THE HEALER

John 19:1 “Pilate then took Jesus and SCOURGED Him”, and Isaiah 53:4-5 “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.
DEVOTE:
John 19 tells us that Jesus was SCOURGED. This is the whipping post, where a man’s hands are bound above his head, his legs suspended, his body extended. There would be two scourgers, alternating their flogging, using what was a short-handled whip with leather strands, each strand bound off at the tip with a sharp piece of metal or stone. The body of the prisoner would be completely mutilated by the flogging, exposing and lacerating internal organs. It was not uncommon for prisoners to die there. 700 years before Jesus, Isaiah 50:6 foretells, “I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting”.
We read in Isaiah 53 that we are HEALED by Christ’s SCOURGING. It is interesting to note that in the NT, the word “scourge”, mastix (Gr), is the same word used for “disease”. For example, Luke 7:21: “At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions (“mastix”).” When Jesus was scourged, He took our scourge (disease); when He was afflicted, He took our afflictions (sicknesses). He became our sickness through His suffering. What an incalculable price Christ paid to infect Himself with our DISEASE (“mastix”), and then to pay for it with his SCOURGING (“mastix”)! Oh, thank You, God!
PRAY:
Lord, I believe that, as sure as your blood has forgiven me, and that you desire that none would perish, so too, I believe that the shredded body of my mutilated Messiah has HEALED me, and that You desire that ALL would be HEALED!