Ok, let's look at it for a second. In the KJV, NKJV, and most other translations you are correct, it does use "stripes" however, if you will look in most commentaries and original Greek translations you will find that the word used is "stripe." Why is this?
I will give you the Kenneth S. Wuest "The New Testament An Expanded Translation" version:
"... who himself carried up to the Cross our sins in His body and offered himself there as on an altar, doing this in order that we having died with respect to our sins, might live with respect to righteousness, by means of whose bleeding stripe [the word "stripe" is in the singular here; a picture of our Lord's back after scourging, one mass of raw, quivering flesh with no skin remaining, trickling with blood] you were healed,..."
In the Greek, in order for it to be counted as a "stripe" there had to be at least one inch of flesh between each "stripe," this tells us that the beating was so severe that there was not even one inch between each "stripe" so his many wounds were counted as one "stripe."
What a grusome picture of what our Lord endured for us! What shear torture and brutality He endured for you and I! A horrifying scene indeed, but He did this willingly that we may have a redeemed life.
What I want to look at today is what this beating meant for us. Often times we include the scourging and hanging on the cross as one and the same, to cover our sins but what I want you to see is that the scourging and death on the Cross were for two separate purposes.
You see, Christ died on the Cross that our sins might be forgiven, but, as we see in Isaiah 53:5 and I Peter 2:24, the purpose of the scourging was that our sicknesses and diseases might be healed.
Therefore, the Atonement provided, not only for forgiveness of sins, but also for the healing of our bodies. In other words, when we accept Christ and His redemption, we get both, that is the way it was meant to be.
This is hard for us to fathom because we have never been taught this way even though most denominations declare this in their Doctrinal Truths, it's in ours... check it out, the 14th bullet point in the Church of God "Doctrinal Commitments":
- Divine healing provided for all in the Atonement. Psalm 103:3; Isaiah 53:4, 5; Matthew 8:17; James 5:14-16; 1 Peter 2:24. (http://www.churchofgod.org/beliefs/doctrinal-commitments)
So then, why do we suffer sickness and disease and many die? Well, the harsh reality is that it is a lack of faith on our part. Wow! did you get that? Ouch! that hurts. Believe me when I tell you, it cut me to the core of my belief system when I discovered this! I'm not pointing finger, I'm with you in this!
That is what got me started on this quest for Truth. What I am finding is that, first of all, we have to know the Truth and we have to take hold of our rights and privileges provided in the Atonement.
We have to get beyond "Sense Knowledge" the knowledge of natural man that is gained through the Senses. This is the knowledge that most of us view divine healing through. With this "Sense Knowledge" we view healing in that it is a gift of God and if God gives you faith, then you will be healed but if He doesn't then there is no need to struggle for healing, your only hope is fleshly intervention.
However, "Revelation Knowledge" teaches that miracles are for today. With this knowledge we can view healing as part of the plan of Redemption. In other words; disease came with the fall, and sickness is a work of the adversary. Because disease came with the fall, God is the natural, logical Healer.
This is how James put it:
Is anyone among you ill? Let him call at once the elders of the [local] assembly, and let them pray over him, having massaged him [with olive oil] in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith shall make the sick person well, and the Lord shall raise him pu. And if he is in a state of having committed sin [i.e., under the moral or physical consequences of having sinned], it shall be forgiven him. (The New Testament An Expanded Translation; 1961; Kenneth S. Wuest)
Pretty plain isn't it. James, here, suggests that there shouldn't be any sick among the assembly, but if there is he gives clear instruction on how to remedy that problem.
Sounds like we need to get to work riding the Church of sickness so that we can then go out and heal the sick in our communities Mark 16:15-18.
For further study:
Proverbs 4:20-24
Isaiah 53:4-5
Isaiah 61:1
Matt. 4:24; 8:16; 9:6; 9:35
Mark 6:56; 16:15-18
Luke 4:40; 9:11
Acts 10:33, 38
I John 3:8
II John 2
"Bodily Healing and the Atonement
" by T.J. McCrossan"Jesus The Healer
" by E.W. Kenyon
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