Which Old Testament prophecies connect with the message in 1 Peter 2:24? Our Anchor Text “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. ‘By His stripes you are healed.’” (1 Peter 2:24) Echoing Isaiah’s Suffering Servant • Isaiah 53:4-6, 11-12—“Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows… He was pierced for our transgressions… and by His stripes we are healed”. – Peter lifts Isaiah’s exact wording about the Servant’s wounds bringing healing. – Isaiah’s phrases “bore the sin of many” and “interceded for the transgressors” line up with Peter’s “He Himself bore our sins” and the purpose clause “so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” The Symbol of the Tree • Deuteronomy 21:22-23—“Anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse”. – By mentioning “the tree,” Peter recalls the curse language Moses used. Jesus took the covenant curse we deserved, fulfilling the prophetic picture. – Galatians 3:13 echoes the same Mosaic link, reinforcing that Jesus literally redeemed us from the curse foretold in the Law. Messianic Suffering Foretold in the Psalms • Psalm 22:1, 6-8, 16-18—David writes of hands and feet pierced, mockers surrounding, and casting lots for clothing. – Peter’s readers, familiar with this psalm, would connect the graphic details of Messiah’s suffering to the “stripes” and crucifixion on the “tree.” Bearing Sin Foreshadowed in the Sacrificial System • Leviticus 16:21-22—The scapegoat “will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place”. – The Day of Atonement ritual previewed a single substitute bearing Israel’s guilt. Peter shows Jesus as the once-for-all fulfillment, literally carrying our sins away. • Leviticus 17:11—“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you… to make atonement for your souls”. – The blood requirement in the Law finds its prophetic resolution in Jesus’ poured-out life, the healing “stripes” that cleanse the believer. Healing in His Stripes • Isaiah 53:5—“By His stripes we are healed”. – Physical scourging produced literal stripes; Isaiah predicted it seven centuries beforehand. – Peter shifts Isaiah’s “we” to “you,” applying the prophecy directly to his readers and, by extension, to all who trust Christ. New Heart, New Life • Ezekiel 36:25-27—“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean… I will give you a new heart… and cause you to walk in My statutes”. – Peter’s purpose clause—“so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness”—mirrors Ezekiel’s promise of inner renewal, showing that the prophetic hope of holiness is now realized through the cross. Key Takeaways • Isaiah 53 supplies the core prophecy: the Servant would bear sins and heal by His wounds. • Deuteronomy 21 reveals the curse of a criminal’s tree, fulfilled as Jesus hung on the cross. • Psalm 22 paints the suffering Messiah in vivid detail, centuries before Calvary. • Leviticus 16 & 17 foreshadow substitutionary atonement, completed once for all in Christ. • Ezekiel 36 anticipates the transformed life that flows from His sacrifice. Through these Old Testament voices, God sketched the portrait that 1 Peter 2:24 now colors in: Jesus literally bore our sins, absorbed the curse, and, by His wounds, brings both forgiveness and the power to live righteously today. |
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