My last post, "Healing & the Sermon on the Mount," looked at the link between Jesus' teaching on righteousness and his healing ministry as exemplified by the literary connections between the Sermon on the Mount and the transitional texts immediately preceding and following it. This post will briefly consider Matthew's declaration that Jesus' healing ministry was the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:4. Following his account of the healings of the leper, the Centurion's servant, and Peter's mother-in-law, which led to the deliverance of many who were demonized and the healing of all who were sick in her town, Matthew states, "This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 'He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases'" (8:17).
In a short article I wrote focusing on the contextual use of the the word "healed" found in Isaiah 53:5, I argue that the well-known phrase, "by his wound we are healed," is employed by the prophet in a metaphorical sense to speak of the spiritual restoration of God's people, and that the references to "infirmities" and "diseases" in 53:4 (which is quoted by Matthew) is a metaphorical reference to spiritual idolatry, self-reliance, and other sins. (The article can be viewed here: "Word Study on Healed in Isaiah 53:5.") If this is correct as the biblical evidence clearly suggests, then how is it that Matthew cites Isaiah 53:4 as being fulfilled in the healing ministry of Jesus?
As believers in the apostolic gospel concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, we of course understand the entire Suffering Servant passage in Isaiah 53 to speak of Christ's atonement for our sins, accomplished through his incarnation, sinless life, sufferings, and death. He was indeed physically wounded unto death in order that we might be spiritually healed. Yet the redemption which he procured on our behalf has as its aim the restoration of the entire person, material and immaterial, as evidenced by his own physical resurrection. Not only are we brought to spiritual life through his atoning death, but we shall also be physically raised from the dead because of his resurrection. It follows then that Jesus' healing ministry served as a foretaste of the ultimate healing yet to be experienced by all who belong to him, which of course is the resurrection of the body.
A careful reading of Matthew's Gospel leads to the conclusion that he clearly understands Jesus' healing ministry as a sign pointing to the fullness of God's great salvation, the restoration of the entire person. Consequently, it is no surprise that he cites Isaiah 53:4, a text about spiritual restoration accomplished by a suffering Messiah, as being fulfilled in Jesus' healing ministry.
Since God still directly heals people today through the power and person of the Holy Spirit, it behooves everyone who understands these truths to make the most of such opportunities to communicate the apostolic gospel concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation he has procured for all who repent and believe. We are to explain the sign by proclaiming the gospel!
No comments:
Post a Comment