By His Stripes We Were Healed

We often quote the statement "by His stripes we were healed" to speak of how the Cross heals us from physical sickness. However, there is much more here than just relief from illness and disease. The healing here encompasses healing of body, soul and spirit through the Cross. Moreover, Peter is speaking of healing as it relates to Christian suffering, and how we are healed from our sins as we imitate the Cross and take the stripes of others. It is only when we are willing to surrender ourselves to suffer innocently that we can truly unleash the power of the Cross. The weakness of the Cross is stronger than all of the power of sin and death.

Look at the text in I Peter. Peter speaks first to servants, then to women. He addresses two groups that were routinely oppressed in the ancient world. He tells them that they can reenact the power of the Cross if they will submit themselves to suffering for the name of Jesus. In other words, they will have a resurrection morning when God will raise them up and vindicate them before their enemies if only they will share in the sufferings of Christ with humility and patience. This is how we must respond to difficult situations today when we feel that we are being treated unfairly. We must bear the Cross.

Something happens to our wounds when we bear them patiently in the name of Jesus to the glory of God. Peter says that it is a "gracious thing" (ESV) when we are mindful of God and suffer injustice humbly. There is grace in the suffering. When we suffer gracefully, the power of Christ rests upon us. This means that our wounds become redemptive. Our wounds become one with the wounds of Jesus Christ as His power rests upon us. This means that our wounds bring healing as the wounds of Christ bring life to us. It also means—and this is astounding!—that our wounds become redemptive for others as the love and mercy of Christ is extended to others through our patient suffering. We are healed, and we heal others. But the grace of healing only comes when we suffer injustice humbly and patiently, following the pattern of Christ and experiencing the power of the Cross.

Peter speaks here of Christian servants that are beaten unjustly by cruel masters. He teaches them to take a beating with Christian grace. And by teaching them this principle, Peter highlights the most radical idea in the world: weakness defeats power. This is the very center of the Christian faith, and Peter applies it here in a way that turns the world upside down. Jesus came preaching this counter-revolutionary idea. The Zealots thought they could overthrow Rome through the power of the flesh, but Jesus showed them that they that live by the sword die by the sword. This is the central idea of Christianity: we must die to live, and we must suffer to heal.