, a viper which turns its envenomed fang

113. upon itself! Perhaps many of you may reply, “But we do not feel this!” True,
because you have contrived, for the present, to give sedatives to conscience; I
pity you because you are not aware of the truth of God; I see how it is with
you, you think your money making, or spending your days pleasantly, or your
performance of your daily labor is all you need consider; but if you were not
deceived by sin, you would know better! You would understand that you are
God’s creatures, and that God did not make you to live for yourselves. Which
among you builds a house, and does not intend either to live in it or gain
something by the letting of it? And do you
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think God made you without designing to glorify Himself in you? Oh, men
and women, did your Creator make you that you might live only for
yourselves, and make your bellies your gods? Do you dream that you may
miss the end of your being, and not have it required at your hands? Will He
allow you to rob Him of your service, and wink at your rebellion, and treat it
as if it were nothing? It shall not be so, as you will find to your regret! Oh,
may you be taught, now, the evil of sin! Spirit of God, it is Your office to
convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment—do Your office
now, for none will apply for healing till they feel the smart; none will look to
the stripes of Jesus till they feel the wounds of sin! When sin is bitter, Christ is
sweet, but only then; when death threatens, then do men fly to Christ for life;
no man ever loves Christ till he loathes himself! No man ever cares for Jesus
till he comes to see that out of Jesus he is a lost, ruined and undone soul! Oh,
may God grant that the sorrowful part of these words may ring in your ears
till you mourn your grievous sin! But there is a second sorrow in the verse,
and that is sorrow for the suffering by which we are healed. “With His stripes
we are healed.” I find that the word here used is in the singular, and not as the
translation would lead you to suppose. I hardly know how to fully translate
the word. It is read by some as “weal,” “bruise,” or “wound,” meaning the

114. mark or print of blows on the skin; but Alexander says the word denotes the
tumor rose in flesh by scourging. It is elsewhere translated, “blueness,”
“hurt,” and “spots,” and evidently refers to the black and blue marks of the
scourge. The use of a singular noun may have been intended to set forth that
our Lord was, as it were, reduced to a mass of bruising, and was made one
great bruise. By the suffering which that condition indicated, we are saved.
Our text alludes partly to the sufferings of His body, but much more to the
agonies of His soul. The body of our Lord and Savior was bruised; scourging
under the Jewish law was always moderate—there was a pause made at a
point which mercy had appointed; 39 stripes were all that could be given. But
our Lord was not beaten according to the Jewish law; He was scourged by
Pilate, and the scourging of the Romans was peculiarly brutal. They stopped
not at the 40 stripes save one; they struck at random, according to their own
will. The Savior endured a scourging which was intended to be a substitute for
death—“I will scourge Him and release Him,” said Pilate, but instead of its
being a substitute for death, it became a prelude to it. Probably most men
would prefer to die rather than to be scourged after the Roman fashion, and
might be wise in making such a choice. Sinews of oxen were intertwisted with
knuckle bones of sheep, and these were armed with small slivers of bone so
that every stroke gashed the flesh deeply, and caused fearful wounds and
tears—as says the prophet, “The plowers made deep furrows.” Our Savior’s
back was plowed and furrowed deeply in the day of His scourging! Now you
may look at the person of Jesus, your substitute and sacrifice, covered with
livid bruises by human cruelty, and say, “With His stripes we are healed.”
But you must not stop there and think that flesh wounds were all His stripes,
for our Lord bore more terrible stripes in His soul. He was struck in His heart
each day of His life; He had to suffer the ills of providence; being a man, He
had sympathy with us in all those stripes which are the inheritance of Adam’s
sons; He felt the stripes of poverty, stripes of weariness, stripes of sickness,
stripes of heaviness, stripes of bereavement above all others, He was a “Man
of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” Moreover, He had to run the gauntlet
of all mankind; stripes fell upon our Savior from all sorts of men, for every
man’s sin laid a stroke upon His shoulders! When He was here on earth, if He
saw men sin, that smote Him. If He heard them speak a wrong word—that
smote Him. Having sinned, we have been hardened by sin, but He was pure

115. and perfect, and it was a bruise to Him to come into contact with sin. You
remember how His adversaries called Him a drunk and a wine-bibber—how
they said He had a devil, and was mad? Thus they were all striking Him; each
man laying on his blow with all his might! Worse than all, He was wounded in
the house of His friends. Was any blow equal to that which Judas laid upon
those shoulders? And next to that, could anything surpass in pain the blows
which Peter gave when he said, “I know not the man”? There was a cruel
process in the English navy in which men were made to run the gauntlet all
along the ship, with sailors on each side, each man being bound to give a
stroke to the poor victim as he ran along. Our Savior’s life was a running of
the gauntlet between His enemies and His friends who all struck Him, one
here and another there! By those sorrowful and shameful stripes we this day
are healed! Satan, too, struck at Him. I think I see the arch-fiend ascend from
the pit with haste, and lifting himself upon his dragon wings, come forward to
strike the Savior, daring to inflict upon His soul the accurs
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ed temptations of hell! He struck Him in the desert, and in the garden, till
beneath that smiting, great drops of blood crimsoned His face. But this was
nothing compared with the fact that He was smitten of God! Oh, what a word
is that! If God were to lay His finger on any one of us this morning, only His
finger, we would be struck with sickness, paralysis, yes, and death! Then think
of God smiting! God must strike sin wherever He sees it; it is just that He
should do so; it is as much an essential part of God’s nature that He should
crush sin, as that He should love, for, indeed, it is only love in another form
that makes Him hate that which is evil! So when He saw our sin laid upon His
Son, He struck Him with the blows of a cruel one till beneath that smiting, His
Son cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He was
bearing, in that moment, all the crushing blows of that great sword of
vengeance of which we read in the prophets—“Awake, O sword, against My

116. Shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, says the Lord.” Put these
things all together as best you can, for I lack words with which to fitly
describe these bruises from the ills of life—bruises from friends and foes;
stripes from Satan, and blows from God— and surely it is the most sorrowful
story that ever was told— “O King of grief! (A title strange, yet true. To You,
of all kings, only due). O King of wounds! How shall I grieve for Thee Who in
all grief outruns me? Shall I weep blood? Why, You have wept such store,
That all Your body was one sore. Shall I be scourged, flouted, boxed, sold?
‘Tis but to tell the tale is told; My God, my God, if You do part from me, It is
such a grief as cannot be!” One needs to be a Niobe, a dripping well of tears,
to mourn the chief of among 10,000 made the chief of sufferers! That the ever-
blessed one should suffer! That the Lord of life should bleed! The angels
worship Him, and yet Jehovah struck Him! He is so fair that nothing else is
beautiful to any eye that has once gazed upon Him, and yet they spit in His
face and marred His lovely countenance with cruel blows of brutal fists! He is
all tenderness, but they are all cruelty! He is harmless as a lamb! He never
thought nor spoke a thing of wrong to mortal man, but yet they strike Him as
though He were a fierce beast of prey, fit only to be bruised to death! He is all
love, and when they strike Him worst, He does but pray for them, yet they still
strike! No curses drop from those dear lips, but only words of pity and of
sweet intercession follow each blow, yet still they wound and buffet and
blaspheme! Oh, grief far deeper than the sea! Oh, woe immeasurable! They
strike Him for whom they ought to have gladly died; He for whom the noble
army of martyrs counted it all joy to render up their lives; they despitefully
curse Him who came on errands of pure mercy and disinterested grace! Oh,
cruel whips and cruel hands, and yet more—cruel hearts of wicked men!
Surely we should never read such words as these without feeling that they call
for sorrow—sorrow which if mingled with spiritual repentance, will be a fit
anointing for His burial, or, at least, a bath in which to wash away the blood
stains from His dear and most pure flesh. II. Next—and may the Spirit of
God help us with fresh power—THESE ARE GLAD WORDS. “With His
stripes we are healed.” They are glad words, first, because they speak of
healing! “We are healed.” Understand these words, oh beloved, of that virtual
healing which was given you in the day when Jesus Christ died upon the
cross; in the moment when Christ yielded up the ghost, all His elect might

117. have said, and said with truth, “We are healed!” For, from that moment their
sins were put away—a full atonement was made for all the chosen! Christ had
laid down His life for His sheep! He had redeemed His saints from among
men; the ransom price was fully paid; a complete expiation for sin was made,
and the redeemed were clear! Let us, this morning, walk up and down with
perfect peace and confidence, for from the day when Jesus died, we were
perfectly clear before the judgment seat of God! “With His stripes we are
healed,” or rather, “we were healed,” for the words are in the past in the
original Hebrew. “With His stripes we were healed!” My sins, they ceased to
be centuries ago! My debts, my Savior paid them before I was born, and
nailed up the receipted bill to His cross, and I can see it there! The
handwriting of ordinances that was contrary to us, He took away and nailed it
to His cross. I can see it, and while I read the long list of my sins—oh, how
long, what a roll it needed to contain them; yet I
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see at the bottom, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all
sin.” It matters not how long that roll was—the debt is all discharged. I am
acquitted before God, and so is every believer in Jesus! Every soul that rests
in Jesus was at the time when Jesus died, then and there absolved before the
sacred judgment seat! “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?”
is a fit challenge to ring forth from the cross where atonement was finished!
But, dear friends, there is an actual application of the great expiation to us
when, by faith, we receive it individually, and it is that also which is intended
here. To as many as have believed in Jesus, His stripes have given the healing
of forgiveness of sin, and moreover it has conquered the deadly power of sin.
Sin no longer has dominion over them, for they are not under the law, but
under grace. Nothing ever delivers a man from the power of sin like a sight of
the suffering Savior; I have heard of a man who had lived a dissolute life, who
could never be reclaimed from it by any means, but at last, when he saw his

118. mother sick and die from grief at his ways, the thought that she had died
because of his sins touched his heart, and made him repent of his ungodliness.
If there was such efficacy to cause repentance in that form of suffering, much
more is there when we come to see Jesus die in our place! Then our heart
melts with love to Him; then hatred of sin takes possession of the soul, and the
reigning power of evil is destroyed! Christ’s stripes have healed us of all love
of sin! Faith in the Crucified One has healed our eyes; once they were blind,
for “When we saw Him, there was no beauty that we should desire Him.”
Now, since we have seen His stripes, we see all beauties unite in His adorable
person! I know, beloved, if you have put your trust in the sufferings of Jesus,
you think Him to be the most precious of beings—you see loveliness in Him
which all heaven’s angels could not rival! The stripes of Immanuel have also
healed our hearts. “We hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised
and we esteemed Him not,” but now our hearts delight in Him, and we turn
our faces towards Him as the flowers look to the sun! We only wish that we
could see Him face to face! And He has healed our feet, too, for they were
prone to evil; note the verse that follows our text—“All we, like sheep, have
gone astray. We have turned, everyone, to his own way.” A sight of His stripes
has brought us back, and charmed by the disinterested love which suffered in
our place, we follow the great Bishop and Shepherd of our souls, and desire
never again to wander from His commands! From head to foot His stripes
have bound up our wounds and mollified them with ointment; He forgives all
our iniquities; He heals all our diseases. Beloved, if you would be cured of any
sin, however spreading its infection, fly to Jesus’ wounds! This is the only way
to be rid of the palsy of fear, the lever of lust, the sore blisters of remorse, or
the leprosy of iniquity! His stripes are the only medicine for transgression!
Men have tried to overcome their passions by the contemplation of death, but
they have failed to bury sin in the grave; they have strived to subdue the rage
of lust within their nature by meditating upon hell, but that has only rendered
the heart hard and callous to love’s appeals. He, who once believingly beholds
the mystery of Christ suffering for him, shakes off the viper of sin into the fire
which consumed the great sacrifice. Where the blood of the atonement falls,
sin’s hand is palsied, its grasp is relaxed, its scepter falls, it vacates the throne
of the heart, and the Spirit of grace, and truth, and love, and righteousness
occupies the royal seat. I may be addressing some this morning who despair

119. of being saved. Behold Christ smarting in your place, and you will never
despair again! If Jesus bore the transgressors’ punishment, there is every
room for hope! Perhaps your disease is love of the world and a fear of man;
you dare not become a Christian because men would laugh at you. If you
could hear the scourges fall upon the Savior’s back, you would henceforth say,
“Did He suffer thus for me? I will never be ashamed of Him again.” And
instead of shunning the fight, you would seek out the thick of the fray. “With
His stripes we are healed.” It is a universal medicine! There is no disease by
which your soul can be afflicted but an application of the blue bruises of your
Lord will take out the deadly virus from your soul! Are you ambitious? This
will bring you down. Are you desponding? This will lift you up. Are you hot
with passion? This will cool you. Are you chill with indolence? This will
stimulate you. The cross! The cross! The cross of Christ! What power dwells
in it! Full sure, if even for Satan that cross had been set up on earth, it would
have lifted him from hell to heaven! But it is not for him; it is, however, for
the vilest of the sons of men— and there are no sons of men so corrupt that
the cross of Christ cannot purge them of all evil! Bear this gospel into Africa,
where superstitious sorcery holds men’s minds in thralldom; it will uplift
before all eyes the charter of Africa’s liberty! Ethiopia shall stretch out her
hands, liberated from her chains, when
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she shall see a crucified Savior! Bear the cross among the Brahmins or among
the Hindus—preach the cross among a race of men who boast their wisdom,
and they shall become ignorant in their own esteem, but truly wise before the
Lord—when they shall see the light that streams from Immanuel’s wounds!
Even Oriental cunning and lasciviousness are thus healed! Do not tell me that
we ought mainly to preach Christ exalted. I will preach my Lord upon the
throne, and delight therein, but the great remedy for ruined manhood is not
Christ in glory, but Christ in shame and death! We know some, who select

120. Christ’s Second Advent as their one great theme, and we would not silence
them; yet they err. The Second Coming is a glorious hope for saints, but there
is no cure in it for sinners! To them the coming of the Lord is darkness and
not light! But Christ smitten for our sins— there is the star which breaks the
sinner’s midnight! I know if I preached Christ on the throne, many proud
hearts would have Him. But, oh, sirs, you must have Christ on the cross
before you can know Him on the throne! You must bow before the crucified!
You must trust a dying Savior or else if you pretend to honor Him by the
glories which are to come, you do but belie Him, and you know Him not. To
the cross, to the cross, to the cross! Write that upon the signposts of the road
to the city of refuge! Fly there, you guilty ones, as to the only sanctuary for the
sinful for, “With His stripes we are healed.” There is joy in this! There is
another joy in the text—joy in the honor which it brings to Christ. The
stripes, let us lament them; the healing, let us rejoice in it! And then, the
Physician, let us honor Him! “With His stripes we are healed.” Jesus Christ
works real cures; we are healed, effectually healed. We were healed when we
first believed; we are still healed. Abiding cure we have, for still to His wounds
we fly! An eternal cure we have, for never man was healed by Christ, and then
relapsed and died. “With His stripes we are healed”; by nothing else; by no
mixture of something else with those stripes. Not by priestcraft, not by
sacraments, not by our own prayers, not by our own good works. “With His
stripes we are healed”— healed of all sin of every kind; of sins past, of sins
present, and sins to come! We are healed, completely healed of all, and that in
a moment—not through long years of waiting, and of gradually growing
better, but—“With His stripes we are healed,” completely healed, even now!
Blessed be His name! Now, child of God, if you would give glory to God,
declare that you are healed this morning! Be not always saying, “I hope I am
saved.” The man who says he hopes he is cured does not greatly recommend
the physician; but the man who knows he is, he is the man who brings him
honor! Let us speak positively—we can do so; let us speak out in the face of all
mankind, and not be ashamed; let us say, “As surely as we were diseased, so
surely are we healed through the stripes of our Lord Jesus Christ!” Let us
give Jesus all glory! Let us magnify Him to the utmost! I see now in vision a
company of men gathering herbs along the slopes of the Seven Hills of Rome.
With mystic rites they cull those ancient plants whose noxious influence once

121. drugged our fathers into deadly slumbers. They are compounding again the
cup of Rome’s ancient sorcery and saying—“Here is the universal medicine;
the great Catholic remedy.” I see them pouring their Belladonna, Monkshood,
and deadly Henbane into the great pot forever simmering on the Papal
hearth. Do you think the nations are to be healed by this accursed mixture?
Will not the end be as in the days of the prophets, when one gathered wild
gourds, and they cried out, “There is death in the pot”? Yes, indeed, so it will
be, even though Oxford and Canterbury set their seal upon the patent
medicine! Come, you brave sons of protesting fathers; come and overturn this
witches’ caldron, and spill it back into the hell for which alone it is fit! Pity
that even old Tiber’s tawny flood should be poisoned with it, or bear its
deadly mixture to that sea across which once sailed the apostolic boat. The
wine of Rome’s abominations is now imported into this island, and distributed
in a thousand towns and villages by your own national clergy, and all classes
and conditions of men are being made drunk with its filth! You lovers of your
race and of your God, stop the traffic, and proclaim around the Popish
caldron, “There is no healing here.” No healing plants ever grew upon the
Seven Hills of Rome, nor are the roots improved in virtue if transplanted to
Canterbury, or the city on the Isis. There is one divine remedy and only one; it
is no mixture. Receive it and live—“With His stripes we are healed.” No
sprinkling can wash out sin! No confirmation can confer divine grace! No
“masses” can appease God! Your hope must be in Jesus! Jesus smitten! Jesus
bruised! Jesus slain! Jesus the substitute for sinners! Whoever believes in
Him is healed, but all other hopes are a lie from top to bottom! Of
Sacramentarianism I will say that its Alpha is a lie, and its Omega is a lie! It is
as false as the devil who devised it!
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But Christ and only Christ is the true physician of souls, and His stripes the
only remedy. Oh, for a trumpet to sound this through every town of England!

122. Through every city of Europe! Oh, to preach this in the Coliseum! Or better,
still, from the pulpit of St. Peter’s!—“With His stripes we are healed.” Away,
away you deceivers with your mixtures and compounds! Away you proud sons
of men with your boasts of what you feel, and think, and do, and what you
intend and vow! “With HIS stripes we are healed.” A crucified Savior is the
sole and only hope of a sinful world! III. Now, I said this is a VERY
SUGGESTIVE TEXT, but I shall not give you the suggestions, for time has
failed me, except to say that whenever a man is healed through the stripes of
Jesus, the instincts of his nature should make him say, “I will spend the
strength I have, as a healed man, for Him who healed me.” Every stripe on the
back of Christ cries to me, “You are not your own; you are bought with a
price.” What do you say to this—you who profess to be healed? Will you live
to Him? Will you not say, “For me to live is Christ; I desire now, having been
healed through His precious blood, to spend and be spent in His service”? Oh,
if you all were brought to this, it would be a grand day for London! If we had
a thousand men who would preach nothing but Christ, and live nothing but
Christ, what would the world see? A thousand? No, give us but a dozen men
on fire with the love of Jesus, and if they would preach Christ out and out,
and through and through, and nothing else, the world would know a change
before long! We should hear again the cry, “The men that turn the world
upside down have come here, also!” Nothing beneath the sun is as mighty as
the gospel! Believe me, there is nothing as wise as Christ, and nothing so
potent over human hearts as the cross! Vain are the dreams of intellect and
the boasts of culture! Give me the cross and keep your fineries! You will
know this when you come to die, beloved. You will find nothing able to cheer
your departing moments but the Savior on the bloody tree. When the man is
panting for existence, and the breath is hard to fetch, and the spirit faces
eternity, you need no priest—no dead creed, no gaudy oratory, no sacraments,
no dreams—you will demand certainties, verities, divine realities! And where
will you find them but in the divine substitute? Here is a rock to put your foot
on; here are the rod and the staff of God Himself to comfort you! Then
nothing will seem more admirable than the simple truth of God, that God
became man and suffered in man’s place and that God has promised that
whoever believes in His Son shall not perish, but have everlasting life!
Beloved, if you know that Jesus has healed you, serve Him by telling others

123. about the healing medicine. Whisper it in the ear of one; tell it in your houses
to the twos. Preach it, if you can, to the hundreds of thousands! Print it in the
papers; write it with your pen; spread it through every nook and corner of the
land. Tell it to your children; tell it to your servants; leave none around you
ignorant of it. Hang it up everywhere in letters of boldest type. “WITH HIS
STRIPES WE ARE HEALED!” Oh, sound it! Sound it! Sound it loud as the
trumpet of doom! And make men’s ears to hear it, whether they will or not!
The Lord bless you with this healing. Amen.


NUMBER 2000; OR, HEALING BY THE STR IPES OF JESUS NO. 2000

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD’S -DAY, JANUARY 1,
1888, DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN
TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

“With His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5.

BEING one evening in Exeter Hall, I heard our late beloved brother, Mr.
Mackay, of Hull, make a speech, in which he told us of a person who was
under very deep concern of soul, and felt that he could never rest till he found
salvation. So, taking the Bible into his hand, he said to himself, “Eternal life is
to be found somewhere in this Word of God; and if it is here, I will find it, for
I will read the Book right through, praying to God over every page of it, if
perhaps, it may contain some saving message for me.” He told us that the
earnest seeker read on through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and so on, and
though Christ is there very evidently, he could not find Him in the types and
symbols. Neither did the holy histories yield him comfort, nor the book of Job.
He passed through the Psalms, but did not find His Savior there, and the same
was the case with the other books till he reached Isaiah. In this prophet he

124. read on till near the end, and then in the fifty-third chapter, these words
caught his delighted attention, “With His stripes we are healed.” “Now I have
found it,” he said. “Here is the healing that I need for my sin-sick soul, and I
see how it comes to me through the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be His name, I am healed!” It was well that the seeker was wise
enough to search the sacred volume; it was better still that in that volume
there should be such a life-giving word, and that the Holy Spirit should reveal
it to the seeker’s heart. I said to myself, “That text will suit me well, and
perhaps a voice from God may speak through it yet again to some other
awakened sinner.” May He, who by these words spoke to the chamberlain of
the Ethiopian queen, who also was impressed with them while in the act of
searching the Scripture, speak also to many who shall hear or read this
sermon! Let us pray that it may be so. God is very gracious, and He will hear
our prayers. The object of my discourse is very simple; I would come to the
text, and I would come at you. May the Holy Spirit give me power to do both
to the glory of God! I. In endeavoring to come to the full meaning of the text,
I would remark, first, that GOD, IN INFINITE MERCY, HERE TREATS
SIN AS A DISEASE. “With His stripes”—that is, the stripes of the Lord
Jesus—“we are healed.” Through the sufferings of our Lord, sin is pardoned,
and we are delivered from the power of evil; this is regarded as the healing of
a deadly malady. The Lord in this present life treats sin as a disease. If He
were to treat it once as sin, and summon us to His bar to answer for it, we
should at once sink beyond the reach of hope, for we could not answer His
accusations, nor defend ourselves from His justice. In great mercy He looks
upon us with pity, and for the while treats our ill manners as if they were
diseases to be cured rather than rebellions to be punished. It is most gracious
on His part to do so, for while sin is a disease, it is a great deal more. If our
iniquities were the result of an unavoidable sickness, we might claim pity
rather than censure, but we sin willfully, we choose evil, we transgress in
heart, and therefore we bear a moral responsibility which makes sin an
infinite evil. Our sin is our crime rather than our calamity, however, God
looks at it in another way for a season. That He may be able to deal with us on
hopeful grounds, He looks at the sickness of sin, and not as yet at the
wickedness of sin. Nor is this without reason, for men who indulge in gross
vices are often charitably judged by their fellows to be not only wholly wicked,

125. but partly mad. Propensities to evil are usually associated with a greater or
less degree of mental disease, perhaps, also, of physical disease. At any rate,
sin is a spiritual malady of the worst kind.
2 Number 2000; Or, “Healing by the Stripes of Jesus” Sermon #2000
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Sin is a disease, for it is not essential to manhood, nor an integral part of
human nature as God created it. Man was never more fully and truly man
than he was before he fell, and He who is especially called “the Son of man
“knew no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, yet He was perfectly man.
Sin is abnormal, a sort of cancerous growth, which ought not to be within the
soul. Sin is disturbing to manhood; sin unmans a man. Sin is sadly destructive
to man; it takes the crown from his head, the light from his mind, and the joy
from his heart. We may name many grievous diseases which are the
destroyers of our race, but the greatest of these is sin; sin, indeed, is the fatal
egg from which all other sicknesses have been hatched. It is the fountain and
source of all mortal maladies. It is a disease, because it puts the whole system
of the man out of order. It places the lower faculties in the higher place, for it
makes the body master over the soul. The man should ride the horse, but in
the sinner the horse rides the man. The mind should keep the animal instincts
and propensities in check, but in many men the animal crushes the mental
and the spiritual. For instance, how many live as if eating and drinking were
the chief objects of existence; they live to eat, instead of eating to live! The
faculties are thrown out of gear by sin, so that they act fitfully and irregularly,
you cannot depend upon any one of them keeping its place. The equilibrium of
the life-forces is grievously disturbed. Even as a sickness of body is called a
disorder, so is sin the disorder of the soul. Human nature is out of joint, and
out of health, and man is no longer man; he is dead through sin, even as he
was warned of old, “in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.” Man
is marred, bruised, sick, paralyzed, polluted, rotten with disease, just in
proportion as sin has shown its true character. Sin, like disease, operates to
weaken man. The moral energy is broken down so as scarcely to exist in some
men. The conscience labors under a fatal consumption, and is gradually
ruined by a decline; the understanding has been lamed by evil, and the will is

126. rendered feeble for good, though forcible for evil. The principle of integrity,
the resolve of virtue, in which a man’s true strength really lies, is sapped and
undermined by wrong-doing. Sin is like a secret flow of blood, which robs the
vital parts of their essential nourishment. How near to death in some men is
even the power to discern between good and evil! The apostle tells us that,
when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly,
and this being without strength is the direct result of the sickness of sin, which
has weakened our whole manhood. Sin is a disease which in some cases
causes extreme pain and anguish, but in other instances deadens sensibility. It
frequently happens that, the more sinful a man is, the less he is conscious of it.
It was remarked of a certain notorious criminal that many thought him
innocent because, when he was charged with murder, he did not betray the
least emotion. In that wretched self-possession there was to my mind
presumptive proof of his great familiarity with crime; if an innocent person is
charged with a great offense, the mere charge horrifies him. It is only by
weighing all the circumstances, and distinguishing between sin and shame,
that he recovers himself. He who can do the deed of shame does not blush
when he is charged with it. The deeper a man goes in sin, the less does he
admit that it is sin. Like a man who takes opium, he acquires the power to
take larger and larger doses, till that which would kill a hundred other men
has but slight effect upon him. A man who readily lies is scarcely conscious of
the moral degradation involved in being a liar, though he may think it
shameful to be called so. It is one of the worst points of this disease of sin that
it stupefies the understanding, and causes a paralysis of the conscience. By
and by sin is sure to cause pain, like other diseases which flesh is heir to, and
when its awakening comes, what a start it gives! Conscience one day will
awake, and fill the guilty soul with alarm and distress, if not in this world, yet
certainly in the next. Then will it be seen what an awful thing it is to offend
against the law of the Lord. Sin is a disease which pollutes a man. Certain
diseases render a man horribly impure. God is the best judge of purity, for He
is thrice-holy, and He cannot endure sin. The Lord puts sin away from Him
with abhorrence, and prepares a place where the finally-unclean shall be shut
up by themselves. He will not dwell with them here; neither can they dwell
with Him in heaven. As men must put lepers apart by themselves, so justice
must put out of the heavenly world everything which defiles. O my hearer,

127. shall the Lord be compelled to put you out of His presence because you persist
in wickedness? And this disease, which is so polluting, is, at the same time,
most injurious to us, from the fact that it prevents the higher enjoyment and
employment of life. Men exist in sin, but they do not truly live; as the
Scripture says, such a one is dead while he lives. While we continue in sin, we
cannot serve God on
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earth, nor hope to enjoy Him forever above. We are incapable of communion
with perfect spirits, and with God Himself, and the loss of this communion is
the greatest of all evils. Sin deprives us of spiritual sight, hearing, feeling, and
taste, and thus deprives us of those joys which turn existence into life. It
brings upon us true death, so that we exist in ruins, deprived of all which can
be called life. This disease is fatal. Is it not written, “The soul that sins, it shall
die?” “Sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.” There is no hope of eternal
life for any man unless sin is put away. This disease never exhausts itself so as
to be its own destroyer. Evil men wax worse and worse. In another world, as
well as in this present state, character will, no doubt, go on to develop and
ripen, and so the sinner will become more and more corrupt as the result of
his spiritual death. O my friends, if you refuse Christ, sin will be the death of
your peace, your joy, your prospects, your hopes, and thus the death of all
that is worth having! In the case of other diseases nature may conquer the
malady, and you may be restored, but in this case, apart from divine
interposition, nothing lies before you but eternal death. God, therefore,
treats sin as a disease, because it is a disease, and I want you to feel that it is
so, for then you will thank the Lord for thus dealing with you. Many of us
have felt that sin is a disease, and we have been healed of it. Oh, that others
could see what an exceedingly evil thing it is to sin against the Lord! It is a
contagious, defiling, incurable, mortal sickness. Perhaps somebody says,
“Why do you raise these points? They fill us with unpleasant thoughts.” I do it
for the reason given by the engineer who built the great Menai Tubular
Bridge. When it was being erected, some brother engineers said to him, “You
raise all manner of difficulties.” “Yes,” he said, “I raise them that I may solve

128. them.” So do we at this time, dilate upon the sad state of man by nature, that
we may the better set forth the glorious remedy of which our text so sweetly
speaks. II. God treats sin as a disease, and HE HERE DECLARES THE
REMEDY WHICH HE HAS PROVIDED, “With His stripes we are healed.”
I ask you very solemnly to accompany me in your meditations, for a few
minutes, while I bring before you the stripes of the Lord Jesus. The Lord
resolved to restore us, and therefore He sent His Onlybegotten Son, “Very
God of very God,” that He might descend into this world to take upon Himself
our nature, in order to our redemption. He lived as a man among men, and, in
due time, after thirty years or more of service, the time came when He should
do us the greatest service of all, namely, stand in our stead, and bear the
chastisement of our peace. He went to Gethsemane, and there, at the first taste
of our bitter cup, He sweat great drops of blood. He went to Pilate’s hall, and
Herod’s judgment seat, and there drank draughts of pain and scorn in our
room and place. Last of all, they took Him to the cross, and nailed Him there
to die—to die in our stead, “the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God.” The
word “stripes” is used to set forth His sufferings, both of body and of soul.
The whole of Christ was made a sacrifice for us; His whole manhood suffered.
As to His body, it shared with His mind in a grief that never can be described.
In the beginning of His passion, when He emphatically suffered instead of us,
He was in agony, and from His bodily frame a bloody sweat distilled so
copiously as to fall to the ground. It is very rarely that a man sweats blood.
There have been one or two instances of it, and they have been followed by
almost immediate death, but our Savior lived—lived after an agony which, to
anyone else, would have proved fatal. Before He could cleanse His face from
this dreadful crimson, they hurried him to the high priest’s hall. In the dead
of night they bound Him and led Him away. Soon they took Him to Pilate and
to Herod. These scourged Him, and their soldiers spat in His face, and
buffeted Him, and put on His head a crown of thorns. Scourging is one of the
most awful tortures that can be inflicted by malice. It is to the eternal disgrace
of Englishmen that they should have permitted the “cat” to be used upon the
soldier, but to the Roman cruelty was so natural that he made his common
punishments worse than brutal. The Roman scourge is said to have been made
of the sinews of oxen, twisted into knots, and into these knots were inserted
slivers of bone, and hucklebones of sheep, so that every time the scourge fell

129. upon the bare back, “the plowers made deep furrows.” Our Savior was called
upon to endure the fierce pain of the Roman scourge, and this not as the finis
of His punishment, but as a preliminary to crucifixion. To this they added
buffeting, and plucking of the hair; they spared Him no form of pain. In all
His faintness, through bleeding and fasting, they made Him carry His cross
until another was forced, by the forethought of their cruelty, to bear it, lest
their victim should die on the road. They stripped Him, threw Him down, and
nailed Him to the wood. They pierced His hands and His feet. They lifted up
the tree, with Him upon it, and then dashed it down into its place in the
ground, so that all His
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limbs were dislocated, according to the lament of the twenty-second psalm, “I
am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint.” He hung in the
burning sun till the fever dissolved His strength, and He said, “My heart is
like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels. My strength is dried up like a
potsherd; and My tongue cleaves to My jaws; and You have brought Me into
the dust of death.” There He hung, a spectacle to God and men. The weight of
His body was first sustained by His feet, till the nails tore through the tender
nerves, and then the painful load began to drag upon His hands, and tear
those sensitive parts of His frame. How small a wound in the hand has
brought on lockjaw! How awful must have been the torment caused by that
dragging iron tearing through the delicate parts of the hands and feet! Now
were all manner of bodily pains, centered in His tortured frame. All the while
His enemies stood around, pointing at Him in scorn, thrusting out their
tongues in mockery, jesting at His prayers, and gloating over His sufferings.
He cried, “I thirst,” and then they gave Him vinegar mingled with gall. After a
while He said, “It is finished.” He had endured the utmost of appointed grief,
and had made full vindication to divine justice; then, and not till then, He
gave up the ghost. Holy men of old have enlarged most lovingly upon the
bodily sufferings of our Lord, and I have no hesitation in doing the same,
trusting that trembling sinners may see salvation in these painful “stripes” of
the Redeemer. To describe the outward sufferings of our Lord is not easy; I

130. acknowledge that I have failed. But His soul-sufferings, which were the soul of
His sufferings, who can even conceive, much less express what they were? At
the very first I told you that He sweat great drops of blood. That was His
heart driving out its life-floods to the surface through the terrible depression
of spirit which was upon Him. He said, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful,
even unto death.” The betrayal by Judas, and the desertion of the twelve,
grieved our Lord, but the weight of our sin was the real pressure on His heart.
Our guilt was the olive press which forced from Him the moisture of His life.
No language can ever tell His agony in prospect of His passion; how little then
can we conceive the passion itself? When nailed to the cross He endured what
no martyr ever suffered, for martyrs, when they have died, have been so
sustained of God that they have rejoiced amid their pain, but our Redeemer
was forsaken of His Father, until He cried, “My God, My God, why have You
forsaken Me?” That was the bitterest cry of all, the utmost depth of His
unfathomable grief. Yet it was needful that He should be deserted, because
God must turn His back on sin, and consequently upon Him who was made
sin for us. The soul of the great Substitute suffered a horror of misery, instead
of that horror of hell into which sinners would have been plunged had He not
taken their sin upon Himself, and been made a curse for them. It is written,
“Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree,” but who knows what that curse
means? The remedy for your sins and mine is found in the substitutionary
sufferings of the Lord Jesus and in these only. These “stripes” of the Lord
Jesus Christ were on our behalf. Do you inquire, “Is there anything for us to
do, to remove the guilt of sin?” I answer: There is nothing whatever for you to
do. By the stripes of Jesus we are healed. All those stripes He has endured,
and left not one of them for us to bear. “But must we not believe on Him?”
Yes, certainly. If I say of a certain ointment that it heals, I do not deny that
you need a bandage with which to apply it to the wound. Faith is the linen
which binds the plaster of Christ’s reconciliation to the sore of our sin. The
linen does not heal, that is the work of the ointment. So faith does not heal;
that is the work of the atonement of Christ. Does an inquirer reply, “But
surely I must do something, or suffer something”? I answer: You must put
nothing with Jesus Christ, or you greatly dishonor Him. In order to your
salvation, you must rely only upon the wounds of Jesus Christ, and nothing
else, for the text does not say, “His stripes help to heal us,” but, “With His

131. stripes we are healed.” “But we must repent,” cries another. Assuredly we
must, and shall, for repentance is the first sign of healing, but the stripes of
Jesus heal us, and not our repentance. These stripes, when applied to the
heart, work repentance in us; we hate sin because it made Jesus suffer. When
you intelligently trust in Jesus as having suffered for you, then you discover
the fact that God will never punish you for the same offense for which Jesus
died. His justice will not permit Him to see the debt paid, first, by the Surety,
and then again by the debtor. Justice cannot twice demand a recompense; if
my bleeding Surety has borne my guilt, then I cannot bear it. Accepting
Christ Jesus as suffering for me, I have accepted a complete discharge from
judicial liability. I have been condemned in Christ, and there is, therefore,
now no condemnation to me anymore. This is the groundwork of the security
of the sinner who believes in Jesus; he lives because Jesus died in his room,
and place, and stead,
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and he is acceptable before God because Jesus is accepted. The person for
whom Jesus is an accepted Substitute must go free; none can touch him; he is
clear. O my hearer, will you have Jesus Christ to be your Substitute? If so,
you are free. “He that believes on Him is not condemned.” Thus “with His
stripes we are healed.” III. I have tried to put before you the disease and the
remedy; I now desire to notice the fact that THIS REMEDY IS
IMMEDIATELY EFF ECTIVE WHEREVER IT IS APPLIED. The stripes of
Jesus do heal men; they have healed many of us. It does not look as if it could
effect so great a cure, but the fact is undeniable. I often hear people say, “If
you preach up this faith in Jesus Christ as saving men, they will be careless
about holy living.” I am as good a witness on that point as anybody, for I live
every day in the midst of men, who are trusting to the stripes of Jesus for their
salvation, and I have seen no ill effect following from such a trust, but I have
seen the very reverse. I bear testimony that I have seen the very worst of men
become the very best of men by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. These
stripes heal in a surprising manner the moral diseases of those who seemed
past remedy. The character is healed. I have seen the drunk become sober,

132. the harlot become chaste, the passionate man become gentle, the covetous man
become liberal, and the liar become truthful, simply by trusting in the
sufferings of Jesus. If it did not make good men of them, it would not really do
anything for them, for you must judge men by their fruits after all, and if the
fruits are not changed the tree is not changed. Character is everything; if the
character is not set right, the man is not saved. But we say it without fear of
contradiction that the atoning sacrifice, applied to the heart, heals the disease
of sin. If you doubt it, try it. He that believes in Jesus is sanctified as well as
justified; by faith he becomes henceforth an altogether changed man. The
conscience is healed of its smart. Sin crushed the man’s soul; he was spiritless
and joyless, but the moment he believed in Jesus he leaped into light. Often
you can see a change in the very look of the man’s face, the cloud flies from
the countenance when guilt goes from the conscience. Scores of times, when I
have been talking with those bowed down with sin’s burden, they have looked
as though they were qualifying for an asylum through inward grief, but they
have caught the thought, “Christ stood for me, and if I trust in Him, I have
the sign that He did so, and I am clear,” and their faces have been lit up as
with a glimpse of heaven. Gratitude for such great mercy causes a change of
thought towards God, and so it heals the judgment, and by this means the
affections are turned in the right way, and the heart is healed. Sin is no longer
loved, but God is loved, and holiness is desired. The whole man is healed, and
the whole life changed. Many of you know how light of heart faith in Jesus
makes you, how the troubles of life lose their weight, and the fear of death
ceases to cause bondage. You rejoice in the Lord, for the blessed remedy of
the stripes of Jesus is applied to your soul by faith in Him. The fact that “with
His stripes we are healed” is a matter in evidence. I shall take liberty to bear
my own witness. If it were necessary, I could call thousands of persons, my
daily acquaintances, who can say that by the stripes of Christ they are healed,
but I must not therefore withhold my personal testimony. If I had suffered
from a dreadful disease, and a physician had given me a remedy which had
healed me, I would not be ashamed to tell you all about it, but I would quote
my own case as an argument with you to try my physician. Years ago, when I
was a youth, the burden of my sin was exceedingly heavy upon me. I had
fallen into no gross vices, and should not have been regarded by anyone as
being especially a transgressor, but I regarded myself as such, and I had good

133. reason for doing so. My conscience was sensitive because it was enlightened,
and I judged that, having had a godly father, and a praying mother, and
having been trained in the ways of piety, I had sinned against much light, and
consequently there was a greater degree of guilt in my sin than in that of
others who were my youthful associates, but had not enjoyed my advantages. I
could not enjoy the sports of youth because I felt that I had done violence to
my conscience. I would seek my chamber, and there sit alone, read my Bible,
and pray for forgiveness, but peace did not come to me. Books such as
Baxter’s “Call to the Unconverted,” and Doddridge’s “Rise and Progress,” I
read over and over again. Early in the morning I would awake, and read the
most earnest religious books I could find, desiring to be eased of my burden of
sin. I was not always thus dull, but at times my misery of soul was very great.
The words of the weeping prophet and of Job were such as suited my
mournful case. I would have chosen death rather than life. I tried to do as well
as I could, and to behave myself right, but in my own judgement I grew worse
and worse. I felt
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more and more despondent. I attended every place of worship within my
reach, but I heard nothing which gave me lasting comfort till one day I heard
a simple preacher of the gospel speak from the text, “Look unto Me, and be
you saved, all the ends of the earth.” When he told me that all I had to do was
to “look” to Jesus—to Jesus the crucified One, I could scarcely believe it. He
went on, and said, “Look, look, look!” He added, “There is a young man,
under the left-hand gallery there, who is very miserable; he will have no peace
until he looks to Jesus,” and then he cried, “Look! Look! Young man, look!” I
did look, and in that moment relief came to me, and I felt such overflowing joy
that I could have stood up, and cried, “Hallelujah! Glory be to God, I am
delivered from the burden of my sin!” Many days have passed since then, but
my faith has held me up, and compelled me to tell out the story of free grace
and dying love. I can truly say— “Ever since by faith I saw the stream Your
flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be till
I die.” I hope to sit up in my bed in my last hours, and tell of the stripes that

134. healed me. I hope some young men, yes, and old men before me, will at once
try this remedy; it is good for all characters, and all ages. “With His stripes we
are healed.” Thousands upon thousands of us have tried and proved this
remedy. We speak what we know, and testify what we have seen. God grant
that men may receive our witness through the power of the Holy Spirit! I
want a few minutes’ talk with those who have not tried this marvelous heal-
all. Let us come to close quarters. Friend, you are by nature in need of soul-
healing as much as any of us and one reason why you do not care about the
remedy is, because you do not believe that you are sick. I saw a peddler one
day, as I was walking out; he was selling walking-sticks. He followed me, and
offered me one of the sticks. I showed him mine—a far better one than any he
had to sell—and he withdrew at once. He could see that I was not likely to be a
purchaser. I have often thought of that when I have been preaching; I show
men the righteousness of the Lord Jesus, but they show me their own, and all
hope of dealing with them is gone. Unless I can prove that their righteousness
is worthless, they will not seek the righteousness which is of God by faith. Oh,
that the Lord would show you your disease, and then you would desire the
remedy! It may be that you do not care to hear of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ah,
my dear friends! You will have to hear of him one of these days, either for
your salvation or your condemnation. The Lord has the key of your heart, and
I trust He will give you a better mind, and whenever this shall happen, your
memory will recall my simple discourse, and you will say, “I do remember.
Yes, I heard the preacher declare that there is healing in the wounds of
Christ.” I pray you do not put off seeking the Lord; that would be great
presumption on your part, and a sad provocation to Him. But, should you
have put it off, I pray you do not let the devil tell you it is too late. It is never
too late while life lasts. I have read in books that very few people are
converted after they are forty years of age. My solemn conviction is that there
is but little truth in such a statement. I have seen as many people converted at
one age as at another in proportion to the number of people who are living at
that age. Any first Sunday in the month you may see the right-hand of
fellowship given to from thirty to eighty people who have been brought in
during the month, and if you take stock of them, there will be found to be a
selection representing every age, from childhood up to old age. The precious
blood of Jesus has power to heal long-rooted sin. It makes old hearts new. If

135. you were a thousand years old, I would exhort you to believe in Jesus, and I
should be sure that His stripes would heal you. Your hair is nearly gone, old
friend, and furrows appear on your brow, but come along! You are rotting
away with sin, but this medicine meets desperate cases! Poor, old, tottering
pensioner put your trust in Jesus, for with His stripes the old and the dying
are healed! Now, my dear hearers, you are at this moment either healed or
not. You are either healed by grace, or you are still in your natural sickness.
Will you be so kind to yourselves as to inquire which it is? Many say, “We
know what we are,” but certain more thoughtful ones reply, “We don’t quite
know.” Friend, you ought to know, and you should know. Suppose I asked a
man, “Are you a bankrupt or not?” and he said, “I really have no time to look
at my books, and therefore I am not sure.” I would suspect that he could not
pay twenty shillings in the pound; wouldn’t you? Whenever a man is afraid to
look at
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his books, I suspect that he has something to be afraid of. So, whenever a
person says, “I don’t know my condition, and I don’t care to think much
about it,” you may pretty safely conclude that things are wrong with him. You
ought to know whether you are saved or not. “I hope I am saved,” says one,
“but I do not know the date of my conversion.” That does not matter at all. It
is a pleasant thing for a person to know his birthday, but when persons are
not sure of the exact date of their birth, they do not, therefore, infer that they
are not alive. If a person does not know when he was converted, that is no
proof that he is not converted. The point is do you trust Jesus Christ? Has
that trust made a new man of you? Has your confidence in Christ made you
feel that you have been forgiven? Has that made you love God for having
forgiven you, and has that love become the mainspring of your being, so that
out of love to God you delight to obey Him? Then you are a healed man. If
you do not believe in Jesus, be sure that you are still unhealed, and I pray you
look at my text until you are led by grace to say, “I am healed, for I have
trusted in the stripes of Jesus.” Suppose, for a moment, you are not healed, let
me ask the question, “Why are you not?” You know the gospel; why are you

136. not healed by Christ? “I don’t know,” says one. But, my dear friend, I beseech
you do not to rest until you do know. “I can’t get at it,” somebody says. The
other day a young girl was putting a button on her father’s coat. She was
sitting with her back to the window, and she said, “Father, I can’t see; I am in
my own light.” He said, “Ah, my daughter that is where you have been all
your life!” This is the position of some of you spiritually. You are in your own
light; you think too much of yourselves. There is plenty of light in the Sun of
Righteousness, but you get in the dark by putting self in the way of that Sun.
Oh, that your self might be put away! I read a touching story the other day as
to how one found peace. A young man had been for some time under a sense
of sin, longing to find mercy, but he could not reach it. He was a telegraph
clerk, and being in the office one morning he had to receive and transmit a
telegram. To his great surprise, he spelt out these words—“Behold the Lamb
of God, which takes away the sin of the world.” A gentleman out for a holiday
was telegraphing a message in answer to a letter from a friend who was in
trouble of soul. It was meant for another, but he that transmitted it received
eternal life, as the words came flashing into his soul. O dear friends, get out
of your own light, and at once, “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away
the sin of the world”! I cannot telegraph the words to you, but I would put
them before you so plainly and distinctly that everyone in trouble of soul may
know that they are meant for him. There lies your hope—not in yourself, but
in the Lamb of God. Behold him, and as you behold him your sin shall be put
away, and by His stripes you shall be healed. If, dear friend, you are healed,
this is my last word to you; then get out of diseased company. Come away
from the companions that have infected you with sin. Come out from among
them, be you separate, and touch not the unclean thing. If you are healed,
praise the Healer, and acknowledge what He has done for you. There were ten
lepers healed, but only one returned to praise the healing hand. Do not be
among the ungrateful nine. If you have found Christ, confess His name.
Confess it in His own appointed way. “He that believes and is baptized shall
be saved.” When you have thus confessed Him, speak out for Him. Tell what
Jesus has done for your soul, and dedicate yourself to the holy purpose of
spreading abroad the message by which you have been healed. I met this
week with something that pleased me—how one man, being healed, may be
the means of blessing to another. Many years ago I preached a sermon in

137. Exeter Hall, which was printed, and entitled, “Salvation to the Uttermost.” A
friend, who lives not very far from this place, was in the city of Para, in Brazil.
Here he heard of an Englishman in prison, who had in a state of drunkenness
committed a murder, for which he was confined for life. Our friend went to
see him, and found him deeply penitent, but quietly restful, and happy in the
Lord. He had felt the terrible wound of blood-guiltiness in his soul, but it had
been healed, and he felt the bliss of pardon. Here is the story of the poor
man’s conversion as I have it—“A young man, who had just completed his
contract with the gas-works, was returning to England, but before doing so he
called to see me, and brought with him a parcel of books. When I opened it, I
found that they were novels, but, being able to read, I was thankful for
anything. After I had read several of the books, I found a sermon (No. 84),
preached by C. H. Spurgeon, in Exeter Hall, on June 8th, 1856, from the
words, ‘Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost,’ etc., (Heb
7:25). In his
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discourse, Mr. Spurgeon referred to Palmer, who was then lying under
sentence of death in Stafford Jail, and in order to bring home this text to his
hearers, he said that if Palmer had committed many other murders, if he
repents and seeks God’s pardoning love in Christ, even he will be forgiven! I
then felt that if Palmer could be forgiven, so might I. I sought, and blessed be
God, I found. I am pardoned, I am free; I am a sinner saved by grace. Though
a murderer, I have not yet sinned ‘beyond the uttermost,’ blessed be His holy
name!” It made me very happy to think that a poor condemned murderer
could thus be converted. Surely there is hope for every hearer and reader of
this sermon, however guilty he may be! If you know Christ, tell others about
Him. You do not know what good there is in making Jesus known, even
though all you can do is to give a tract, or repeat a verse. Dr. Valpy, the
author of a great many class books, wrote the following simple lines as his
confession of faith— “In peace let me resign my breath, And Your salvation
see; My sins deserve eternal death, But Jesus died for me.” Valpy is dead
and gone, but he gave those lines to dear old Dr. Marsh, the Rector of

138. Beckenham, who put them over his study mantel. The Earl of Roden came in,
and read them. “Will you give me a copy of those lines?” said the good earl. “I
shall be glad,” said Dr. Marsh, and he copied them. Lord Roden took them
home, and put them over his mantel. General Taylor, a Waterloo hero, came
into the room, and noticed them. He read them over and over again, while
staying with Earl Roden, till his Lordship remarked, “I say, friend Taylor, I
should think you know those lines by heart.” He answered, “I do know them
by heart; indeed, my very heart has grasped their meaning.” He was brought
to Christ by that humble rhyme. General Taylor handed those lines to an
officer in the army, who was going out to the Crimean War. He came home to
die, and when Dr. Marsh went to see him, the poor soul in his weakness said,
“Good sir, do you know this verse which General Taylor gave to me? It
brought me to my Savior, and I die in peace.” To Dr. Marsh’s surprise, he
repeated the lines— “In peace let me resign my breath, And Your salvation
see; My sins deserve eternal death, But Jesus died for me.” Only think of the
good which four simple lines may do. Be encouraged all of you who know the
healing power of the wounds of Jesus. Spread this truth by all means. Never
mind how simple the language. Tell it out; tell it out everywhere, and in every
way, even if you cannot do it in any other way than by copying a verse out of a
hymnbook. Tell it out that by the stripes of Jesus we are healed. May God
bless you, dear friends! Pray for me that this sermon of mine, which is
numbered TWO-THOUSAND, may be a very fruitful one.



THE UNIVERSAL REMEDY NO. 834

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD’S -DAY MORNING, OCTOBER 4,
1868, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,
NEWINGTON.

139. “With His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5.

I RECEIVED, one day this week, a short communication worded on this
wise: “Wanted, a cure for a weak and doubting faith, especially when Satan
disinclines to pray.” Anxiously desirous to prescribe cures for such maladies
and for any others which may vex the Lord’s people, I began to turn over in
my mind what were the sacred remedies for such a case, and I could only
remember one, “The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
Our Lord Jesus is to us a tree of life, and by the leaves I suppose the Holy
Spirit means the acts, words, promises, and lesser griefs of Jesus—all of which
are for the healing of His people. Then my mind reverted to this kindred text:
“With His stripes we are healed.” Not merely His bleeding wounds, but even
those blue bruises of His flesh help to heal us; not alone the work of the nails
and the spear, but the cruel handiwork of the rod and the scourge. Out of all
this throng of believers, there are none quite free from spiritual diseases; one
may be saying, “Mine is a weak faith”; another may confess, “Mine is
distracted thoughts”; another may exclaim, “Mine is coldness of love”; and a
fourth may have to lament his powerlessness in prayer. One remedy in
natural things will not suffice for all diseases, and the moment that the quack
begins to cry up his medicine as healing all, you shrewdly surmise that it heals
none. But in spiritual things it is not so—there is a catholicon, a universal
remedy provided in the word of God for all spiritual sicknesses to which man
can be subject to; and that remedy is contained in the few words of my text—
“With His stripes we are healed.” I. I shall invite you, then, first of all, this
morning, to consider THE MEDICINE ITSELF WHICH IS HERE
PRESCRIBED—the stripes of our Savior. Not stripes laid upon our own
backs, nor tortures inflicted upon our own minds, but the grief which Jesus
has endured for those who trust in Him. By the term “stripes,” no doubt the
prophet understood here first, literally, those actual stripes which fell upon
our Lord’s shoulders when He was beaten by the Jews, and afterwards
scourged by the Roman soldiers. But the words intend far more than this. No
doubt with his prophetic eye, Isaiah saw the stripes from that unseen scourge
held in the Father’s hand which fell not upon the flesh of Jesus, but upon His
nobler inner nature when His soul was scourged for sin; when eternal justice

140. made deep furrows upon His soul; when the lash fell with awful force again,
and again, and again upon the blessed soul of Him who was made a curse for
us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. I take the term,
“stripes,” to comprehend all the physical and spiritual sufferings of our Lord,
with special reference to those chastisements of our peace which preceded,
rather than actually caused, His sin-atoning death. It is by these that our souls
are healed. “But why?” you ask. Well, first, because our Lord, as a sufferer,
was not a private person, but suffered as a public individual, and an
appointed representative. Your sins in a certain sense end with yourself, but
the sins of Adam could not do so, for Adam stood before God as the
representative of the human race; and everything that he did brought its dire
effects upon all his descendants. Now, our Savior is the Second Adam, the
second federal head and representative of men; and all that He did, and all
that He suffered goes to the benefit of all those whom He represented. His holy
life is the inheritance of His people, and His suffering death, with all its pangs
and griefs, belongs to those whom He represented. They did, in effect, suffer
in Him, and offer in Him a vindication to divine justice. Our Lord was
appointed of God to stand in the place of His people; a divine decree had gone
forth sanctioning His substitution, so that when He stood forward as the
representative of guilty men, God accepted Him, having foreordained Him to
that very end. So then, beloved, let us never forget
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that all which Jesus endured came upon Him not at all as a private individual,
but fell upon Him as the great public representative of those who believe in
Him; hence the effects of His griefs are applied to us, and with His stripes we
are healed. His blood, His passions, and His death make atonement for us, and
deliver us from the curse, and His bruises, smarts, and stripes, make up a
matchless medicine to allay our sicknesses— “Behold how every wound of His
A precious balm distils, Which heals the scars that sin has made, And cures

141. all mortal ills.” Be it never forgotten, too, that our Lord was not merely man,
or else His sufferings could not have availed for the multitude who now are
healed by them; He was God as well as man, and it is the most mysterious and
marvelous of all facts that God should be manifest in the flesh, and seen of
angels, and that in the flesh, the Son of God should most really and certainly
die, and be buried, and lie for three days in the tomb. The incarnation with its
later train of humiliation, is to be believed and accepted as an everlasting
memorable display of condescension! From the highest throne of glory, to the
cross of deepest woe, the Savior stoops—neither cherubim nor seraphim can
measure the mighty distance! Imagination wearies its wing in attempting the
tremendous flight! In every stripe that falls upon our Emanuel, you are to
consider that it falls not merely upon a man, but upon one who is co-equal,
and coeternal with the Father; though the Deity suffered not, yet was it in so
intimate a connection with the humanity, that it infused supernatural power
into His human frame. Oh, what a rock have we to rest upon—a substitute
covered with stripes; a substitute appointed and accepted of God, and that
substitute Himself God, over all blessed forever, and therefore able to bear for
us what we could never have borne except by lying forever in the lowest pit of
hell! Brothers and sisters, we all believe that our Savior’s sufferings heal us
of the curse by being presented before God as a substitute for what we owe to
His divine law. But healing is a work that is carried on within, and the text
rather leads me to speak of the effect of the stripes of Christ upon our
characters and natures, than upon the result produced in our position before
God. We know that the Lord has pardoned and justified us through the
precious blood of Jesus, but the question this morning is how these griefs and
pangs help to deliver us from the disease of sin which before reigned within
us. It was necessary that I should mention first, the justifying power of Jesus’
blood, because apart from our belief in Jesus as a substitute, and as divine,
there is no power in His example to heal us of sin. Men have studied that
example, and admired it, but have remained as vile as before; they have
criticized His beauty, but have not been enamored of His person; it is only
when they have rested in Him as divine, that they have afterwards come to
feel the potency of those wondrous cords of love which His example always
casts around forgiven spirits. They have learned to love Jesus, and then their
admiration has become a practical thing—but mere admiration, apart from

142. love to Him, and faith in Him, is a cold barren moonlight which ripens no
fruit of holiness. Beloved, the stripes of Jesus operate upon our character,
principally because we see in Him a perfect man suffering for offenses that
were not His own. We see in Him a glorious Lord who, though He was rich,
yet for our sakes became poor; we behold in Him the paragon of perfect
disinterested affection; we see in Him a fidelity never to be excelled, when,
through the pangs of death He followed on to work out the purpose of His
heart—the salvation of His people. And as we look at Him, and study His
character as it is revealed by His griefs, we become moved, and the spiritual
evils which had rule over us are dethroned; and through the power of the
Spirit the image of Jesus Christ is stamped upon our natures. Jesus dying
justifies us! Jesus smitten sanctifies us! His cruel flagellations are our refining!
His buffetings are blows at our sins! His bruises mortify our lusts! Thus much
then, upon the medicine that heals us—it is the substitutionary sacrifice of
Christ as understood in our intellects, and beloved in our hearts—and
especially those incidents of ignominy and cruelty which surrounded that
death with deeper gloom, and revealed the patience and love of the substitute.
II. I shall ask you now, for a brief moment to behold THE MATCHLESS
CURES WORKED BY THIS REMARKABLE MEDICINE.
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Look at two pictures. Look at man without the stricken Savior, and then
behold man with the Savior, healed by His stripes. I say, look at man
originally, and apart from the Savior; naked, he is driven out of Eden’s
garden, the inheritor of the curse; within him lies concealed the deadly cancer
of sin. If you would see that evil which dwells in each of us from our very birth
developing itself upon the surface, you might soon behold it in all its horror
near at home. A street or two would conduct you to sin’s carnival, but
perhaps it were better that you should not gaze upon a scene so polluting in
the gambling halls, in the haunts where drunks congregate, where thieves

143. assemble amidst oaths and blasphemies, and lewd language, and lascivious
acts—it is there that sin stalks forth as a full-grown monster! In the moral and
educated natural man, sin apparently sleeps like a coiled up viper; it is a thing
in appearance, little to be dreaded; quiet and powerless as a poor worm. But
when man is allowed to have his own way, before long he feels the viper’s
tooth; the poisoned fang envenoms all his blood, and you see the proof of its
deadly poison in overt and abundant sin; men become covered with the visible
blotches of iniquity, so that the spiritual eye can see in their character the
leprosy upon them, and all manner of abominations, worse than the
rottenness of the deadliest of fleshly diseases, constantly exuding from their
souls. If we could see sin as it appears to the all-discerning eye of the eternal,
we should be more shocked at the sight of sin than by any vision of hell—for
there is in hell something which purity approves the vindication of
righteousness. It is justice triumphant, but in sin itself there is abomination,
and only abomination! It is a something out of joint with the whole system of
the universe; it is a mist dangerous to all spiritual life—a plague dangerous to
everything that breathes. Sin is a monster, a hideous thing, a thing which God
will not look upon, and which pure eyes cannot behold but with the utmost
detestation. A flood of tears is the proper medium through which a Christian
should look at sin. If you would see what sin can do, you have but to look into
your own heart with an illuminated eye; ah, what mischief lurks there! You
hate sin, my brothers and sisters, I know you do, since Christ has visited you
with the dayspring from on high; but with all your hatred of sin you must
acknowledge that it still lurks within you! You find yourself envious, you who
hate envy; you find yourself thinking hard thoughts of God, you who yet love
Him, and would lay down your lives for Him; you find yourself provoked to
anger on a sudden against the very friend to whose call you would cheerfully
yield your all. Yes, we do the thing we would not through the power of sin,
and sin degrades and debases us; we cannot look within without being
shocked at the meanness to which our mind, in secret, descends. If you
anxiously desire to see sin at the full, come here and gaze down the fathomless
abyss; listen to those blasphemous curses; if you have the courage, listen to
those mingled cries of misery and passion which come up from Tophet, from
the abodes of lost spirits! Sin is ripe there; here it is green; here we see its
darkness as the shades of evening, but there it is tenfold night; here it scatters

144. firebrands, but there its quenchless conflagrations flame on forever and ever!
Oh, if we have but divine grace to be rid of sin now, the riddance will save us
from the wrath to come! Sin, indeed, is hell—hell in embryo, hell in essence,
hell kindling, and hell emerging from the shell! Hell is but sin when it has
manifested and developed itself to the fullest. Stand at the gates of Tophet,
and understand how full the disease for which heaven’s remedy is provided in
the stripes of the Only-Begotten! Now, beloved, I said I would show you the
cure, and I have but feebly talked of the disease itself, to let you see the
greatness of the change by contrast. Observe, beloved, you who have believed
in Jesus; observe already what a change the stripes of Christ have made in
you! Since the dear hour that brought you to His feet, what different men and
women have you been; indeed, in your case instead of the thorn, the fir tree
has come up, and instead of the brier, the myrtle tree has come up. You who
were once the blind slaves of Satan are now the rejoicing children of God; the
things which you once loved, though God abhorred them, you now also detest
right heartily. God’s mind and yours are now agreed as to darkness and light;
you no longer put the one for the other. How changed you are! You are a new
creature alive from the dead; and what has done it? What, indeed, but faith in
the crucified and contemplation of His wounds? Yet in you, dear friend, the
healing is very far from being perfect! If you would behold perfect spiritual
health, look yonder to those white-robed hosts who jubilantly stand without
fault before the throne of God; search them through and through, and they
are undefiled; let even the all-seeing eyes of God rest upon them, and they are
without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing!
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How is this? Where washed they these snow-white garments once so much
defiled? They answer with joyful music, “We have washed our robes, and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Ask them from where their
victory came over indwelling sin— “They with united breath Ascribe their

145. victories to the Lamb; Their conquests to His death.” They will all tell you
that the perfect healing which they have received and which today they enjoy
before the throne of God, is the result of the Savior’s passion. “With His
stripes,” say the 10,000s times 10,000s, with a voice that is loud as thunder,
and as sweet as harpers harping with their harps—“With His stripes we are
healed.” III. I want now for you to note, dear brothers and sisters, in detail,
and yet so briefly as not to weary you, THE MALADIES WHICH THIS
WONDROUS MEDICINE REMOVES. I shall not attempt to read you a full
list, for they are more than I can count, but they are never so many there is
not one which the stripes of Jesus cannot heal! I would remind you, first, that
the great root of all this mischief, the curse which fell on man through Adam’s
sin, is already effectually removed. Jesus took it upon Himself, and was made
a curse for us, and now there can fall no curse upon any of those for whom
Jesus died as a substitute. They are the blessed of the Lord, yes, and they shall
be blessed—let hell curse them as it may. The curse has spent its fury; like a
thunderstorm which once threatened to sweep all before it, but is now lulled
to calm, divine wrath has passed away, and showers of mercy are now
following it, making glad the thirsty heart! Brothers and sisters, Christ has
already cured us, most effectually, of the curse of God upon us! But I am now
to speak of diseases which we have felt and bemoaned, and which still trouble
the family of God. One of the first which was healed by the stripes of Christ
was the mania of despair. Ah, well do I remember when I thought there was
no hope for me! How was it possible, my heart asked, that my sins could be
forgiven consistently with the justice of God? That question I propounded to
my soul again, and again, and again, but no answer could I find from within;
and even when I read the word, I perceived not, though it is most clearly
there—the answer to that great question. But, beloved, when I first
understood that Jesus Christ stood in the place of all those who believe in
Him, and that if I trusted Him, my sins were all forgiven because they had
been already punished in the person of my blessed substitute, then I had no
longer occasion for despair; then I listened to the word of the gospel, feeling,
“There is hope for me, even for me!” When I understood that there was
nothing expected from me in order for salvation, but that all must come from
Jesus—that I was not to be wounded, nor to be made to smart, but that He
had been struck, and had been made to bleed on my behalf. When I

146. understood that my life must be found in His death, and my healing in His
wounds, then hope sprang up—bright-eyed hope, and my soul turned unto
her Father and her God with loving expectations! Was it not so with you?
Beloved, did you ever have a comfortable confidence in God until you had
seen the stripes of Jesus? If you are wrapped up in a peace that did not come
from Christ’s stripes, I implore you get rid of it, for it is a presumption which
will surely destroy you! The only sure, solid, everlasting peace that can ever
come to a palpitating human bosom heaving painfully under the pressure of
sin is that which springs from looking at that blessed Son of God who on the
cross poured out His life-blood that we might be saved by Him! For the mania
of despair, the stripes of Christ are the true remedy. Then if we suffer
afterwards from any hardness of heart, and there is a complaint of the soul
wellknown as the stony heart, there is no obtaining tenderness except by
standing long, yes, remaining always at the foot of the cross. When I feel
myself insensible to spiritual things, (and I blush to say that it is no unusual
feeling); when I would, but cannot pray; when I would, but cannot repent;
when, “If anything is felt ‘tis only pain to find I cannot feel,” I have always
found that I cannot flog myself into feeling by the threats of God, nor by the
terrors of the law; but when I can come to the cross, just as I did years ago, a
poor guilty one, and believe that the Redeemer has put all my sins away, black
as I am, and that God neither can, nor will, condemn me, hardened as I feel
myself to be—ah, then the sense of blood-bought pardon soon dissolves a
heart of stone! I do not believe there is anything that can so effectually make
the ice within us melt, and so speedily thaw the great glaciers of our inner
nature as the
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love of Jesus Christ! Oh, but that will touch you! It will create a soul within
the ribs of death! There is a secret spring within the heart upon which the
finger of the crucified hand is placed, and the soul arises from its deadly

147. slumbers; Christ has the key of the house of David, and He can open the door
so that neither man nor devil can shut it, and out of that opened heart shall
proceed godly thoughts, heavenly aspirations, sacred passions, and heaven-
born resolves; the best cure for indifference will be found in the stripes of
Jesus! See the bloody drops of sweat, O believer, and will you not melt? See
Jesus kissed of the traitor, led away with a rabble guard, slandered by
deceitful witnesses, tried by cruel adversaries, buffeted by soldiers, defiled
with spit—see Him afterwards hounded along the streets of Jerusalem, and
then fastened to the transverse beam; behold Him bleeding out His blessed life
for love of us who were His enemies, and if this tragedy does not melt you,
what will? O God of heaven, if we feel no tenderness in the presence of Your
dying Son, of what hell-hardened steel must our souls be made? At times
believers are subject to the paralysis of doubt, and as my friend has said just
now in his request for a remedy, that paralysis may be attended, also, with a
stiffness of the knees of prayer; and when these two complaints go together,
we suffer under a complicated disease for which it is not easy to prescribe.
And yet it is easy for the Lord to do so. See here the remedy—“With His
stripes we are healed.” The blood of Christ is a deadly thing to unbelief; a
sight of the crucified strikes unbelief dumb, so that he cannot mutter a single
questioning word, while faith begins to sing, and to rejoice as she sees what
Jesus did, and how Jesus died! Who could not pray as he sees Jesus’ blood
upon the mercy seat? Who could not pray when considering the new and
living way which Christ has opened by His blood? A view of the veil of the
Savior’s body torn by His death will, if anything, induce men to pray! I think I
could use arguments which might be blessed to drive men to their knees, such
as the danger of a prayerless spirit; such as the enriching influence of the
mercy seat; such as the delights of communion with God, and many other
things, but after all, if the cross does not draw a man to his knees, nothing
will. And if a contemplation of the sufferings of Jesus does not compel us to
draw very near to God in prayer, surely the chief remedy has failed. There
are some saints who have numbness of soul; the stripes of Christ can best
quicken them; deadness dies in the presence of His death, and rocks break
when the Rock of Ages is seen as split for us— “Who can think without
admiring? Who can hear and nothing feel? See the Lord of life expiring, Yet
retain a heart of steel?” Many are subject to the fever of pride, but a sight of

148. Jesus in His humiliation, contradicted of sinners, will tend to make them
humble. Pride drops her plumes when she hears the cry, “Behold the man!”
In the society of one so great, enduring so much scorn, there is no room for
vanity; some are covered with the leprosy of selfishness, but if anything can
forbid a man to lead a selfish life, it is the life of Jesus who saved others, but
Himself He could not save. Misers, and gluttons, and self-seekers love not the
Savior, for His whole conduct upbraids them; upon some the fit of anger often
comes, but what can give gentleness of spirit like the sight of Him who was as
a lamb dumb before her shearers, and who opened not His mouth under
blasphemy and rebuke? If any of you feel the fretting consumption of
worldliness, or the cancer of covetousness—for such rank diseases as these are
common in Zion, still the groans and griefs of the Man of Sorrows, the
acquaintance of grief, will prove a cure! All evils fly before the Lord Jesus,
even as the shadows vanish before the sun. Lash us, Master, to Your cross! No
fatal shipwreck shall we fear if fastened there! Bind us with cords to the horns
of the altar! No disease can come there— the sacrifice purifies the air!
Through hell itself might we go, Savior, all unharmed with its pestilent vapor,
if we could but have Your cross before our eyes! It were not possible that all
the blasphemy of devils and of the vilest of men, could pollute our spirits for
so much as a moment if Your blood were always sprinkled on the tablets of
our hearts, and Your deep humiliation always present in our minds.
Forgetfulness of the stripes lands us in disease, but the sweet remembrance of
the passion, and a blessed absorption in the mystery of the Master’s death will
surely cast out all evils from us—and keep us from returning to them.
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IV. I must now pass on to yet a fourth point. Observe carefully THE
CURATIVE PROPERTIES OF THE M EDICINE OF WHICH WE HAVE
BEEN SPEAKING. You have heard of some of the diseases in detail as well
as the cure on a large scale; now observe the curative properties of the

149. medicine—for all manner of good this divine remedy works in our spiritual
constitution. The stripes of Jesus, when well considered, arrest spiritual
disorder. The man is brought to view his Lord as suffering for him, and a
voice says to his rising lusts, “This far shall you come, but no farther. Here at
Calvary shall your proud waves be stayed.” My feet had almost gone; my
steps had wellnear slipped had not my Master’s cross stood before me as a
most effectual barrier to stay me in my fall. Many a man has gone post haste
onward unchecked by any power until a vision of the man, the crucified man,
has appeared before his eyes—then he has been brought to a blessed halt.
Read the memorable life of Colonel Gardiner, for what happened to him
literally has happened to tens of thousands spiritually— they have been
enlisted to sin, and sold to Satan, but a sight of the Savior slain for sinners has
made them pause, and from then on they have no longer dared to offend.
Now, it is a great thing for a physician to find a remedy which will hold the
disease within bounds so that it reaches not the direst stage of malignity; and
this the cross of Christ does! It binds in chains the fury of unhallowed passion.
What a miraculous power the griefs of Jesus have upon the believer; though
his corruption is still within him, yet it cannot have dominion over him,
because he is not under the law, but under grace. It is still a happier fact, that
sin shall, before long, be utterly abolished; but to stay it, meanwhile, until it is
eradicated is no small thing. This medicine, in the next place, quickens all the
powers of the spiritual man to resist the disease. “With His stripes we are
healed,” because a sight of Jesus Christ quickens our newborn nature! It
forbids us to live at the poor, dying rate so natural to our sluggishness; we
cannot have Christ before our eyes, and yet go slumbering on to heaven as
though spiritual work were but a dream, or mere child’s play. He that has
really gone into the hall where Christ was scourged, and seen the streams of
blood as they poured down His furrowed shoulders, and felt that they were all
for him, has had his spiritual pulse quickened, and his whole spiritual life
stirred! This fire has helped to burn sin out of its nest; this power within the
soul has set up a counter-action, and pushed back the advancing powers of
iniquity. The stripes of Jesus Christ also have another curative effect—they
restore to the man that which he lost in strength by sin. There is a
recuperative power in this sacred medicine; He brings my wandering feet
back to the ways which I forsook, and the way back is by the cross; He

150. restores my soul, and the food He gives me to feed upon is His own flesh and
blood. After sin has brought us into sickness, and sickness into weakness,
there is no restorative under heaven that is equal to living in a constant daily
sense of the vicarious sufferings of Jesus Christ. His sweet love so clearly
shown in His torments at Golgotha encourages us; we feel that with such a
Savior always caring for us, we have no need to be alarmed. This medicine
also soothes the agony of conviction. Anguish of heart vanishes when Jesus is
seen as bearing the chastisement of our peace; he who gets to Christ’s cross,
and trusts in Him feels that sin is still present in him, and mourns over it, but
yet he rejoices because he understands that Christ has overcome his enemies,
and led them captive at His chariot wheels. “I shall overcome,” he says, and
the sharpness of the present struggle is not felt. “My sin is forever put away,”
he says, “for Jesus died, and there is no room for remorse, or terror, or
despair.” Drink of the spiced wine of atoning love, and remember your misery
no more, O you sin-burdened heir of immortality! But best of all, the stripes
of Christ have an eradicating power as to sin. They pull it up by the roots;
they destroy the beasts in their lair; they put to death the power of sin in our
members. I know not how near to perfection in this life a believer may be
brought, but God forbid that I should set up some low degree of divine grace
as being all that a saint can reach this side of the grave! I dare not limit my
Master’s power as to how far He may subdue sin even in this life in the
believer, but I expect never to be perfect till I shuffle off this mortal coil; yet
the grand result is none the less glorious! Absolute perfection is our heritage;
we shall be freed from the least tendency to evil, and there will remain in us
no more possibilities of sinning than in the person of our Lord Himself! We
shall be as pure as the thrice holy God Himself! As immaculate as the ever-
sinless Savior! And all this will be through our Master’s
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151. stripes! Sanctification, after all, is by the blood of Christ; the Holy Spirit
works it, but the instrumentality is the blood; He is the Physician, but the
sufferings of Christ are the medicine. Sin is never destroyed except by faith in
Jesus; all your meditations upon the evil of sin, and all your shivering at the
punishment of it, and all your soul-humbling, and prostrations will never kill
sin. It is at the cross that God has set up a mighty gallows upon which He
hangs sin forever, and puts it to death! It is there at Golgotha, and only there,
the great execution ground, the Tyburn of our iniquity, is there where Jesus
died. Wrestling believer, you must go to your Lord’s agonies, and learn to be
crucified with Him unto sin, otherwise you shall never know the art of
mastering your evil passions, and being sanctified in the spirit. I have thus
tried to open up the healing force which dwells in the stripes of Jesus. V. Now
just a moment or two in the fifth place—I am afraid you will think my
divisions are very many, and very dry, but still that I cannot help, I want you
to review, for a minute, THE MODES OF THE WORKING OF THIS
MEDICINE. How does it work? Briefly, its effect upon the mind is this; the
sinner, hearing of the death of the incarnate God, is led by the force of the
truth of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit to believe in the incarnate God.
The cure is already begun; the moment the sinner believes, the axe is laid at
the root of the dominion of Satan! He no sooner learns to trust the appointed
Savior, than his cure has certainly commenced, and will shortly be carried on
to perfection. After faith comes gratitude. The sinner says, “I trust in the
incarnate God to save me; I believe He has saved me.” Well, what is the
natural result? The soul being grateful, thankful—how can it help
exclaiming—“Blessed be God for this unspeakable gift!” And, “Blessed be His
dear Son who so freely laid down His life for me!” It is not natural at all; it is
something less, even, than humanity, if the sense of such favor did not beget
gratitude! The next emotion is love. Has He done all this for me? Am I under
such obligations? Then I will love His name. The very next thought to love is
obedience. What shall I do to please my Redeemer? How can I fulfill His
commandments, and bring honor to His name? See you not that the sinner is
getting healed most rapidly? His disease was that he was altogether out of
unison with God, and resisted the divine law, but look at him now, with tears
in his eyes he is lamenting that he ever offended! He is groaning and grieving
that he could have pierced so dear a friend, and put Him to such sorrows!

152. And he is asking, with love and earnestness, “What can I do to show that I
loathe myself for the past, and that I love Jesus for the future?” Now he goes a
step farther, and he burns with hatred against the sins which slew the Lord.
“Did my sins slay Christ? Was it my iniquity that nailed Him to the cross?
Then I will have vengeance upon my sins—there is not one that I will spare!
Though it nestles in my bosom, I will tear it out! And if it shall entrench itself
so that I cannot drive it forth except by losing an eye or an arm, it shall come
forth, for not one of this accursed crew will I harbor within my spirit!” Now
the man’s sacred zeal, and burning indignation are issuing a search warrant,
and he is going through and through his nature to search for sin, meanwhile
crying, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my
thoughts, and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting.” Now, beloved, do you not see that all the healthy faculties of the
new-born nature are by the griefs of Jesus set strongly at work, and even
though sin may still remain within, there is a vitality about the new-born
nature which will certainly cast out those baser powers, and by God’s grace,
make the man meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light?
VI. It is scarcely necessary for me to say anymore except to remark, in the
sixth place, that this medicine deserves to be commended to all of you this
morning, because of ITS REMARKABLY EASY APPLICATION. I have
shown you how it works, and what it cures, and whom it cures. Now, there are
some material medicines which would be curative, but they are so difficult in
administration, and attended with so much risk in their operation, that they
are rarely, if ever, employed. But the medicine prescribed in the text is very
simple in itself, and very simply received—so simple is its reception that, if
there is a willing mind here to receive it, it may be received by any of you at
this very instant, for God’s Holy Spirit is present to help you. How, then, does
a man get the stripes of Christ to heal him? Why, first he hears about them.
Now, you have heard often of my Lord’s stripes. Next, faith comes by hearing;
that is, the hearer believes that Jesus is the Son of God, and he trusts in Him
to save his soul; then, having believed,
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the next thing is, whenever the power of his faith begins to relax, he goes to
hearing again, or else to what is even better, after once having heard to
benefit, he resorts to contemplation. He resorts to the Lord’s Table, that he
may be helped by the outward signs; he reads the Bible that the letter of the
word may refresh his memory as to its spirit; and he often seeks a season of
quiet, such as David had when he sat before the Lord, closing his eyes, and
shutting up his heart to all beside the things of heaven. He views Christ
groaning in the garden; he pictures Him upon the bloody cross; he sees Him
suffering, and so acquires for himself all the benefit which can be drawn from
the stripes of the crucified. All you have to do, poor sinner, is simply trust, and
you are healed! And all you have to do, O backsliding believer, is but to
contemplate, and to believe again! Beloved, we must let the old image be
stamped fresh upon our soul! We must have the picture cleaned, as it were—it
has been turned with its front to the wall, turn it around, and sit and study it
again! Renew your old acquaintance with the sweet lover of your soul; return
to the love of your espousal; repair to Calvary! Tarry in Gethsemane, live
with Jesus wherever you may be—in retirement, considering, meditating,
reflecting upon what He has done for you; this is the simple mode of
application. VII. All I have to say in conclusion is since the medicine is so
efficacious, since it is already prepared, and freely presented, I do beseech you
TAKE IT! Take it, brothers and sisters, you who have known its power in
years gone by! Let not backslidings continue, but come to His stripes again!
Take it, you doubters, lest you sink into despair—come to His stripes again!
Take it, you who are beginning to be self-confident and proud; you need this
to bring you on your faces, again, in prostration before your Lord! And O,
you who have never believed in Him; on this morning of clear brightness after
the rain, may the Lord give you, also, to come and trust in Him, and you shall
live! “Oh,” wrote one to me this week, “I have believed that Jesus died for me,
but it does not keep me from sinning in anyway whatever! Our minister says
that if we believe that Jesus died for us we shall be saved.” No, no, but that is
not the gospel, and such a belief is not faith at all! I do not wonder that a poor
creature should have tried such a gospel and found it fail. Do not these men

154. say that Christ died for everybody, and then declare that if you believe He
died for you, (which He must of necessity have done if He died for everybody),
then that will save you? And yet there are scores and hundreds who are proof
to the fact that it does not save them, because they can believe this universal
redemption, and live as they did before! This is faith, namely to trust Jesus
Christ; it is the only saving faith; you cannot rely on Him and remain
unhealed! You cannot take Jesus for your confidence, and remain just as you
were! There is potency about Christ, as applied by faith, which changes the
character, and makes the sinner a new man to the praise and glory of God!
May my Lord bless you for His own sake. Amen.



A DIRE DISEASE STRANGELY CURED NO. 2887

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1904. DELIVERED
BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,
NEWINGTON, ON LORD’S -DAY EVENING, MAY 28, 1876.

“With His stripes we are healed.” “By whose stripes you were healed.”
Isaiah 53:5. 1 Peter 2:24.

IT is well for the preacher, every now and then, to go back to the very
beginning, and once again traverse the whole ground of the gospel, just as the
teacher does, when, after his pupils have advanced to some of the higher
branches of study, he deems it desirable to make sure that they are well
grounded in the very elements of knowledge, for he knows that it is quite
possible for him to be doing mischief in leading them on to the higher forms of
study unless they are thoroughly familiar with the first principles. So he goes

155. back to the beginning over and over again, and a wise preacher will do
likewise. As for myself, it is not at all grievous to speak, in the simplest terms,
of Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation; and, “for you, it is safe,” as Paul said
in writing “the same things” to the Philippians. I have always noticed that
those, who love Christ best, and who know the most about His great salvation,
are just the very people who delight to hear again and again— “The old, old
story Of Jesus and His love.” To persons of that sort, the gospel message
never grows stale. It is like that familiar air, “Home, Sweet Home,” which had
such a strange influence over our soldiers in the Crimea; only that whereas
the playing or singing of that tune brought on such an attack of homesickness
that the men, who heard it, when far from their native land, were rendered
quite unfit for duty; in our case, the familiar story of Jesus and His dying love,
and His substitutionary sufferings, will never cease to charm our ears, and
fire our hearts with holy ardor in His blessed service. I am also quite sure that
to those who least relish the gospel, and who know the least about it, it is
beyond measure important that they should hear it as often as they possibly
can; for it may be that one of these days, it will find an entrance into their
hitherto closed hearts. Therefore, preacher, ring that bell again and again. It
may be that when you rang it before, their ears were stopped up, so that they
did not catch its sweet silvery note. So, ring it again, brother; for it may be
that the next time you do so, the Holy Spirit will unstop those ears that have
been so long shut to the gospel—yes, even though the blessed bell has been
ringing close to them for seventy years or more, and they have grown grey, or
white, without having ever caught the sweetness of its melodious music. So,
ring that bell again, brother; yes, even if they are dying, let them still hear it,
for the dying have, through the mercy of God, at last heard and heeded it, and
so have begun to hear the harps of angels only a few moments afterwards. I
am going, at least on this occasion, to do what I urge other preachers often to
do; that is, keep to the simplicities of the faith, trying to show how the dire
disease of sin is strangely cured by the stripes that fell upon our Lord Jesus
Christ, for both the prophet and the apostle say that we are healed by or with
“His stripes.” I. So, I begin by saying, HERE IS A DISEASE IMPLIED. You
cannot heal men who are not sick, or wounded. It matters not how matchless
the medicine is— even though it is the substitutionary suffering of the Son of
God Himself—if it is to heal, it must heal some malady or other; and,

156. brethren, it is quite true that there is a dreadful disease which has attacked
the whole human race; you scarcely need that I should tell you that it is the
disease of sin. It came to this earth when that old serpent, the devil, tempted
Mother Eve. Then did this dire disease begin to course through
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human veins, and it has descended to every individual of the whole race; and,
at this moment, it lurks within each one of us. “Lurks,” did I say? No, it is
worse than that, for it has manifested itself; it has displayed its venom and
virulence; it has shown itself in the life; and, like the leprosy upon the brow of
the man suffering from that dreadful disease, it is visible upon us all. The
disease of sin is exceedingly injurious. There are some diseases that affect the
heart; and sin has turned the heart of man to a stone. There are some other
diseases that afflict the eyes; and sin has blinded man’s understanding—his
mental and spiritual eyesight. There are some diseases that affect the hands;
and, in our natural condition, we cannot work for God’s glory, or grasp
gospel blessings, because the disease of sin has withered our hands spiritually.
We never know at exactly what point the danger from any disease may be the
greatest, for it is not always that which appears upon the surface which is
most to be dreaded, as there are hidden places in the system which may be
seriously affected without giving eternally any indication of the mischief. The
Lord desires truth in our inward parts, but sin is the enemy of truth; and it is
only the Lord who can make us to know wisdom in our hidden parts, for sin
has made us foolish, even as Solomon says that “foolishness is bound in the
heart of a child.” Sin has injured us in more ways than I can tell; when man
fell, it was no slight accident that happened; it was the utter ruin of humanity
that occurred. There is something grand, at least in appearance, about
humanity, even in its ruined condition, for it is the work of God; but, alas!
The bat, and the owl, and the viper, and many other unclean creatures have
made human nature to be their foul den. “Lucifer, son of the morning,” is not
the only one who has fallen as from heaven, for this also is true of the whole
race of mankind. You see, then, that this disease of sin is most injurious.
There are some diseases that make men quite helpless. We have seen a man,

157. who could not do a day’s work even if his very life depended upon it. He could
not lift so much as his hand, and he had to be fed, and nursed, and cared for
by others, for he was paralyzed; and, in a spiritual sense, so far as anything in
the nature of good works is concerned, sin has paralyzed man altogether.
Indeed, it has taken his very life away from him, so that he is truly said to be
“dead in trespasses and sins.” Sin is also a disease which frequently becomes
loathsome. In some men, who have had the opportunity of indulging their evil
propensities and passions to the utmost, sin has become so loathsome that
even their fellow men have had to put them away by themselves. What are our
prisons and many of our asylums, but moral lazar-houses where we have to
shut up leprous men and women lest they should contaminate the whole race?
I said that sin is a disease which frequently becomes loathsome; I meant,
loathsome to men; for it is always loathsome to God, and to the holy angels. I
suppose that the most prurient ulcer, which ever sickened the pitying gaze of a
sympathizing onlooker, could not be so disgusting to the mind of the most
delicate man or woman as the slightest sin is to the mind of God. His righteous
soul loathes and abhors it; and He says of it, “Oh, do not this abominable
thing that I hate!” Frequently, also, sin makes men a source of danger to
others. It is really always so, although we do not always know it; for every evil
example is contagious, every foul word is infectious, and there is something
about even the most moral man which it would not be safe for others to copy.
Certainly, if he has that dreadful disease of unbelief in his heart, it would be
wrong for any other person to imitate him in that respect, whatever
excellences may stand side by side with it. In some cases, this disease of sin
becomes very painful. I wish it were painful to every unhealed man and
woman, for they might then be anxious to be cured of it; and let me tell you
that there is no disease, to which our flesh is heir, that can bring such pain to a
man as sin can, when once his conscience is quickened by the Holy Spirit. I
think I know, as well as most men, what physical pain means; but I would
sooner lie bedridden, suffering all the pains that could be crowded into a
human body, and lie like that for seventy years, than endure the tortures of a
guilty conscience, or the pangs of a soul under sentence of condemnation. I
know that when I was under conviction of sin, I could sympathize with Job
when he said, “My soul chooses strangling and death rather than my life.” It
is a terrible thing to see yourself, as in a mirror, with all your wounds

158. bleeding, and to feel that you must say, “They have not been closed, neither
bound up, neither mollified with ointment.” It is a truly awful experience to
see a devil in each wound, and to realize that you are yourself the worst of
devils; and to hear the curse of God, like distant thunder, rumbling far away,
yet constantly coming nearer and nearer; and to live in dread of the storm of
everlasting wrath beating upon your unprotected head. Yes, the disease of sin
is painful to the last degree to men whose consciences are not “seared with a
hot iron.”
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Worst of all, this disease causes death. There is no human being, in whom sin
has not already caused spiritual death, and no one in whom it will not cause
eternal death unless God, in His almighty grace, shall prevent it. “The soul
that sins, it shall die,” is a declaration that is only too terribly true. What that
death will be, I shall not, at this time, attempt to show; but such words as
these, coming from the lips of Christ, may tell you—“These shall go away into
everlasting punishment,” “into the fire that shall never be quenched; where
their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.” May none of you ever have
to endure that death which never dies—that dread eternal death, of which the
Lord of life so positively speaks! Yet, as surely as God lives, you will
experience even that dread doom unless this mortal malady is healed. II. Now,
turning from the disease, let me point out to you THE MEDICINE
MENTIONED IN THE TEXT: “With His stripes we are healed.” Brethren
and sisters, you know right well that the medicine here meant is the
substitutionary suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ on His people’s behalf. I
cannot imagine how anyone can read the chapter, from which our first text is
taken, without seeing that “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all,”
“the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are
healed.” This is strange medicine— that the wounds of Jesus should heal the
wounds which sin has made—that the wounds upon His back and shoulders,
where the cruel scourge smote Him, should, by their blueness, bring spiritual
healing to us; yet so it is, and this is the only remedy for the malady of sin.
There have been many remedies recommended by various quacks—some

159. have come with their “sacraments,” so-called, some with their ceremonies,
some with their philosophies; but they are all quacks, and their medicines
have no healing power. The only cure for the wounds of sin is to be found in
the stripes of Jesus. Let me put this point very plainly before you. Jesus
Christ stood in the place of the sinner, and bore— that the sinner might not
have to bear—the righteous anger of God because of the sinner’s guilt. They,
who say that we represent God as being angry, and only to be appeased by the
sufferings of His Son, know that they altogether misrepresent the truth that
we believe. What we say is that the infinitely holy God could not righteously
have pardoned sin without having first vindicated His justice and the majesty
of His law. I do not think that the enlightened conscience of man could ever
have been contented without an atoning sacrifice. There is a necessity, not
only with God, but also with us, for a sacrifice for sin; and we must have it, or
else our conscience cannot rest. This was the question I used to ask when I was
in the depths of soul trouble—“How can God be just, and yet forgive my sin?”
I wanted Him to forgive me, but I did not want Him to do it unjustly; for, if I
could have obtained the forgiveness of my sin at the expense of His justice, I
do not think that such forgiveness could ever have appeared to me to be
consistent with the character of God. It was only when I understood that God
could be both just and the Justifier of all who believe in Jesus that my soul
rolled herself upon that blessed truth, and enjoyed such a luxury of rest as she
had never even dreamt of before. Yes, God is infinitely just, His justice is as
stern as if it had never been blended with His grace, yet He is as merciful and
gracious as if justice had never been one of His attributes. This wonderful
blending is gloriously manifested in the atonement of Jesus Christ, where,
mark you, God Himself—for Christ is God, as He says, “I and My Father are
One”—God Himself, the righteous Judge, becomes the innocent Sufferer,
standing in the culprit’s stead, and sheathing in His own heart the gleaming
blade that must, otherwise, have been bathed in human blood. O sirs, it is
what Jesus bore that will heal you—what Jesus bore when He stood in the
stead of sinners, and offered to infinite and inflexible justice a full recompense
for the crime, and guilt, and sin, and transgression of all who believe in Him!
Look away from your sin to the great Sin-bearer. We will not trace Him
through all His sufferings, but begin with the “stripes” He endured in the
garden of Gethsemane; can you bear to look upon that terrible agony, to hear

160. His piercing cries, and to see His copious tears? Above all, can you bear to
look upon His bloody sweat? His three favored disciples could not, for “He
found them sleeping for sorrow.” Can you bear to look upon Him as the rough
men, guided by Judas the traitor, seize Him, and lead Him away to the various
halls of judgment, and charge Him with sedition and blasphemy? Can you
endure to see Him forsaken by every friend He had, and denied by that
impetuous follower who had said, not long before, “Though I should die with
You, yet will I not deny You”? Can you bear to see Him surrounded by the
brutal Roman soldiers, and maltreated, and mocked, and spit upon by the
unfeeling mob of railing legionaries? Can you bear to gaze upon His crown of
thorns? Can you bear to listen to the blows from that awful scourge as they
fall in quick succession upon His blessed back and shoulders? I must not go on
to tell the sad, sad story at full length; it is too sorrowful to relate; but you
know how, at last, they fastened
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Him to the tree of the curse, then lifted Him up upon the cross, dislocating all
His bones as they dashed it into the socket in the earth which they had
prepared to hold it. You have read of the fever which came upon Him, till His
mouth was dried up like an oven, and His tongue clung to the roof of His
mouth. Yet, after all, terrible as all this was, it was only the shell, the externals
of His bodily suffering; the suffering of His soul was the very soul of His
suffering. It was by the smiting of His body, and the more terrible smiting of
His soul—the suffering of His entire manhood in unison with His Godhead—
that He took away the sin of His people, and opened the kingdom of heaven to
all believers. Let me urge all of you, who are diseased through sin, to go for
healing to those blessed wounds of Jesus. Long ago, I learned the secret of this
wondrous way of healing; and, now, whenever my wounds bleed afresh, I go
again to the— “Fountain filled with blood Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,”—
for it is “with His stripes” that I am healed. III. Now, thirdly, I want to say a
little about THE HEALING HERE MENTIONED. Our second text speaks of
it as a thing that was done in the past: “By whose stripes you were healed;” so
I would like you, my dear brethren and sisters in Christ, to remember when

161. you were healed, years ago. Do you recollect the place where Jesus met with
you? I remember, to a yard, where He revealed Himself to my soul. Some of
God’s saints do not, but that does not matter in the least. A living man must
have been born, at some time or other, even if he does not know when his
birthday was; and as long as we have been healed, we need not be anxious to
know when it took place. Still, it is helpful if we can recollect when God gave
us healing through the wounds of His beloved Son. Let me try to describe the
process of healing. First of all, the stripes of Jesus heal us by taking away the
guilt of sin. That is the all-important work. By nature, and by practice, too, we
are guilty; but when we look to Christ’s stripes, we see our guilt laid upon
Him; and, as it cannot be in two places at one time, we know that it is not on
us any longer. The moment that a poor sinner sees Christ, bearing His burden
of guilt, and trusts Christ as his Burden-bearer, his burden is all gone. We
sang, a little while ago, that blessed hymn about substitution, in which one line
says— “Now there’s no load for me.” There was a load on me, but Jesus took
my load upon Himself, so— “Now there’s no load for me.” That was the
grandest of all God’s transactions, when He took sin off the sinner, and laid it
upon His sinless Son, as the prophet Isaiah says, “All we like sheep have gone
astray; we have turned, everyone to His own way; and the Lord has laid on
Him the iniquity of us all,” or as the apostle Paul says, “He has made Him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him.” Yes, the sinner, who believes in Jesus, is no longer accounted
guilty by God; though black as night before, the moment he looks to Christ,
he becomes white as the newly-fallen snow. Though he was a stranger to God,
and condemned for his sin, as soon as he believes, he becomes “accepted in the
Beloved” and he may shout with the apostle Paul, “Who is he that condemns?
It is Christ that died, yes, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” The stripes of Jesus are
also an infallible remedy for the disease of despair. What thousands of men
and women, in this world, have been ready to lay violent hands upon
themselves while under a sense of sin! They never had even half a glimpse of
comfort till they were told that Jesus took their sin, and carried it, in His own
body, up to the tree, and there forever made an end of it, that they might be
saved. I should like those, who do not believe in Christ’s substitution for
sinners, to have to deal with some troubled souls who have come to me. Ah!

162. You may conjure, and you may charm, you may use fine language, and talk
about the “moral influence” of the sacrifice of Christ; but what will all that
avail those who are on the borders of despair? Will you take from us, who
have to deal with sin-sick souls, the only balm we have to give them? I have
done with Christianity, I have done with the Bible, I have done with all
preaching, if you can once convince me that the substitution of Christ is not a
fact. This truth is, to me, the kernel, the core, the marrow, the vital essence of
the gospel. With this remedy in my hands, I can turn despair into confidence;
but, take this away, and there remains nothing for me to preach to the
despondent and the despairing. Let the man, who can disprove it—if
disproved it can be, and that I do not believe—recollect that he will have
taken away from the sky of many of us the only sun that shines, and from our
life the only joy we have; for, if this truth is gone, all is gone. O bleeding
Savior, if You did not suffer in our
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stead, it would have been better for us if we had never been born! But we
know that Your stripes do heal the disease of despair, so we will still pass on
the remedy to all whom we find in that terrible condition. Bring the stripes of
Jesus home to a man; they heal his soul of a thousand other ills, such as this—
the idea of trifling with sin. That is a very common disease; it is incidental to
sin that men sin, and think nothing of it. “Oh!” they say, “What is sin? We are
poor frail creatures, and we make mistakes; but what of that?” That is man’s
estimate of sin; but, O You bleeding Son of God, when we once get a clear
view of Your wounds— “Sin does like itself appear.” See God’s only-begotten
Son dying on the cross, that sin may be put away; and you will never again
think it a trifle. The sacrifice of Calvary was upon a scale so vast that there is
no human method of measuring it. God, the Creator, and Provider, and Judge
of all, has taken upon Himself our nature, and made expiation for our sin by
His own death in the midst of the utmost ignominy, and shame, and agony.
Now, sin could not have been a little thing to need such an atonement as that
to put it away; and the man who believes in Jesus, henceforth looks on sin in
the right light, and never trifles with it again. It also corrects his estimate as

163. to eternal things. The other day, he said, “What do I care about heaven or
hell? What is the Day of Judgment to me? These are bugaboos to frighten
children. What is it to me whether God is angry or not? Eternal things are for
old women to think about; I mind the main chance, and make all the money I
can.” Ah, but a sight of Christ on the cross cures all that! Now, eternity seems
to be everything, and time insignificant. Now, to be reconciled to God, to live
to His glory, seems to be the one thing needful. The cross of Christ is the great
rectifier of human judgments. We trifle no longer with eternal things, but they
become of infinite concern to us. Then, next, the wounds of Jesus cure us of
the love of sin. By nature, we love sin; but when we understand what sin cost
Christ, we cannot love it any longer. If you had a very favorite knife, which
you prized much, but someone took it, and with it murdered your mother, you
would loathe the instrument with which so foul a deed was done; and sin, that
you prized, and played with, has the blood of Christ on it. It cut Him to the
very soul. So now you hate it; you say to yourself, “How can I love that cursed
thing that made my Savior bleed?” There is no cure for the love of sin like the
blood of Christ. And it cures us, yet again, because it rouses the dull,
inanimate soul, which had long been indifferent to God, into life and love.
When a man knows that Jesus died for him, he must love Him, and serve
Him; he cannot help doing so. You may tell him about the punishment of sin
in terms of terror, and you may describe the glory of God in the most glowing
language; but you cannot win a human heart so. The deaf adder will not hear
with such charming; but, O Jesus, if You do say to a sinner, with Your own
lips, “I love you, and I have given Myself for you,” the iceberg-soul thaws into
feeling, the granite begins to throb, and the man says, “Love You, my Savior?
Oh, how can I have lived so long without loving You? Love You? “‘Yes, I love
You, and adore, Oh, for grace to love You more!’” Nothing cures the hearts
of coldness towards God like a sense of blood-bought pardon; but that will
dissolve a heart of stone. And so, let me add, there is no form of mischief,
which sin takes, but the stripes of Jesus, when we come to know them, will
heal us of them. If you love the world too much—yes, if you love it at all—
come and drink from my Master’s cup; and it will make you feel yourself a
stranger in the earth, and you will set no store by this world any more. If you
have been redeemed, you must have been a slave, so you will bow yourself in
the dust with gratitude to your Redeemer. We see advertisements of medicines

164. which are said to cure all diseases, but this is a medicine which will cure all
ills. There is no form of the disease of sin upon which the stripes of Christ
have not been tried, and the wondrous medicine has healed in every instance.
Oh, whom has it not healed? We have seen the harlot healed, and she has
become a joyous Magdalene, singing chastely and sweetly the love song unto
Him that washed her from her sins in His own blood. We have seen the thief
touched with this sacred heal-all, and he has become a saint amidst the
seraphim above. We have seen a persecutor, who has but taken a draught of
this medicine, and he has begun to preach; and he has preached right on, and
he has said, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace
given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of
Christ.” Yes, we have seen men lying at the very gates of hell, in their own
estimation, despairing, feeling the serpents of remorse twisting their desperate
coils about them everywhere, and the venom coursing through
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their blood; and they have lifted up themselves, and smiled, and the serpents
have dropped off them, as they have looked to the Son of man, as the bitten
Israelites looked to the bronze serpent; and they have been healed at once. I
would that any here, who doubt this, would try it for themselves. “Oh, taste
and see that the Lord is good,” for there never was a soul yet, that did receive
this medicine of the stripes of Jesus, who was not thereby healed. IV. Now, to
close, WHAT IS NEEDFUL IN ORDER TO GET THIS HEALING? The
answer is, first, you must believe this to be true. You must believe in the
wondrous mystery of God Incarnate. There were many witnesses to Christ’s
incarnation and death, and there are four narrators of the story of His life and
sacrifice; there were many who saw Jesus risen from the dead, and saw Him
till He rose to heaven; they knew that they saw Him, and many of them died
as martyrs because they said so. They were simple, honest witnesses—not
ecclesiastics trained in twisting language and inventing fictions. They were
fishermen and many of them, poor men, with a few of another rank, but they
all saw Jesus, and they saw His miracles; they saw Him tread the sea, and they
saw Him die, and saw Him after He was risen, and they tracked Him till He

165. went up into glory; and they received His Spirit; and, in His name, they
worked miracles; and they were quite sure that what they testified was true.
Some of us have believed their testimony, and we have been healed by this
medicine; and if you would be healed, you must receive it yourselves. I think I
hear you say, “Why, I have always believed the Bible to be true.” Well, then,
next, you must take the medicine. What does the physician put at the
beginning of his prescription? A great R, to stand for the Latin word
“Recipe.” What does that mean? “Take.” “Take of such-and-such a drug, so
much, and of another, so much.” That is what the gospel says: “Whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely.” That word I leave with you,
Recipe—take—receive. Take what? Why, take the sufferings of Christ to be
instead of your sufferings. Trust you in Him to save you now because He died
for all who trust Him. Rest yourself on Him now. “Suppose I should trust
Him, and He should not save me?” Ah, soul, that were to suppose Him to be a
liar, and that cannot be. He that believes in Him is not condemned; or, as He
put it Himself, “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.” You have to
come to Him just as you are, and trust Him to save you, relying upon the
merit of His blood and righteousness to stand for you before the justice of
God. Can you do that? “Why!” says one, “it seems so simple.” And are you
going to quarrel with it because it is simple? Are you as foolish as Naaman,
who would not wash in Jordan because it was so simple? He wanted the
prophet to perform a great many ceremonies, but he would not at first bring
himself down to wash, that he might be clean. Surely, my friend, you are not
such a fool as that; I will give you credit for more sense. “But do you really
mean that if I trust my soul with Christ, believing He can save me, I am
saved?” Mean it? Mean it? If that is not so, I am not saved myself, for this is
where I stand. I have believed in Jesus Christ, and rested myself on Him; and
if He does not, cannot, or will not save me, and I should ultimately be
ashamed of my hope, I must be damned, for I have not a second hope. You
have heard of the fox that had three holes to run to; but the Christian has only
one; and if that is stopped up, “There is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved.” “God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.” I do not know what you think about sermons;
perhaps you imagine that preaching is very easy work. It is not so to me. After

166. having been laid aside, I tell you that if I could crawl to this pulpit on my
hands and knees, it would be a delight to me once again to tell out my
Master’s gospel; but, at the same time, I feel that I may have very few more
opportunities of preaching, and, as the Lord lives, before whom I stand, my
anxious desire is that every time I preach, I may clear myself of the blood of
all men—that if I step from this platform to my coffin, I may have told out, at
least, all I knew of the way of salvation. I wish you unconverted ones could
bring yourselves to take this word home to yourselves; for, some day, you will
hear the gospel for the last time; you will listen to the last invitation; and this
may be the last time you will hear the story of the dying Savior. Will you have
Him now, or not? With some of you, it is now or never! Hark to the ticking of
the clock! As the pendulum swings to and fro, it says to some of you, “Now or
never! Now or never! Now or never! Now or never!” Will you trust your soul
with Jesus? If you will, the soft persuasions of His blessed Spirit are guiding
you that way. Cast your guilty soul on Him, and you are saved; but if you will
have another savior, or be your own savior, and reject Christ, I am clear
Sermon #2887 A Dire Disease Strangely Cured 7
Volume 50 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. 7
of your blood; and when we stand before that dread tribunal, when heaven
and earth shall shake, and reel, and pass away like a mist before the rising
sun, you will have no one but yourself to blame that you are lost. God save
you, for Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen!

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW 27:27 -54.

Verses 27-30. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common
hall, and gathered unto Him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped
Him, and put on Him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of
thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand: and they
bowed the knee before Him, and mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
And they spit upon Him, and took the reed, and struck Him on the head.

167. Ridicule is very painful to bear at any time, and soldiers have been masters of
that cruel art when they have been encouraged in it by their leaders.
Remember, brethren and sisters, who it was that bore all this shameful
treatment from these brutal men—your Lord and the angels’ Lord, the
Maker of heaven and earth who had deigned, for a while, to veil his Deity in
human flesh. And there He stood, to be “set at nothing”—to be made nothing
of—by those rough Roman legionaries, the creatures of His own hand, whom
He could have destroyed in a moment by a word or a wish. What matchless
condescension our gracious Redeemer displayed even in His own deepest
degradation and agony! 31, 32. And after that they had mocked Him, they
took the robe off Him, and put His own raiment on Him, and led Him away to
crucify Him. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by
name; him they compelled to bear His cross. And I think that he must have
been a glad man to have such an honor thrust upon him; yet you need not
envy him, for there is a cross for you also to carry. Bear it cheerfully. If
anything happens to you, by way of ridicule, for Christ’s sake and the
gospel’s, bow your shoulder willingly to the burden; and, as knights are made
by a stroke from a sword held in their sovereign’s hand, so shall you be made
princes of the realm of Christ by bearing the cross after Him. 33. And when
they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a
skull,— We do not know why it was so called. There have been many
conjectures concerning the name, but they are only conjectures. It was
probably just a little knoll, outside the gate of the city—the common place of
execution for malefactors; the special points to be noted are that Jesus
suffered without the gate, in the regular place of doom—the Tyburn or Old
Bailey of Jerusalem—and so was numbered with the transgressors. 34. They
gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: A stupefying draught was
usually given to the criminals who were crucified, to mitigate their agony; but
Christ did not wish for that to be done in His case. 34. And when He had
tasted thereof, He would not drink. He came to earth that He might suffer,
and He would retain all His faculties while suffering; He would have every
nerve made into a straight road for the hot feet of pain to travel over, for He
would drink, even to the last dregs, every drop that was in the cup of suffering
for His people’s sin. 35, 36. And they crucified Him, and parted His garments,
casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They

168. parted My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast lots.
And sitting down they watched Him there; Some of them gloating their cruel
eyes with the sight of His suffering; others watching Him out of mere
curiosity; but there were some, hard by the cross, who stood there to weep in
sympathy with Him— a sword passing through their own hearts while the Son
of man was being put to death. 37. And set up over His head His accusation
written, THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. And so He is. When
will the Jews acknowledge Him as their King? They will do so one day;
perhaps they will do so when Christians begin to think and speak more kindly
of them than they usually do. When the hardness of heart on our part towards
them shall pass away, it may be that their hardness of heart towards Christ
will also pass away. Long have they been despised, and oppressed, and
persecuted in many lands; oh, that, by some means, they might be brought to
look, in penitence, upon Him whom they crucified, and to claim Him as their
Lord and Savior!
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8 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 50
38-40. Then were there two thieves crucified with Him, one on the right hand,
and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled Him, wagging their
heads, and saying, You that destroyed the temple, and build it in three days,
save Yourself. If You be the Son of God, come down from the cross. That is
the devil’s old doctrine: “Save yourself; look out for yourselves; live for
yourselves; be selfish.” But Christ could never act like that; He came to live
and die for others. “Save yourself,” was not the doctrine that He either
preached or practiced. And this is another old taunt of Satan and those who
follow him: “If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross, and we
will believe in You.” There are plenty who would be willing to believe in
Christ, but not in Christ crucified. “He was a good man,” they say, “a great
prophet; no doubt, far in advance of His times,” and so on. But, if you talk
like that, you are not on safe ground, for if Christ was not the Son of God, at
any rate He professed to be, and He made people think He was; and if He was
not, He was an impostor and not a good man at all. You must either repudiate
Christ altogether, or take Him with His cross; it must be Christ crucified, or

169. no Christ at all. 41-44. Likewise also the chief priest mocking Him with the
scribes and elders, said, He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the
King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe
Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him: for He
said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also,— Those abjects who were
crucified with Him, and were sharers of His misery— 44-46. Which were
crucified with Him, cast the same in His teeth. Now from the sixth hour there
was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour
Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama Sabachthani? That is to
say, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? This was the climax of
His grief—not merely to suffer intense agony of body, not only to be mocked
alike by priests and people; but to be forsaken of His God. Yet this was
needful as a part of the penalty that was due to sin. God must turn away from
anyone who has sin upon him; so, as sin was laid upon Christ, God had to
turn His face even away from His well-beloved Son because He was bearing
His peoples’ sins upon the accursed tree. 47-49. Some of them that stood
there, when they heard that, said, This man calls for Elijah. And straightway
one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a
reed, and gave Him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elijah
will come to save Him. Mocking Him even in His prayers, for they well knew
the difference between Eloi and Elijah. 50. Jesus, when He had cried again
with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. You know what He said when He
cried with a loud voice: “It is finished.” 51-54. And, behold, the veil of the
temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake,
and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints
which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went
into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and
they that were with Him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and these
things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly that was the Son of
God.