3/2 Life

With His Wounds We are Healed
(ISAIAH 53:4-6)
 
Pause & Reflect
 
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.

1. [v.4] *Biblical principle – HEALED FROM THE WEIGHT OF OUR WOUNDS – the load of carrying our own griefs: The pain of a wound eventually makes us grieve. Many times, that grief is even greater than the wound itself. Without Jesus, we end up carrying the griefs of our own wounds that spirals us into greater hopeless grief and sorrow. Yet the hope to God’s people then and now is the same – the Father has sent His exalted Son and our suffering servant to bear in His own body our griefs, to not only suffer with us but suffer in place of us! He carried our sorrows! Surely He has borne our griefs! Yet our self-inflicted wounds in grief do not esteem Jesus as our wound-carrier. In pride, our wounds still outweigh His wounds. His wounds appear to be caused by another.
   1. *FOCUS QUESTION #1 – When Saul (Paul) met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was blinded by a sudden light from heaven with the voice of Jesus that called out to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (ACTS 9:4). Saul had never persecuted Jesus. He had only been persecuting followers of Jesus. Yet why did Jesus say hurting His followers was no different than hurting Him too? What connection does Jesus have with our wounds and sufferings? How has the pain of a wound/suffering made you grieve and become sorrowful? Although wounds and sufferings persist in this life, what is the hope of healing offered in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ?
   2. *FOCUS QUESTION #2 – What happens when we continue carrying the load of our own griefs and sorrows? How can the sufferings of Jesus on the cross become distorted and unrelated to us when we continue to carry the weight of this life on our own? How is the root of our sickness not in our wounds/sufferings themselves, but the griefs and sorrows that grow out of them? How can we say with the late hymnwriter Horatio Spafford after a ship collision that killed all four of his daughters, “Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul”?
   3. *FOCUS QUESTION #3 – Do you scale your sufferings against the sufferings of the Servant-Son Jesus Christ? Do yours outweigh His? What is so heavy, weighing you down so much, with a load that just won’t let up? And what is the hope you have as you hear the Lord Jesus say, “Let me carry them for you”? One Pastor said it this way – remember to HALT when you are (H) hungry for an appetite not given by God, (A) angry at someone Christ died for too, (L) lonely even when the Spirit indwells you, and (T) tired when there’s strength found by rejoicing in the Lord. How do you need to HALT, stop, cease, when those four things appear?

 
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.

1. [v.5] *Biblical principle – HEALED FROM BEING THE WOUNDER – with our transgressions and iniquities: Jesus not only heals us from the weight of our wounds, but the cause of His wounds – He was pierced for our sins, and equally pierced by our sins. No one can esteem Jesus without connecting His wounds to their sins. God’s people then could not make a connection between exalted Son of God and suffering servant for sinners. Likewise, anyone today can look at the cross of Christ with no significance, and the horrid sufferings of the crucified Jesus as just tragedy, trivial or historically impersonal. Yet Isaiah reveals the exact reason why Jesus had to be wounded – it was all for our sins. All have crossed God’s line (transgression). All have violated rightful duty with immoral conduct (iniquity). Jesus was not just pierced for us. He was pierced by us. We are the wounders. He not only stood in our place, He took our piercings. He received our penalty and our wounding to set us free!
   1. *FOCUS QUESTION #1 – Carrying the weight of our own lot will eventually pierce and crush us. There is no need to do this ourselves any longer, for Jesus was pierced and crushed for us, and even more – he was pierced by us. When Jesus took upon Himself what was meant to be our load, it brings us peace, healing, and life. Like a mother in labor whose belly needs to be pierced for a cesarean delivery to bring forth life, how have the piercings of Jesus brought forth your new life from the womb of heaven? Have you been born from the womb of heaven, born again of “water and the Spirit” (JOHN 3:5)? How is the life-giving nature of the Spirit treating your wounds? Are you letting Jesus be your wound-carrier?
   2. *FOCUS QUESTION #2 – In our pursuit of healing, we often view ourselves as the wounded. Yet Jesus flips this viewpoint – He is the wounded while we are the wounders. This is not to say Jesus is in denial or immune to our wounds and sufferings. He desires for us to see from heaven’s perspective. Have you connected the piercings of Jesus with your wounding of Jesus? Is the message of the cross tragic, trivial, and impersonal to you? How is acknowledging our brokenness, transgressions, iniquities foremost the path to healing and seeing the full picture of the cross of Christ? Oftentimes, our desire for healing is tainted with a prideful right to deserve a life free of sufferings and wounds. But when we look to what happened at the cross when Jesus took our place, what do we really deserve?

 
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

1. [v.6] *Biblical principle – HEALED FROM GOING ASTRAY – like lost sheep but with a shepherd who lays our iniquity on Himself: The consequences of carrying our own wounds and staying wounders of Jesus, ourselves, and others is this – everyone turns to his own way. Sheep are prone to wander. It is their nature apart from the shepherd. So also it is our nature apart from the chief good shepherd Jesus. Unless the shepherd pursues, finds, and saves His lost sheep, the sheep are doomed to remain astray, hurt themselves and those around them. Unless Jesus first pursues, finds, and saves us, we are doomed to turn to our own way and stay wounders of Jesus, ourselves, and one another. Yet the good news is that Jesus has come, wounded by us but still pursuing us. When He finds us, He lays us on His shoulders to take us home. All of our iniquity is laid on His shoulders. What is left is only His joy in having found His lost sheep! He joyfully celebrates our return!
   1. *FOCUS QUESTION #1 – The natural person cannot discern the spiritual things of God. Their desires to be healed from their wounds and sufferings are astray. It is their own way and not the way of Jesus. Instead of letting our sufferings and wounds drive us to Jesus, how have we let them drive us to our own way without Jesus? Like sheep who are prone to go astray, how prone are we to leave the way of Jesus? When has keeping your wounds and griefs from sufferings kept you off the path of Jesus, who calls you to lay them on Him?
   2. *FOCUS QUESTION #2 – How can Jesus heal you from going your own way? How does He bring you back to His way? Read the following Scriptures –
      1. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. (1 PETER 3:18)
      2. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 JOHN 1:9)
      3. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (JOHN 8:31-32)
      4. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. (PSALM 86:11-13)
      5. Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. (PSALM 25:4-5)
      6. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. (1 PETER 2:21-23)
      7. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 CORINTHIANS 12:9)
      8. My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. (PROVERBS 4:20-23).

 
The central truth of this word was –
In order to be healed, we need to know what has made us sick. Jesus healed many who were sick –  the blind, the deaf, the lame, and even the dead. Yet their healing did not last when met with death – Lazarus, who was raised, had to die twice! Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (LUKE 5:31-32). The sick acknowledge their sinfulness. The sick desire their need for the physician. Anyone can desire healing, but not everyone desires the Great Physician. Jesus shows us that desiring Him is the only path to be healed eternally. Our wounds weigh heavy in this life. Yet the scars of Jesus tell us that they will heal one day and speak of His deliverance, love, and glory through us! Our wounds teach us to keep looking at His wounds, for He was pierced for our sins and by our sins. His wounds keep us from going astray from His way. His wounds declare that all wounds were laid upon His Son. His wounds give hope for His day, when all will say, “we are healed.”

– *How has the LORD spoken to you today through this?
 
 

Holy Spirit Moment & Group Prayer
Take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, and pray for one another.
 
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18)
 
…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7)
 
Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load. (GALATIANS 6:2-5)
 
For the body does not consist of one member but of many... The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. (1 CORINTHIANS 12:14, 21-27)

- Park’s (JP, Maria – Julia, Ben, Abe)
- Park’s (Hanna, Jim-Bob – Samuel, Sophie)
- Huh’s (John, Angela – Athena, Eliana)
- Yang’s (Beomjoo, Haemin – Doyoun)
- Choe’s (Chong, Kate – Stella)
- Park’s (Ben, Hanna – Evelyn, Louie)
- Jeng’s (Jonathan, Nara – Emma)
- Yi’s (Jonathan, Christina – Samuel, James, Ethan)
- Gee’s (Waywah, Gloria – Emilee, Melanie)
- Kim’s (David, Josephine – Elliot, James)
- Jun’s (Kevin, Sarah – Ellie, Ella)
- Shin’s (Jay – Ethan, Ivy, Iris)
- Lee’s (Andrew, Heather – Amanda [Jake], Kristen)
- Chung’s (Chester, Ashley – Joy, Jonah)