From: timk@world.std.com (Tim King)
Subject: Re: Faith in the Word
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 01:59:31 GMT

Hi, ya'll!

There was a previously unanswered question regarding the meaning of
Isaiah 53:4-6, specifically the following lines:

   - Surely He has borne our griefs [sicknesses]
   - And carried our sorrows [afflictions];
   - And by His stripes we are healed.

I've done a little more research, asked some questions of the right person,
and made a very interesting and exciting discovery.

- When I said that Isaiah was not speaking of physical healing, I was wrong.

- When I said that Isaiah was speaking of Christ's sacrifice for sin, I was
right.

Let me explain...


1. The word for "healed" in Isaiah 53:6, RAPHAH, is practically never used to
refer to healing of the soul.  It is almost always used to refer to physical
healing.  Perhaps you have heard the name JEHOVAH RAPHAH, the Lord our Healer.


2. Matthew uses a quote from Isaiah 53:4 to refer to healing.  This is done in
no uncertain terms.

Matthew 8:16-17 (NKJV):

    When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-
    possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all
    who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah
    the prophet, saying:  "He Himself took our infirmities And bore our
    sicknesses."

I think it is noteworthy to point out that, unlike many of the other books of
the New Testament, Matthew was written to a Hebrew audience.  Most of the
books of the New Testament were written to people who only had access to the
Septuagint, which is the Old Testament translated into Greek.  This
translation was done in the second or third century B.C. and was widely
available by the time Jesus and the apostles came on the scene.  Because most
of their audience had access to only the Septuagint, most bible writers quoted
from it just as we quote from the KJV, NKJV, RSV, ASV, NASV, NIV, etc.
However, Matthew was writing to a Hebrew audience who had access to and
understood the original Hebrew texts.  His quotes of the Old Testament are not
from the Septuagint; they are taken directly from the Hebrew.  Thus, if
Matthew used the quote from Isaiah to refer to physical illness, the original
is most likely speaking of physical illness, not the sickness of sin.


3. Mixing healing from sin and healing from sickness in the same breath is not
only done in Isaiah.  James does it in James 5:14-16.

    Is anyone among you sick?  Let him call for the elders of the church,
    and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
    Lord.  And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will
    raise him up.  And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
    Confess your traspasses to one another, and pray for one another, that
    you may be healed.  The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man
    avails much.

Jesus Himself is guilty of this.  When He healed the paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8;
Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26) He said, "You're sins are forgiven... but so that
you [the Pharasees and scribes] may know that the Son of Man has power to
forgive sins" -- then He said to the man, "Get up, pick up your bed, and go
home."  And the man did.  Jesus healed the man to demonstrate His ability to
forgive sins.


4. So what does physical healing have to do with forgiveness of sin?  It is
through Christ's sin sacrifice that the provision for divine physical healing
is made.  In fact, the last line of Isaiah 53:5 can be translated "And by His
stripes is the provision for healing."  Note that this does not imply that God
is required to provide physical healing for us, but because of His love, His
mercy, and His grace He does.  He doesn't do so all the time, but He does
heal.


Isaiah 53:4-6 (NKJV):

    Surely He has borne our griefs [infirmities]
    And carried our sorrows [sicknesses];
    Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
    Smitten by God and afflicted.

    But He was wounded for our transgressions,
    He was bruised for our iniquities;
    The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
    And by His stripes we are healed.

    All we like sheep have gone astray
    We have turned, every one, to his own way;
    And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.


Love in Christ,
-Tim
-- 
Tim King                  |-_      |
Dedham, MA                |  -|    |    Make mine music!
timk@world.std.com       <>   |   <>
(617) 890-2929 x137          <>
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