Passage: Isaiah 53:1-6
Speaker: Mitch Kim
Series: Come, Lord Jesus
Longing For Healing
A microscopic virus has brought the powerful world to its knees. We today sense and see our frailty and weakness more than ever before. We cannot impose our will upon the world, but we must mask, distance, and wash lest we get attacked by an enemy we cannot even see. What if this increasing realization of our frailty and weakness is a good thing? We long for healing; how do we find healing? When we look at Isaiah 53, we see a promise of healing in surprising places. The promise of healing is not found in the giftedness or abilities of the coming of a servant; instead we find that his wounds heal us.
First we find healing in his wounds (Isa 53:1–4). These verses look forward to the coming of a servant who is high and lifted up (Isa 52:13). Typically we would expect God’s servant to save and heal through his great power, yet this servant is despised and without beauty or majesty (53:2–3). Yet the healing power of this servant, ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, is released through his wounds. In these wounds, he bears our griefs and our sorrows, bringing upon himself the punishment that our sins deserve.
As a result his wounds heal (Isa 53:5). It is clear that he “was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities”; the wounds that he carried were because of our sins. Yet as a result we can find peace for “with his wounds we are healed” (53:5). The healing power of Jesus flows through his wounds. Those wounds can heal us physically of sickness, spiritually in forgiveness, and emotionally for wholeness. Those wounds have power.
And this is not just for all, but his wounds heal all of us (Isa 53:6). It is clear that all have gone astray, that each one has gone their own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. This passage is not for those who are especially bad, but it is the punishment that each and every one of us deserve.
So what? The hope for our longing for healing is not found in a vaccine. The hope for our longing for healing is found in Jesus — and not the gifts of Jesus but the wounds of Jesus. It is by his wounds that we are healed. So we should not be surprised that our Savior was born in the squalor of a manger. From the beginning he shows us that his healing power comes from wounds. May we draw near to him today.