Title: For Our Healing (Isaiah 53:1-6)
Content: For our healing (Isaiah 53:1-6)
For our well-being (Isaiah 53:1-6)
The famous Indian saint, Thunder Singh, was crossing the Himalayas when he met woodcutters putting out a forest fire. Thunder Singh came closer and saw three or four people turning off the lights and looking at the trees. I wondered what he was looking at, and when I asked him what he was looking at, he pointed with his finger and saw that there was a nest on a tree, and as the heat came, the young birds clapped and flapped their wings.
The mother bird is helpless on the nest, weeping and begins to fly up and down. “We have to save those birds, but the fire is so strong that we just look at it with regret.” Finally the bird's nest caught fire. People thought, ‘That mother bird is going to run away,’ but at the last moment, the mother bird flew into the nest where the chicks were, wrapped them up, and burned to death.
The woodcutter who was watching did not speak a word and wept. Thunder Singh spoke quietly. God loved man more than that. Just as the mother bird was sacrificed in the fire because she loved her young, so the great love of God the Father is that when we were in hell and facing eternal destruction, He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth, and He died on the cross to save us from our sins. I cried and explained about the love of God and Jesus.
Today is Passion Sunday to commemorate that Jesus died on the cross 2,000 years ago for the forgiveness of our sins. The suffering Jesus suffered began when Jesus, the God, came to this earth in a human body. It was painful to bear the cross, but to be abandoned by God was the greatest pain. The cross was the suffering in which all mankind suffered the suffering of hell in one body.
And Jesus was beaten with an indescribable whip. At that time, before carrying the cross, the whip was hung on a pole and beaten with a leather strap, and butterfly-shaped lead or pieces of animal bones were attached to the strap. So, if you hit it with the leash once, the flesh falls out and the artery ruptures, causing you to bleed to death, or even die because your intestines burst and spilled out. There were many cases where they were beaten with such harsh whips and died before being hung on the cross.
Jesus was whipped like this. Jews are beaten with a whip equal to 40 minus one. There was a custom of hitting until the age of 39. When Jesus was whipped like this, he was beaten much more often than other prisoners in general. This is because Pilate decided to beat Jesus and set him free.
Pilate worked very hard to release Jesus. When the Jews sued Jesus, they said, "This is not my case, it's your religious case, so you should solve it yourself." But the Jews said, 'No. It is beyond our authority to kill people.’ He continued to beg him, ‘Crucify that Jesus.’
While dealing with this case, I sent it to Herod saying that Jesus' hometown is Nazareth, so I should send it to King Herod, who rules Nazareth.
At the time of the Passover, the Jews release their envoys one by one. Prisoners were released just as special envoys were released on Liberation Day or national holidays in Korea. Pilate recommended Barabbas and Jesus as his envoys. Then they started yelling at the whales to release Barabbas, not Jesus.
Thinking that the Jews would sympathize if Jesus was scourged and beaten to the point of death, Pilate had Jesus scourged. So, in John 19:1, it says, “Pilate took Jesus and whipped him.” In verse 4 we read, “Bring out Jesus, who was whipped, to the Jews, and look at this man! Isn't it supersonic like this? Is there any more need to do this to this person? Let's release him from here>, but the Jews shouted that no, crucify him.
Since a riot was likely to occur, Pilate had no choice but to do what he wanted, so he was handed over to be crucified. The reason why Jesus was beaten more often was because Pilate was whipping Jesus and releasing him. The soldiers who were crucified were told to die quickly when they asked why they beat them to death.
In fact, because Jesus was beaten so many times before he was crucified, some people last a week or more, but some people hang on the cross for a long time, but if you see that Jesus died after six hours, he was beaten so much before he was nailed to the cross that he could hardly sustain life. You can guess that it went to the point where it didn't exist.
But Isaiah had prophesied 700 years ago that Jesus would be whipped. As for why he was beaten, <He was pierced for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and with his wounds we are healed>.
Who is <he>? Isn't it Jesus? Who is <we>? We are one, aren't we? Why did Jesus die on the cross to pay for our sins? I hope that we can believe the word of God that Jesus was beaten with that harsh whip and was beaten to cure our diseases.
There is a 72-year-old deacon in the 8th parish. It has been about five years since you joined our church. My joints were so sore that it was difficult and uncomfortable to walk around, so I was always taking medicine to treat my joints.
Last year, during the video worship service during Holy Week, I saw the scene of Jesus being whipped. Seeing how badly he had been beaten by the whip, the horses next to him were startled by the sound of the whip, and the butler struck his knee and said, “Lord, have you been whipped like that for my sins, did you have to bear the cross like that to save me? I can't do anything because my knee hurts. Lord, what should I do? ” He slapped his aching knee and cried and felt sorry for God.
"God! What should I do? Jesus was whipped like that, but my leg hurts and I can't do anything, so what should I do?” He slapped his knee and repented at that moment, and the joint was healed cleanly. Now the butler is running. And although you are old enough to evangelize, four people have evangelized and are now attending church well.
Jesus was whipped to heal our sickness. I hope you can believe that that dreadful whip was beaten to cure my disease. For those who believe in that fact, the effect of the whip will be visible at this time as well.
Faith is not an idea. Even today, that power will be revealed to those who believe. What kind of pain is there in my body today? Matthew is talking in chapter 8. It is said that <When Jesus was whipped, he carried our diseases and went away>. So this disease that I have is not mine, not mine, Lord! Wasn't this all resolved when the Lord was whipped? I believe that this is not mine, but the Lord's, and I hope that I can entrust it with faith under the cross. At that time, I believe that the history of treatment will rise strongly and experience it today.
Faith is not an idea. The scourge of the Lord who was beaten 2,000 years ago was the suffering suffered for us today. Lord! I believe that the Lord was beaten for me by being whipped. I pray and believe that you will be healed of spiritual and physical diseases.
As I reflect on the meaning of the whip once again, I hope you realize that the Lord has been whipped for me.