God promised that we would be healed by Jesus stripes.
Surely, he took up our sicknessesIf his stripes/bruising are healing for us, how does this work.
and carried our pains as his burden,
yet we considered him plagued,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our rebellion,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds (bruises) we are healed (Is 53:4-5).
In my book called Healing, I explain that the sickness of Christians can have two possible causes. Some sickness is the consequence of sin. The other type of sickness is a direct evil attack on the believer. This sickness is undeserved, because there is no sin that lets it in.
Sickness caused by sin is dealt with by the blood of Jesus. If we repent and trust in Jesus, our sins are forgiven and the sickness it has caused will go. The man who could not walk is an example. When Jesus said that his sins were forgiven, he got up and walked (Mark 2:1-11).
Not all sickness is caused by sin. Some sin is the result of an attack by evil. Sickness that is an attack by the enemy is undeserved. It occurs when the enemy cheats. He has no legal right to attack us, but he attacks us anyway. Much of the sickness experienced by mature Christians is undeserved sickness. The powers of evil attack them with sickness to disrupt and destroy their ministry.
Jesus stripes were undeserved. The various soldiers did not have legal authority to inflict punishment on him, because he had not been convicted. Rather, ruthless guards and soldiers were being mean. They beat up Jesus for their own fun, because they enjoyed hurting people. They did not care if his trial was not complete and judgment had not been given.
Jesus' underserved beatings are the key to dealing with these underserved attacks of sickness.
When he inflicts undeserved sickness on someone, the devil is cheating. Commanding the sickness to leave may not work, because the powers of evil were cheating when they gave us the sickness, so they are unlikely to stop cheating and remove the sickness just because we ask them. They are more likely to keep on cheating and leave us suffering. Our authority did not stop them from inflicting the sickness in the first place, so they are unlikely to recognise it when we tell them to remove the sickness.
We need a more effective solution. The answer is that Jesus bruises and beatings healed underserved sickness.
The bruising/beating was not necessary for dealing with sin, as the bloodshed on the cross fully deals with it. The beating/bruises were not needed for dealing with sin, so they must have achieved something else. We need to understand what and how.
How does this work?
Blind from Birth
John 9 is a good place to start, because it is the clearest example of sickness that was undeserved. Jesus is clear that neither the sin of the man, nor of his parents, was the cause of his blindness (John 9:3). The blindness was an undeserved sickness.
The question that immediately arises is why Jesus spat in the clay and made a paste of clay and spittle and rubbed it on the mans eyes? The clay clearly did not heal the man. The spit did not heal him. It is the Holy Spirit who heals, so we should not look for healing properties in the spit or the clay.
The mud gave the man a task to do. Jesus told him to go and wash off the mud in the pool of Siloam. This was an odd thing to ask. The man knew that mud could not restore his eyes. Going to a pool in another place would be quite hard for a man who was blind. It would have been easier to go home and do it, or get some water where he was. Although Jesus instructions seemed pointless, he trusted Jesus and obeyed his instructions.
When he washed his eyes at Siloam, the Holy Spirit healed his eyes and restored his sight.
Obeying Jesus and washing at the pool was an act of faith. While he was obeying in faith, he was healed. Faith healed him.
John points out that Siloam means "sent" (John 9:7). This confirms that Jesus gave the man a task to do. He sent him to do something.
He did not need to remain with Jesus. Rather, he had to trust Jesus and go where he sent him and do what he had told him to do.
Faithful obedience was the key to his healing.
When the man came back healed, he testified to the Pharisees.
Jesus made mud,
and he put on mud,
and he sent me,
and I washed,
now I see (John 9:15).
He did not give glory to the mud. He gave credit to Jesus.
He is a prophet (John 9:17).By responding to the hostility of the Pharisees so boldly, he continued to show faith.
If this man were not from God, he could do nothing (John 9:33).This bold testimony confused the Pharisees. He responded to Jesus questions by declaring his allegiance to Jesus.
Lord, I believe (John 9:38).Bold testimony = faith and allegiance.
How was this man healed? When he trusted in Jesus, Jesus was able to take his sickness and carry it for him. Jesus took up and carried whatever undeserved sickness the man had, so he was immediately freed from it. Jesus took it from him, so he did not need to bear it.
Absorbing Evil
Jesus carried our undeserved sicknesses and absorbs their pain for us when we are attacked by the spiritual powers of evil.
Jesus was beaten by the temple guards and groups of Roman soldiers. He did not deserve to be beaten, but his pain was real. This pain takes the place of our real, but underserved sickness.
Jesus was God become man, so the underserved beating he received has infinite value, sufficient to cancel all the undeserved sickness and pain that the spiritual powers of evil can try to inflict on his followers.
If we are united with Jesus, the attacks of sickness and disease are shifted from us to him. He takes that sickness and pain and bears it on our behalf. The pain and discomfort that the spiritual powers of evil wanted to inflict on us is shifted to him. Everything they throw at us should fail because Jesus has already experienced it. We shouldn't feel the pain, because Jesus already bore that pain when he was beaten without cause. They should not be able to inflict anything on us, because it immediately shifts to him and is nullified.
Faith in him makes this possible, because it unites us with Jesus. The key to faith is obeying what he tells us to do.
Abide in Jesus
In John 15, Jesus told his followers to abide in him. If we are abiding in Jesus, then underserved sickness cannot affect us, because Jesus takes it up and carries the pain on our behalf. If Jesus has experienced pain on our behalf, we should not have symptoms. He has already experienced that pain, when he was beaten and bruised, so we should not feel it.
In contrast, a person who does not remain in Jesus will wither away, shrunken by sickness and disease (John 15:6).
Jesus made a special promise to those who trust him.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you (John 15:7).When sickness strikes, those who understand Jesus teaching about healing should ask him to take it from them. We should give it to him, so he can bear it for us.
If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love (John 15:10).After asking him to take the sickness, he will tell us what to do. We must do exactly what he says.
Jesus told the blind man to go to pool of Siloam and wash his eyes. By sending him to do something that did not make sense, he gave the blind man an opportunity to show that he trusted him.
Naaman was a good man, so his leprosy was an undeserved sickness inflicted by the spiritual powers of evil. Elijah told Naaman to go and wash in the Jordan river. This seemed stupid to him, but while he was bathing, he was healed.
Jesus told the ten lepers who asked to be healed to go and show themselves to the priests. While they were on their way, they were healed. Their faithful obedience to Jesus released their healing (Luke 17:14).
Jesus is quite likely to tell us to do something that will prove our faith. When we are attacked by underserved sickness he may require us to something that does not make sense to us to prove our faith. Faith demonstrates to the spiritual powers of evil that we are in Jesus. They cannot argue with faith. They cannot cheat against faith. Actions that demonstrate faith, destroy their ability to attack us with underserved sickness.
