On Isaiah

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On Isaiah

Forum: Theological Expressions
Re:

We need changed hearts, not miracles. (Wahshing)
Re:

Why many kept calling myJesus,a false healer,today?
Re:

It's time to come back from "Experience" to Scriptures! (Christopher Yip)
Re:

All those queries and distortions were refuted long ago!Here's more.
Re:

Here's some more,for greater light.
Date: 2001, Aug 30
From: Christopher Yip CKHY

Frankie, we have discussed this before. Here is a re-post.
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Dear Frankie,

That's a good start. Let's discuss Matthew 8:16-18 then.
"When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: «HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.»" (NASB)

THE ISAIAH CONTEXT

We know this is a quote from Isaiah, the same quote to be found almost word for word in 1 Peter 2:24. Let us see the verses.
"Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed." (Isaiah 53:3-4 NASB)

The these two verses are talking about the same thing. We know Hebrew parallelism repeats the same idea one verse after another. See the parallelism:
Verse 3: griefs … He bore ; sorrows ... He carried ; stricken ... smitten ... afflicted

Verse 4: transgression … pierced ; iniquities ... crushed ; chastening ... scourging ... healed
This is the reason why Peter replaced the word "griefs" with "sin" in his quote:

"and He Himself bore our SINS (Isaiah: griefs) in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24 NASB)

Clearly both Isaiah and Peter are talking about our spiritual condition, and using "griefs" and "sorrows" interchangeably with "sins."

THE CONTROVERSY DEFINED

But could they also mean that we physically suffer because of sin? Well, yes, why not. The fall not only resulted in a spiritual separation from God, it also ushered in mortality and sickness. The fall not only have spiritual consequences but also physical consequences.
If that is the case, then Christ’s redemptive work must not only include the restoration of the spiritual status but also the physical status! So, in the same way, when Christ redeemed us, He not only eradicted both the guilt and punishment for sin once-for-all (restoring the spiritual status), He also gave us immortality (eternal life) and He put an end to all suffering and sickness.

Up to this point, I believe you don’t have any disagreement. I believe both Charismatics and non-Charismatics can agree that just as there were spiritual and physical consequences to the fall, there are spiritual and physical aspects to Christ’s redemption. They correspond.
The question now is whether the end to all suffering and sickness in the passages of Isaiah, Peter and Matthew means that those who received the Gospel also received the guarantee of physical healing each and every time they ask, as long as the conditions are met? The general condition being that either the recipient, the faith healer, or the supporters must have faith. And your other condition, which may not be held widely, that the recipient must not have hidden sins.

I hope I have phrased the controversy in clear enough terms.

1 PETER 2:24

Let me start with Peter being the easiest.

Clearly, in 1 Peter 2, the entire passage is about holiness and righteousness, being an exemplar Christian, there is no hint about physical suffering. Peter clearly here refers to the healing of the spiritual condition of man. He talks about putting aside malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy; about being living stones; about holy priesthood, chosen race, holy nation; abstinence from fleshy lusts; keeping good behaviour among the Gentiles; about submission to authorities; about suffering for doing right; about honouring all people but nothing about physical suffering or disease! He then cites Jesus as the example for us to follow! It was Jesus who first healed us of our depravity and spiritual deadness and is now our example.

So I say Peter is talking about spiritual healing. Here, Peter concentrated his comments on the spiritual aspect of Isaiah’s prophecy. His choice of "sins" for "griefs" or "sorrows" (Matthew: "infirmities" and "diseases") clearly indicates that he has spiritual matters on his mind when he wrote this.

ISAIAH 53:3-4

What about Isaiah? I agreed earlier that physical restoration is one of the aspects of Christ’s redemptive work. Isaiah is primarily talking about spiritual healing, which is why and how Peter quoted him. But in verse 4, he introduces physical healing when he says griefs and sorrows.
My view is that we cannot draw anything more than that physical restoration is promised with Christ’s redemption. For me to comment more than that is eisegesis. The passage tells us that by His stripes, we are healed. That’s it. When are we healed? This passage does not say so. We are to look at other parts of Scripture for the timing.

My contention that the physical restoration that Isaiah is talking about is the one that will come when this old earth passes away is not based on this passage but based on other parts of Scripture, for example, Revelation 21:1-4 (NASB):

"THEN I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, «Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.»" (See also Romans 8:23; 1 Corinthians 15:53,54; 2 Corinthians 5:4)
So I say that while Isaiah prophesised that by His stripes, we are healed of our griefs and sorrows, he did not say when. We are to look to other parts of Scriptures.

MATTHEW 8:16-18

Only in Matthew is "healing" tied with physical healing. The healing of the demon-possessed and the sick serves as the context for our exegesis. Clearly, Matthew aims to show that Jesus was the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah 53. He was to be the Messiah who would redemption to Israel. So Matthew was eager to demonstrate that Jesus was indeed the fulfilment of Isaiah 53. Hence Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, connected these healings to Isaiah 53:4. Let us begin by first observing that the quotation has been changed very much by Matthew. Compare:

"Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed." (Isaiah 53:3-4 NASB)

"When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfil what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: «HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.»" (NASB)

Peter equated "griefs" with "sins" and Matthew here interprets for us that griefs = infirmities and sorrows = diseases. So, for the first time, we have an inspired interpretation that Jesus not only bore our sins, He also took away our diseases. We can find comfort in this thought that He not only knows and understands our sorrows and pain, He actually takes them away from us! Again, the question is when will it happen? The text doesn’t say so.

Matthew Henry has this to add:

http://www.biblestudytools.net/Commentaries/MatthewHenryComplete/mhc-com.cgi?book=mt&chapter=008

"The accomplishment of the Old-Testament prophecies was the great thing Christ had in his eye, and the great proof of his being the Messiah: among other things, it was written of him (Isa. 53:4), Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: it is referred to, 1 Pt. 2:24, and there it is construed, he hath borne our sins; here it is referred to, and is construed, he hath borne our sicknesses; our sins make our sicknesses our griefs; Christ bore away sin by the merit of his death, and bore away sickness by the miracles of his life; nay, though those miracles are ceased, we may say, that he bore our sicknesses then, when he bore our sins in his own body upon the tree; for sin is both the cause and the sting of sickness.

Many are the diseases and calamities to which we are liable in the body: and there is more, in this one line of the gospels, to support and comfort us under them, than in all the writings of the philosophers—that Jesus Christ bore our sicknesses, and carried our sorrows; he bore them before us; though he was never sick, yet he was hungry, and thirsty, and weary, and troubled in spirit, sorrowful and very heavy; he bore them for us in his passion, and bears them with us in compassion, being touched with the feeling of our infirmities: and thus he bears them off from us, and makes them sit light, if it be not our own fault. Observe how emphatically it is expressed here: Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses; he was both able and willing to interpose in that matter, and concerned to deal with our infirmities and sicknesses, as our Physician; that part of the calamity of the human nature was his particular care, which he evidenced by his great readiness to cure diseases; and he is no less powerful, no less tender now, for we are sure that never were any the worse for going to heaven."
Matthew Henry interprets this verse not as a guarantee of physical healing but rather that Jesus, in his life and passion, lived as we live, feel as we feel, and suffer as we suffer. He demonstrated both by his willingness to suffer as we do as well as to alleviate suffering when He can!

It is on this basis that I told Seeker that the answer to the problem of suffering is in Christ! It is not a solution because suffering is a mystery, i.e. we gain insights into it, not solution. God, through the life and passion of His Son, Jesus Christ, demonstrates that suffering can be vicarious and is vicarious, even though our short-sightedness cannot see the final outcome!
But having said all this, are we to infer from this that it is now promised unto us that we will always be healed when we ask for it? Not at all! The text does not say so!

In essence, Matthew was now recording for posterity, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, a FACT: that Jesus’ miracles and healings were in fulfilment of the prophesy of Isaiah, not a TEACHING: that healing is promised to all who ask in faith as part of the Gospel offering. So it is a WHAT-WHY verse: WHAT happened – miracles and healings; WHY happened – to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. That’s it.

The text simply says, as a matter of fact, that the healing of the demon-possessed and the sick WAS IN FULFILMENT of the prophesy of Isaiah! And by this fulfilment, Jesus is demonstrating that He is the promised Messiah! He is the one who will be crushed for our iniquities!

His life, teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection are now recorded for us to know today. The question today is no longer if Jesus is the Messiah (the evidences are overwhelming), it is whether you will ACKNOWLEDGE Him as the Lord and Saviour!

So I say Matthew is not teaching some guarantee of physical healing as long as we pray in faith, but he was demonstrating how Jesus’ healings and miracles were connected to Isaiah’s prophesy, which then proved His Messiahship.

God is willing and able to heal even today! I have never doubted that but it is up to Him to decide what is best for us. We must never demand to be healed or to be taken out of a situation, we must pray that His will be done first. And when God decides to heal you, it doesn’t matter whether you have faith, unconfessed sins or even unbelief, His will will prevail!
YOU: Jesus suffered on our behalf for sins, and as well as for sickness, otherwise Peter cannot say "by His stripes you were healed". Peter basis and my basis to cast out demons or heal the sick is on this premises, otherwise I have no basis. You cannot say "He didnt bore your sickness when He actually did. Since He bore for you why the need to bore it yourself? Peter remark that "by his stripes ye were healed" and he did go around healing the sick, on that basis that Jesus had paid for them.

First, the context of 1 Peter 2 is nothing about physical healing. It is in fact about spiritual healing and holy living. Peter is saying that by Jesus’ death, we are healed spiritually. Second, so Peter did perform miracles and healing. This has nothing to do with the verse in 1 Peter 2:24, it has to do with authenticating his message as an apostle. Third, to be an apostle with the sign gifts, one must fulfil the criterion of being an eye-witness to Jesus’ resurrection, so you cannot be in Peter’s shoes.
YOU: Someone cook up the theory that only apostles can do the signs gifts, when Jesus" command is for all christian.

Yup, that someone is Paul the apostle. In 2 Corinthians 12:12, Paul says, "The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles" (NASB). And in the entire New Testament, only Jesus and the apostles performed miracles and healings. The only two exceptions and no other, are Stephen and Philip. But exceptions don’t disprove the norm.
YOU: If you can master Matthew8;17 the rest of it will be brighter, otherwise it will merry go round like u did with Joseph. Let"s do it one at a time. All the best!

I have tried. Now, can YOU try and see Matthew 8 the way I see it? Try and I guarantee you that you will suddenly realise what the passage really means. I wish you godspeed!

Christopher.