Where does it say, in the Bible, and that by his stripes we are healed?

Your question refers to 1 Peter 2:24 –  “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.”  This healing is not a physical healing now, in this lifetime.  Instead, it is the healing that we received when we accepted Jesus as our savior – this healing is the forgiveness and covering of our sins by Jesus’ death on the cross.  Based on the context of this chapter in 1 Peter, the Apostle Peter is addressing the Church – also known as the believers in Jesus. This healing is then the atonement for sins we receive now when we believe and dedicate our lives to serve God and Jesus.

We know that Jesus has a mission to heal the church and the whole world. Jesus will bring sight to those that are blind – bringing the willing into a perfect moral condition with the correct and accurate view of the truth. (“…I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor…saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them…” Jere 31:34) Our Lord read a prophecy about himself to the congregation on the Sabbath saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18).  Jesus did perform miracles of healing but that was not the complete fulfillment of these scriptures. 

Jesus will have a greater healing work that will be accomplished for the whole world.  His miracles of healing, while he was on Earth, were just a picture and an example of what would be accomplished in his kingdom. Christ’s healing sacrifice has two parts.  First, his death is applied as atonement for the church and subsequently for the whole world. All will have their sins erased (“…for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jere. 31:34) and the sentence of death removed.  We see this in 1 John 2:2: “He is an atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”  Then, the rest of the world will be brought back to moral and physical perfection in Christ’s kingdom (Rev 22:1-2).

Why was it important for Jesus to be baptized?

Jesus’ baptism was important because it was an outward sign or symbol of Jesus’ complete dedication of his life to do God’s will.  Jesus’ baptism differed from the other baptisms performed by John the Baptist.  We are told that John baptized with water for the purpose of repentance (Matt 3:11).  The Bible states that Jesus “committed no sin” (1 Pet. 2:22) and was “without sin” (Heb. 4:15).  We can conclude that Jesus’ baptism performed by John had a purpose other than repentance, since Jesus was not a sinner. He had no need to repent from anything.

Jesus’s baptism served a few purposes.  First, it showed Jesus’ willingness to serve God unto death.  This baptism represented giving up one’s life and will in the service of God.  Let’s look at Jesus’ words in Luke 12:50, “I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!”  This statement shows that he was still undergoing a baptism.  What does that mean, and when would it be accomplished?  Jesus is referring to his death on the cross that would wash away the sins of the world.  His baptism at Jordan was the start of his journey which would ultimately lead to his death. From this we know that the baptism of Jesus was a new kind of baptism – a dedication of one’s life unto death in service of God.

Second, Jesus’ baptism provided a symbol for the rest of the church to carry out after his death.  Christians that have dedicated their full life in service of God like Jesus should be baptized as well.  In Romans 6:3 Paul says, “do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” To be baptized into Christ means you are participating in the same symbol that Jesus started at Jordan.  This outward symbol shows your heart’s attitude and intention to serve God faithfully unto death. Thus, it is not just a baptism of repentance but a baptism into his death – the complete dedication of the rest of your life in God’s service.

Third, Jesus’ baptism served as evidence for the witnesses present that Jesus was God’s son and that Jesus had received the holy spirit.  In John 1:33-34 John the Baptist says, “I did not recognize Him [Jesus], but He [God] who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’  I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”  This would have been an important understanding for those who watched and heard of Jesus’ baptism.