Here is a repost of something I wrote on whether healing is in the atonement.
What is found in Isaiah 53, and all through Isaiah, is that a Messiah would come, who would heal the people of their sin sickness. And that is the atonement. Jesus death on the cross paid for our sins. It's called redemption, or propitiation, or other words.
Atonement = payment for sins (in our place)
Isaiah also contains prophecies that would identify Jesus when he appeared on earth. He was a suffering servant, in Isa. 53:1-3. He was smitten, beaten, etc. It also prophecies he would be hung on a cross, and that Jesus would heal the people who lived at the same time as him. That is cross referenced in Matt 8:16-17, which clearly says that Jesus healed, so that, Isaiah would be fulfilled.
It no where, in any place says that because Jesus healed and fulfilled the prophecy in Isa. 53, that in the 21st century, that EVERYONE who had enough faith would be healed. And if you weren't healed, it was because you didn't have enough faith. It no where says, everyone would be healed, all the time. It says no where healing is contained in the atonement. I have never said healing was in the atonement, because it is NEVER in the text, New or Old Testament!
It also clearly says, in Isaiah 1 that Israel was sick in its whole head, from the sole of the foot to the head, with bruises and sores and raw wounds. This is a metaphor for the sin sickness of Israel. It is also part of the metaphor in Isa. 53:4-5 is the prophecy, that is fulfilled in Matt 8:17.
The big issue, as I review this in various translations and in Greek, is that it really difficult to get a read on either Isa. 53:4 or Matt. 8:17, because there is such variation in the various translations, because the words have more than one definition, and even the same translations use different words for the prophecies in the OT and the fulfillment in the NT.
For instance, the word ἀσθενείας can be translated as "illness or weakness." Bauer (BDAG) notes three uses of the word, which is a feminine noun.
1. state of debilitating illness, sickness, disease. Matt 8:17
2. incapacity for something or experience of limitation, weakness eg. 1 Cor. 15:43, Hebrews 5:2
3. lack of confidence of feeling of inadequacy, weakness. Of Pauls' self-effacement, timidity 1 Cor. 2:3\
However, there is enough wiggle room, that if a translator wanted to downplay how Jesus healed, the word, could be used in the sense of lack of confidence. This shows how easy it can be for previous theology to influence where the translation is going. Just a warning to anyone who digs for a translation they like, to prove or disprove a point.
So, comparing this fulfillment of prophecy, with the actual prophecy in Isa. 53:4, I find, that the exact words are not repeated even in the same versions. And not one of these versions match each other, let alone themselves.
"But he lifted up our illnesses,
he carried our pain;
even though we thought he was being punished,
attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done." Isa. 53:4 NET
" When it was evening, many demon-possessed people were brought to him. He drove out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. In this way what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled:
"He took our weaknesses and carried our diseases." Matt 8:16-17 NET
"Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses,
and He carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded Him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted." Isa. 53:4 HCSB
"When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick,so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
He Himself took our weaknesses
and carried our diseases." Matt 8:16-17 HCSB
"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 Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." Matt 8:16-17 KJV
" Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." Isa. 53:4 KJV
"Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted." Isa. 53:4 ESV
"This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” Matt 8:17 ESV
"Ὀψίας δὲ γενομένης προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ δαιμονιζομένους πολλούς· καὶ ἐξέβαλεν τὰ πνεύματα λόγῳ, καὶ πάντας τοὺς κακῶς ἔχοντας ἐθεράπευσεν· 17 ὅπως πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ Ἠσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· Αὐτὸς τὰς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν ἔλαβεν καὶ τὰς νόσους ἐβάστασεν." Matt 8:16-17 Greek.
Now, this is VERY important! None of the versions I looked at, does the NT fulfillment perfectly mirror the OT prophecy. Here is a look at what the LXX says.
"Isaiah 53:4 – This one bears our sins and suffers pain for us, and we accounted him to be in trouble and calamity and ill-treatment." Isa. 53:4 LXX in translation.
"ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἄνθρωπος ἐν πληγῇ ὢν καὶ εἰδὼς φέρειν μαλακίαν ὅτι ἀπέστραπται τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἠτιμάσθη καὶ οὐκ ἐλογίσθη" Isa. 53:3 (4 in our Bibles!)
The key word "μαλακίαν" or malakian a feminine noun, which in Greek means:
gloss - softness, weakness, weakliness, ailment
1. condition of bodily weakness, debility, weakness, sickness (Matt 4:23, 9:3; 10:1)
2. condition of inner weakness, faint hearted, dependency, lack of energy which is not found in the NT.
Do we translate it as "sickness" or as "inner weakness?"
And, please note the same words do not even appear in Greek in the prophecy in Isa. 53:4 and Matt 8:16-17, although in looking at a cross section of translations, they are universal in their translation of Kakos as "sickness." See below. In fact, the word Kakos, does NOT readily translate as "sickness" although most versions translate it that way, and certainly Jesus did heal their diseases, νόσους in the prophecy. (Physical malady, disease, illness!)
Well, I do believe the both Isaiah and his audience, and later the translation committee for the LXX knew what they were talking about. But, do we? It is hard, 2600 some years later to reach back in the past, and decide exactly what Isaiah was talking about. And, this whole discussion reflects the fact, that in our society, we constantly want to pin down words with mathematical precision, which did not exist in those days. No computers, just valiant efforts to retain the original words, by scribes, which wasn't always successful. So, the next time some of you go searching for a translation that reflects YOUR personal theology, remember the ancient people would not even begin to understand anything to do with complete purity, nor that there wasn't a LOT of leeway on the meanings of word.
My take home?
Jesus died on the cross for our sins. That is clearly the atonement, and what the book of Isaiah prophecies. It is a book written both to warn the Israelites an Judaeans that they needed to repent and return to the Lord.
Then, it is a book on who that coming Lord is! Jesus is the Suffering servant, who suffered for our sins, and died on the cross for our salvation. Isa. 53:4 is a clear prophecy of Jesus earthly ministry. It says that Jesus will heal their diseases,
In Order to FULFILL what was spoke by the prophet Isaiah - that being, he would heal the illnesses and diseases of the people of the first century. Even to ALL their Kakos! πάντας τοὺς κακῶς Now, kakos is another word with many definitions.
1 Pertaining to sing socially or morally reprehensible,bad, evil.
a. of human characteristics, actions, emotions,plans - bad
2. Pertaining to being harmful or injurious - evil, injurious, dangerous, pernicious
3. Certain passages far between 1 & 2, harm caused by evil.
Jesus did not die on the cross for our healing! There simply is NO way that this prophecy means, every believer is healed for all time, if they just have enough faith. Or until it is manifested.
Yes, during his earthly ministry Jesus fulfilled this prophecy, WHILE HE WAS ALIVE! So, Jesus does heal. And I believe he does heal today, I have never said differently. But, healing on demand, naming and claiming it, or healing as part of the atonement is simply not found in these passages, nor in 1 Peter 2:24, which I don't have time to get into today.
