These are perhaps the most recognized verses in the Bible when Christians cry out to God for healing. One is found in the Old Testament and one in the New. Though spanning a vast timeline of events, they both refer to Jesus’ death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins and the restoration of body, soul and spirit.

Isaiah would be prophetic of the event which would occur 700 years before it actually happened:

“But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5 NKJV)


Let’s fast forward almost a millenium later for the Apostle Peter’s same confirmation of the crucifixion…

“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 NKJV)

As a fairly new Christian in search of supernatural healing from a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, these verses sparked the beginning of a journey which would continue today in the year 2020.

In February 2014, I attended a charismatic healing service which to be honest, was all new to me and a bit strange.

Upon entering the hall, I saw hands flailing and raised up high in the air, loud heart-spent singing, people being touched by hands of one praying the Holy Spirit’s anointing power which would descend upon them causing them to quickly fall to the ground as if they had just fainted!

Coming back home to my sister’s house I remember standing with ease in the kitchen explaining the evening’s events to my brother-in-law before heading downstairs to the finished basement where I was staying. Why wasn’t I feeling tired as I usually do?

Once downstairs, I found myself “floating” in the middle of the large room with nothing to hold onto. This is usually a terrifying position for someone with MS to find themselves in!

I was what’s known as a “wall-walker,” I could walk around perimeters of rooms with confidence that I was safe as long as there was a wall to “hold” onto. But now there was no wall! What was I going to do? What was happening to me? I saw there were support columns several feet away that I didn’t need since I still found myself scanning the room for support. Now I had to look at them for what they were: architectural or construction supports of a house and not disability accessories.

Needing to go to the bathroom, I find myself going out the door down a small hallway, again hands-free and in shock how the chairs and furniture which I had set-up for “holding” were now unnecessary.

Deciding to do some light exercise to clear my head, I lay out a mat and easily got on my knees to perform several squats, stretches and twists before heading to bed. It is now three in the morning and I continue ruminating in my head the evening’s events, never once realizing that what was actually happening was a spontaneous supernatural healing!

I foolishly thought, “What would I do with all the vitamins I had just purchased? What was to become of the new protocol I had adopted and committed myself to following?” I wasn’t told how to receive my healing… Upon retrospect, I should have run up and down the stairs, declaring that I had been healed and thanking God at the top of my voice!

Needless to say, that didn’t happen, the enemy came overnight to “steal, kill and destroy” and when I got up in the morning, I held onto the chair near the bed to help me up.

But I still had to learn the second part of the verse, Jesus came that I would have life, and have it more abundantly. (See John 10:10)

This was to mark the beginning of a journey to better health but more importantly to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

So what is the difference between these two verses? Absolutely nothing!

Both lead us to the crucifixion as confirmation of Jesus’ redemptive love for us. Observing the verb tenses, in one verse BEFORE it happened and in the other AFTER, helping me to understand the timeless, eternal character of God. The end is made known to us from the very beginning for “He is our yesterday, today and forever….” (Hebrews 13:8 NKJV)

Claudia Pennisi