Short Answer
The phrase “by His stripes we are healed” in Isaiah 53 refers primarily to spiritual healing, not a guaranteed promise of physical health. It speaks about Christ’s sacrifice dealing with sin—the deeper sickness of the human soul. Physical healing may happen, but it is not the main point of the passage.
The Overview
Isaiah 53 is a prophetic passage describing the suffering servant—Christ—who would bear the sins of humanity. When it says “by His stripes we are healed,” it is addressing the deeper problem of sin, not physical illness. The Bible consistently describes sin as a form of spiritual sickness, leaving humanity separated from God and in need of restoration.
Throughout Scripture, concepts like sickness, poverty, and slavery are often used as illustrations of spiritual realities. For example, people are described as spiritually dead, enslaved to sin, or lacking righteousness. In this context, “healing” refers to being restored spiritually—freed from sin, forgiven, and made right with God through Christ’s sacrifice.
Misinterpreting this verse as a guarantee of physical healing can lead to confusion and false expectations. Some teach that Christ’s death ensures perfect health in this life, but this is not supported by the broader teaching of the Bible. Many faithful believers still experience sickness, suffering, and even imprisonment, yet remain spiritually whole and secure in Christ.
Ultimately, the promise of Isaiah 53 is far greater than temporary physical relief. It points to eternal healing—the forgiveness of sin and restoration of a relationship with God. While God may choose to heal physically, the central message is that Christ has dealt with the root problem of human brokenness: sin.
Key Takeaways
- “Healing” Refers to Spiritual Restoration
The passage addresses sin, not physical illness. - Sin Is the Deeper Problem
Humanity’s greatest need is reconciliation with God. - Illustrative Language Is Used
Sickness, poverty, and slavery often represent spiritual conditions. - Physical Healing Is Not Guaranteed
Faithful believers may still experience suffering in this life. - Christ’s Sacrifice Provides Eternal Healing
The ultimate promise is forgiveness and restored relationship with God.
Read Full Raw Transcript
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John asks about the Bible verse, “By his stripes you are healed.” Which, by the way, comes from Isaiah 53. He says, “I’ve heard preachers use this in general conversation to mean that we will never get sick. And by his stripes on the cross, we were healed from illness.” Um, blah blah blah blah blah. It goes on and on and on. Um, yeah, we’re talking about that interpretation of the verse basically. And, uh, yes, here’s my interpretation of the verse. Just like uh poverty and um and slavery
00:00:28
and prisoners being freed, these are all analogous to the ultimate concern, which is the fact that I’m spiritually sick, so sick that I’m called dead in Ephesians chapter 2. And I’m so impoverished in terms of righteousness, as it would say in the sermon on the mount, that I need righteousness imputed to me. And I’m uh so in enslaved uh as Romans 6 says, uh that I need freedom as a prisoner. Well, the the literal concern of of poverty or uh being um uh sick or being um imprisoned
00:01:02
is not the point of Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 is all about the fact that there needs to be an atoning sacrifice for my sins and that there’s going to be a suffering servant that’s going to come, the Messiah, who’s going to suffer in my place so I wouldn’t be spiritually impoverished and I wouldn’t be spiritually enslaved and I wouldn’t be spiritually ill. Uh those are the kinds of things as Jeremiah says that relate to a deeper problem. The sickness of my soul, the sickness of my heart, it’s
00:01:29
desperately evil, right? This this heart of mine. And the evil morality of my fallenness is illustrated in Isaiah 53 and many other passages in some illustrative way. In the illustrative way is talking about enslavement. It’s talking about poverty. It’s talking about uh sickness. But we’re not talking about literal sickness or literal poverty or literal uh enslavement. You can never have been enslaved like the people said to Jesus in the Gospel of John. We’ve not been slaves to anybody.
00:01:58
Uh well, they forget part of their history. The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians. Nevertheless, the point is they’re saying, um, we’re not we’re not prisoners. And Jesus says, yeah, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin, right? And and the rich young ruler might have thought, I’m not spiritually impoverished. And yet, of course, he was. So, we’re not talking about the fact that your bank account or your health, uh, you know, your annual physical or whether or not you’re free
00:02:23
or not has anything to do with the deeper truths that those things are trying to illustrate. So, yeah, it’s a bad interpretation to say by the crucifixion, I’m healed from physical ailments. Now, God can can heal who he wants, but that’s not the I can’t claim the promise of Isaiah 53 because once you do that, you’re obviously stuck with what the faith healers say, and that is, well, if it didn’t happen, it’s your fault. Well, the point of the text is the sacrifice of Christ has fixed the problem for me
00:02:52
if I trust in him. And if that’s the case, right, don’t blame this on my defective faith, right? Just like Lazarus had no faith to be raised from the dead because he was dead. Um Jesus does this work in his own decisive providential way. And so I’m saying in in in a text regarding what looks like it’s healing or freedom or riches, right? We’re not talking about real health and wealth. We’re talking about spiritual health and wealth. Plenty of poor people that are rich in Christ as
00:03:22
it says in Luke 2 and 3. A lot of people uh that are uh very spiritually healthy are laying in a sick bed right now. And there are plenty of people even alive in Christ, I hear from him all the time because of the focal point broadcast who are incarcerated in prison. So, let’s just be clear about this. When Christ died on the cross, he didn’t give you a ticket to good health. If so, we’d have 2,000-year-old Christians right now. And of course, we don’t, right? In other words, when when does the healing
00:03:49
promise stop? When does the coupon to not be sick stop? Does it stop when I’m 90? Well, if it does, then I mean there should be an asterric and some small print on all this, but of course there there isn’t. That’s not what we’re talking about. So, hope that helps, John. That’s a really really great question. Um, appreciate that, John, when it comes to um reading your Bible carefully and be having the discernment to hear someone misquote it and say that’s that’s not what the text is
00:04:16
actually saying.
