Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

Healed By His Stripes

The crucifixion of Jesus was a most violent and cruel punishment. There is no means of execution as graphically horrible as nailing a human being to a cross. The intent was to make the victim suffer for endless hours and sometimes days before dying. There was a purpose to humiliate, degrade, and reduce a man to a pitiful, crying, whimpering shell of a human being to the gratification of a crowd that yelled and screamed at the victim. The crucifixion was not different for Jesus. In the eyes of the world, the three men crucified that day deserved everything they received. All three of the victims were guilty and deserving of the most painful execution possible. It was especially unfortunate for the two robbers who had to have their legs broken to hasten death. The suffering of the nailing and crucifixion was intense beyond imagination, but then, to experience the legs being broken is beyond words. Jesus had already died and did not suffer the final dignity of human violence.

There is much to say about the violence of the cross suffered by the Son of God. While the focus is on the cross, many preliminary sufferings occurred before the nailing of the hands and feet to a tree. In the case of Jesus, the violence was especially harsh. Jesus endured great indignities without responding in kind. Men spat in His face and slapped Him repeatedly. Jesus was arrested on Thursday evening and, all through the night until the morning, suffered at the hands of the Jewish council and the Roman guards. Jesus was blindfolded and beaten over the head. Jewish officers struck the Son of God repeatedly with the palms of their hands.

Pilate ordered Jesus to be scourged. The Son of God was tied to a post and beaten severely with a lashing that would have rendered His back in bloody strips of flesh, exposing His bones. Afterward, the Son of God was taken into the hall called Praetorium and surrounded by the whole garrison, which easily could have numbered 400 – 600 elite Roman soldiers. These men were highly trained in the vicious art of torture. They stripped Jesus of His clothes, humiliating Him and laughing at Him. Placing a scarlet robe about Him and slamming a crown of thorns on His head, the soldiers hit Jesus over the head, screaming and laughing at Him. They continued to spit in the face of Jesus. With the degradation of human violence, the soldiers mocked Jesus with great contempt. They slapped Jesus time and again in the face.

After all of the things the Jewish council and Roman soldiers did to Jesus, they tired of their sport and placed a crossbeam weighing around eighty pounds on His bloody back and made Him walk down the street to the jeering of the crowds. Jesus could not make the journey. God’s Son fell under the weight of the cross and could not take another step. The Romans compelled a man to carry the piece of wood for Jesus as He stumbled His way on the long path to Golgotha. Arriving at the execution site, the soldiers tore the clothes off Jesus and threw Him to the ground so they could nail His hands to the large piece of wood. Lifting Jesus up, they secured the crosspiece and nailed the feet of Jesus to the cross. The spectacle of Jesus on the cross was a filthy, bloody, emaciated remnant of a man hanging between Heaven and Earth.

Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, bore our sins in His own body on the cross, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes we are healed. Think about that. The stripes and wounds of Jesus heal our sins. Everything Jesus went through leading up to the cross and the horror of crucifixion is the healing ointment of God’s grace. We were not redeemed by gold or silver or the blood of animals. The redemption offered to the world is the bloodied, mangled, wounded body of Jesus Christ. There is a divine paradox in finding healing in the wounds of another. Jesus suffered the worst that humanity had to offer so that we could enjoy the best that God could offer. The stripes of Jesus heal us. He paid an awful cost. The wounds and stripes of Jesus were real. How can we turn away from such love?