“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.” (Is. 53:5; KJV)
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard Christians declare this: “By his stripes, you are HEALED!” as if this is some ‘magic prayer bullet’ that when spoken with enough faith, one will be healed physically. I am sorry, folks, it just doesn’t work that way.
I’ve been studying theology since 2009 (through Christian Life College and Biola University), and if there is one thing I have learned is that every verse in the Bible needs to be understood in CONTEXT! There. Now you can glean all that I have learned in nearly a decade of study in just one word—context! If you don’t read Scripture in its context (it also helps to know a bit about the ancient culture in which it was written), you can make the Bible say whatever you want it to say, and that’s just bad.
To be properly understood, let’s examine this verse in its context. Isaiah 53 has been called the “Suffering Servant” chapter. It’s the prophecy about when the Messiah will be punished for the transgressions (sins) of the people. Isaiah spoke these words approximately 700 years before Jesus was born! (The Dead Sea Scrolls, carbon dated to 140 BC, corroborate this fact.) He described the wounds that Jesus would endure for people’s sins as being crushed (beaten/whipped) and pierced (nailed to a cross).The whole chapter prophesied about how the Lord would be an offering for humanity’s sinful crimes, not the physical aspect of healing. “By His stripes, you are healed” is a spiritual healing that restores people back to a right relationship with God.
Now in Jesus’ ministry on Earth, he regularly healed people, and he taught the disciples to carry on the ministry of healing. So, we are to pray for people’s healing, but not by using this verse. That is not what this verse means. Even the Apostle Peter did not use this verse to mean a physical healing. He said, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds* you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24.) Again, in context, Peter is talking about humanity’s healing from sin… a soul sickness.
When Christ died by crucifixion, it was an act of retributive justice. Retributive justice is a legal term, and it means that a person morally deserves to suffer a proportionate punishment for committing a serious crime. The serious crime we all commit is to reject God’s rule and his right to rule. He is, after all, the Creator, and he deserves our respect because of it. In this case, however, the Judge (God) put the penalty onto someone else (His only Son), leaving the one who committed the crime (you and me) to be declared not guilty (“the punishment that brought us peace”).
That is what Jesus did for everyone! This is why it’s called “The Good News” because we all get a free pass out of hell without having to earn it through our own good works, so no person can boast (Eph.2:9). The only thing God requires of us is to accept Christ’s sacrifice. We need to truly believe in Jesus, and what He did on the cross—took away our sin, and made us white as snow (Is. 1:18). The Resurrection event is verifiable, so you can trust this is true.
Jesus’ stripes, or what he endured during the execution, is what makes us healed spiritually. This is the best healing God has ever done for us—to wipe away our sins, and to give us eternal life in heaven when we die. Until that time, we certainly should pray for physical healings, and sometimes God will grant physical healing. But sometimes He doesn’t. So if our physical bodies are not healed on Earth, we can trust that heaven awaits where we will live with new bodies that never get diseases, decay, or hurt again. The stripes Christ bore for us did that. Thank you, Jesus!
(*some versions replace “stripes” with “wounds” or “scourging.”)
Hey girlfriend- question for you (great blog I’ve heard that verse taken out of context and used as healing). Based on all of your awesome studies thus far where do you stand on the whole election argument? Luv you!
Hey DeeDee! Thanks for your comment. Are you asking about Calvinism? If so, I am not a Calvinist because of the Five-point “TULIP” argument. The points are as follows:
T = Total Depravity. Yes, I agree here. This means we all have a sinful nature that is inherited from our parents.
U = Unconditional Election. This concept is based on “all his works are known to God from eternity” (Acts 15:18; Ephesians 1:11). Yet, how I interpret this is that God sees all things simultaneously. Since He lives outside of time, He can see all things as happening at once, and sees mankind’s choices like a large map — like a flat print out of all time. I do not interpret this to mean thats God is going to choose to save one person over another. Based on who God is, I do not believe He would ever “elect” a soul to damnation. I believe in free will. If someone goes to Hell, it’s because they chose to do so. They don’t want to submit to God’s rule.
L = Limited Atonement. How can God’s love be “limited”? It’s not. He loves everyone, but because of free will, He doesn’t force people to love Him in return. He doesn’t select “only those chosen from eternity,” as Calvin claims. I think Calvin did not understand the concept of how God knows all things at once. Instead, Calvin may have interpreted this to mean that God chooses some over others, since not all people become Christians. Again, God doesn’t experience time the way we do, and so “all works known to God” means that God sees all who will have faith in the atoning work of Christ on the cross, and He also sees who will reject this act of redemption.
I = Irresistible Grace. I don’t agree with this concept, either. I have seen people resist God’s grace often. Once more, this is based on free will. My dad was an example of this. He wasn’t a believer, but kept meeting Christians who would talk to him about Jesus. He “resisted” their message time and time again. He died a non-believer.
P = Perseverance of the Saints. I think this idea is true. It is God’s grace that helps us to persevere and grow in the process of sanctification, or becoming more Christ-like.
So, I agree with some of Calvin’s concept, but not all of them. Does that answer your question about election?
Thank you for this post! I agree, Scriptures should be used in context and not “twisted” for our own purposes. Well done!
Thanks, Kimberly!
Hi Lisa! I like to hear about the different contexts of the verse. It is important to understand the context of verses in the Bible.
One thing that I have to speak on… I do believe we all can be healed. I also believe God wants us all healed too.
Have you read or heard the teaching that each stripe that Jesus took physically, would equate to an illness or disease in today’s world?
I attend a church where we pray for people to be supernaturally healed by the Holy Spirit. People blind, can see – people deaf can hear – people paralyzed can walk again – and so many cancers healed too. Take a look at Mel Bond YouTube…
Hi Marlie! I also attend a church where we believe that God heals today. He does — sometimes. For reasons that we cannot always see at first, God doesn’t heal each and every time we pray for healing. Take the story of the Apostle Paul as an example. He cried out to God to heal him of whatever was the “thorn in the flesh,” but God replied, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Wow! That must have been a hard thing for Paul to hear, knowing God can heal but yet He didn’t. So, we can pray for healing, as my blog mentioned, but we should not be discouraged if healing doesn’t come. There are lessons to be learned in suffering, and we need to heed those lessons. Even Jesus learned from what He suffered. Another WOW!
I understand what you’re saying… but isn’t God a God of love? And if someone loves us, why would they want us to suffer? I believe God heals us 100% of the time… but we have to receive and keep that healing by believing that we are healed no matter what. Where do you believe sickness comes from?
And I hope I’m not coming off argumentative… this is all coming from love. I just really believe with all my heart and with what I’ve seen myself that God wants us healed and well 100% of the time.
If God wanted to heal 100% of the time, then why didn’t He heal the Apostle Paul? Because God sometimes uses suffering for redemptive purposes. Even John the Baptist was beheaded! Also, all but one of Jesus’ original disciples were martyred for their faith. Do you think that was how these guys wanted their lives to end? I don’t think so. And yet, they suffered physically for redemptive purposes. For a more recent example, what about Joni Eareckson Tada? (http://www.joniandfriends.org) Joni’s story is one where she relentlessly pursued healing, and had all the faith one could muster up to be healed. It never happened. Instead of getting angry, she accepted it, and allowed God to use it for good. She now has a world-wide ministry to people from all countries where she gives out wheelchairs (in poorer third world countries), and shares the gospel. Perhaps God allowed her to remain a paraplegic because He knew she had the character to endure it. He knew she’d reach others with the gospel who may never had heard the message any other way. God is more concerned with the soul than the body. It is the soul that lives eternally. We will get new bodies in heaven. So again, yes I agree with you that God does heal people today. I’ve known many people who have received healing miraculously. Yet, I have also known several people who never received healing, and they are now in heaven where their healing is complete.
I again understand, but I still believe God heals 100% of the time, we just have to receive it. 🙂 God Bless you!!
I found this article about Paul and the thorn too. It brings a little more clarity to how I feel: https://sidroth.org/articles/apostle-paul-and-his-thorn-flesh/.
That’s fine, Marlie, but consider one thing before you move on: what you believe needs to line up with reality. What does reality show us? God does heal SOME of the time, not all of the time. Please be careful with this subject, as it can hurt a person deeply who is not healed this side of heaven. We need to tread lightly on some of these topics and always love one another no matter what the outcome. But a person should never feel as if they didn’t have “enough faith” and that is why they are not healed. God bless you, too!
I believe that God doesn’t cause disease… Satan and his demons do. So if someone is sick, it’s because of a demonic attack not a lesson from God. We have the authority to use Jesus’ name to get rid of demons because of Jesus being crucified on the cross.
Sometimes we may not be getting healed because we allow demons to come back after we’ve rebuked them to leave or because we aren’t removing the right demon.
God can do everything and anything, I just can’t believe that he would allow us to stay sick. However, I can believe that if we haven’t received our healing, he can use us for a greater good.
Again, I don’t want to come off as rude by any means. I do feel strongly about this because there are so many people suffering, and accept that suffering when they don’t need to.
Hey Marlie – yeah, I never said “God caused disease.” Disease, and all things similar, is part of the fallen world in which we live, and eventually, all things will be redeemed. In the meantime, suffering is terrible, and I surely don’t want people to suffer, either. But yet many do, and some receive no healing this side of heaven. So, as Christians, when people suffer, we can provide as much comfort as possible, assisting the person in the process, and yes, praying for healing. God can heal, and I never denied that. I am merely pointing out the reality that healing doesn’t come every. single. time. we pray for it. The original blog pointed out that the best healing we all receive is a healing from sin, and it’s eternal consequences. Our “soul-healing” is much more important in the long run. Blessings to you!
I apologize, I didn’t mean to say that you were referring to God causing diseases.
We just see a little different. No worries at all. ❤️
It’s okay, Marlie. I didn’t take any offense to your comment, and I appreciate dialoging about theological issues that affect our faith. It is good to discuss them, and if we agree to disagree on non-salvific issues, that is perfectly fine. Thank you for your comments!
The greatest good God has to offer us is Himself.
I think the answer to this question is in Philippians 3.
“Whatever things were gains to me, these I have counted loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss, because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things and count them trash, that I may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, a righteousness that is from God by faith. I want to know Him, in the power of His resurrection and in the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, being made like Him in His death and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Quoted from my memory of multiple translations, so you’re unlikely to find my exact wording anywhere.
Context is so important in the bible. As with anything, when we take it out of context we can twist and distort meaning to match what we want it to say. That is dangerous and dishonest. Thank you for the reminder to read scripture as a whole and not just take snippets.
Dear Lisa
I’ve read “By His Stripes, You Are Healed… Physically?” and wanted to leave a comment before I continue my day.
Overall, I found your blog post inspiring because it’s a topic that’s very serious in our churches today.
I agree with you (if I’ve understood you right) that it’s dangerous and a misunderstanding to talk about ‘enough faith’ and seeing a direct relation to the healing process of people.
Context is king!
Bible verses out of context are often leading to misunderstandings.
I once read a book. The title and the author are not relevant details here since this is a blog post comment.
The point from this author and this book was that Christians need to get the big picture right, especially when talking to each other. If we focus on the smaller parts, we tend to forget the big picture.
The big picture is as you say: “The only thing God requires of us is to accept Christ’s sacrifice. We need to truly believe in Jesus, and what He did on the cross—took away our sin, and made us white as snow (Is. 1:18). The Resurrection event is verifiable, so you can trust this is true.”
Your blog post was a good read!
I’ll give it a share on social media Friday, November 3.
God bless
Edna Davidsen
Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Edna!
You’re welcome Lisa, love to read your blog!
Thanks Lisa- yes, you did answer my question! And live reading your blog and subsequent comments! Awesome discussion!
Hi Lisa,
I’ve never heard this verse taken in the context of physical healing, so I was intrigued by that thought but unconvinced (like you!) I agree with you completely, context cannot be ignored! I thank God for offering us spiritual healing and trust His infinite wisdom regarding physical healing, whether it’s here on Earth or in Heaven.
The issue with the “magic prayer bullet” idea is that we don’t make God do anything. He is sovereign.
Thanks for this post! I enjoyed your explanation of the context and it confirmed my own understanding of this scripture.
Hi Beka! Wow, you are fortunate that you’ve never heard this verse take out of context and used like a “magic prayer bullet” for healing. Over the years, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve either heard it, or seen it typed as a response to a prayer request on social media posts. You are SO right that we don’t “make God” do anything – He is sovereign. I have heard the argument that why should we pray, then, if God knows everything ahead of time anyway? I think people misunderstand what prayer is sometimes. It is mostly our way of developing relationship with our Lord, and of inviting Him into the daily moments of our lives. Ooooh…. I can feel another blog coming on now about “what is prayer”. Ha ha ha! I will save that for another time. Thanks for your comments!