Response to comment on "Healing"

An Anonymous Friend said...

Honestly, I don't know how I feel about healing. I questioned my girlfriend about Isaiah 53, and she pointed me to Matthew 8:16-17. Matthew clearly interprets the "griefs" and "sorrows" in Isaiah 53:4 as "sicknesses."

"When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."

I will check back in a couple of days to see if you have replied. Take care!
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The passages in question (ESV):
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Matthew 8:14-17

14 And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
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Ish 53:4-5

4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
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I appreciate folks stopping by with comments!

I looked back at my original post and it should be clear via the 2nd and 3rd point I made in my blog entry that I believe Christ's penal substitutionary atonement on the cross did vanquish both our sin debt and the effects of the fall/ death on our world. That includes sickness. However, my point is that those benefits are not provided to us in full until our death and glorification in the world to come with our ressurected body. We can all see that our acceptance of Christ's work in place of our own has secured our eternal life, yet we still have to endure in this mortal shell for a generation before sin is no longer our enemy for practical purposes. In that same way, we can bank that the cross did secure our physical perfection, but only after a season on this planet where we struggle with deep afflictions, shall we realize it in sum.

The whole broad narrative of Scripture is blatantly obvious about the multitude of painful trials that believers will encounter. We are encouraged to rest in our hope (that is Christ) and stand strong thru them - we are NOT called to take select verses out of context and create entire man-centered theologies around a false idea that true believers will never experience hardship.Seeing the entire redemptive plan means that Isaiah 53 could have lots to say about healing and it wouldn't affect my view. Jesus is sufficient for all things, physical healing included, but that does not mean that we inccur all the benefits immediately - just the opposite, we are to be patient as we wait for the ressurection of the saints and the ultimate realization of the victory that Christ already purchased.

As for the correspondence between Isaiah 53 and Matthew 8...I can see that Matthew makes reference to the Isaiah passage and he is obviously talking about physical sickness. However, in my blog I did not deal with 53:4, I dealt with 53:5. I think that the two are completely different sentences and separate thoughts/ prophecies about the coming Messiah (the suffering servant).

Verse 4 (together with the Matthew version) seems to be telling of a man who would heal the sick, cast out demons, and perform other miracles while his own people ignored his power and made plans to make him suffer. This is exactly what happened to Christ, he came and proved that he was who he claimed he was via his miracles - yet the Jews despised him and plotted to have him killed.

Verse 5 on the other hand is the one that actually refers to healing and is usually taken out of context to speak of physical healing. The language here (transgression and iniquities) is obviously related to our sin nature and not our sickness. When that verse mentions "peace" it is clear that the meaning is primarily "spiritual peace with God" not "physical peace from suffering" - why is it so clear? I think that a plain reading is pretty forthright, but another way to see the clarity is to once again look at all of the Bible and open one's eyes to the suffering that the apostles endured in the early church...

When Paul tells Timothy to have some wine (1 Tim 5:23), its good for the stomach, that implies that Timothy's probably had stomach aches. Thats a simple example of the fact that even the earliest saints were dealing with sickness and mortal fragility while they remained alive.

It is so easy to get captured by the word-faith movement and the teaching on healing - it appeals to our dark and self-centered heart..."oh, you mean that I don't have to be sick or poor if I truly believe, wow that Jesus guy is pretty sweet" Instead we should see the biblical portrait, which is..."Christ is worthy no matter my physical or financial condition, he alone is God and he is a good and merciful God who only does what is right and just and loving - even if I don't understand."

If you build your faith on prosperity theology, your foundation will be swept away when great calamity hits your life. If you build your house on the sovereignty of our Lord, you will endure all storms - it may still be scary when they strike, but you will pull through intact!"