Day 12: Wounded
Introduction
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. Isaiah 53:5
From the moment that Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, we humans have been sinning against God and each other. And all this sinning has brought with it much pain and suffering for everyone. Some have been wounded to death, but most of us are the walking wounded—those whose wounds allow us to keep moving (most of the time) despite the crippling effects of sin on our hearts and minds.
Some teach us to “put on a happy face” and “fake it” until we “make it,” but we know that faking is just lying. We will never be healed by pretending that we are.
Others tell us that our healing comes by talking about our wounds in therapy. The idea is that we must revisit, examine, and work through our heart wounds with a professional to be healed from them. And while talking about our sin struggles or the sins that have been committed against us might be necessary for us to receive our healing, we cannot talk our way to healing (Jeremiah 6:14).
Still, others tell us to pursue our healing through hard work. We are instructed to “work the program” and try all manner of self-help approaches, but the problem with this approach is that we eventually wear ourselves out. At the end of all our work, we still feel bad about our sin or the sins committed against us.
But there is a way that is powerful and effective for healing our heart wounds whether they are self-inflicted or received at the hands of others. That way is to come to the cross of Jesus Christ and look up! When you look at the cross, you see that Jesus was "wounded for our transgressions," which means that He paid the penalty for sin. And you see that "by His wounds, we are healed," which means that we are received and loved, forgiven, comforted and made whole through Christ's death and resurrection.