No Healing in the Atonement

Matthew 8:16 — “When even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with demons: and he cast out the spirits by his word, and healed all that were sick [with demon possession]”

Verse 17 — “That” introduces a purpose clause; “it might be fulfilled by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sickness.” This quotation from Isaiah 53:4 deals with the issue of healing in the atonement. So a few points on the quotation:

“Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” These did not occur at the cross. Notice that at this point in the gospel of Matthew we are still two and a half years from the cross, and when did it occur, at the cross or here? This is not the cross, we will not get to the cross until chapters 26 and 27. This passage is before the cross and it refers to healing people to point to the fact that He is saviour. It does not mean healing in the atonement.

1. The word “took” here means to take by the hand and carry away “our infirmities,” not at the cross but at this point.

2. This passage has to do with the alleviation of suffering rather than the transferring of suffering to Christ. No suffering is transferred to Christ, he didn’t bear our leprosy and fever, etc.

3. There is no such thing as healing in the atonement.

4. The diseases of these people were not transferred to Christ. Jesus was not demon-possessed. To say that there is healing in the atonement is to say that Jesus bore all of these sicknesses and therefore He bore the demon-induced illness, and therefore He had to be demon-possessed. He was never demon-possessed, that’s blasphemy.

5. Jesus took away their diseases but did not transfer them to Himself.

6. Matthew 8:17 quotes Isaiah 53:4 to indicate that healing is not in the atonement but healing was an act of Jesus Christ calling attention to the fact that He is the saviour. The purpose of healing was to focus attention upon Christ as saviour.

7. In the atonement Jesus Christ bore our sins in His own body on the tree. The only thing He bore in the atonement were sins, never sickness — 1 Peter 2:24. And those sins were judged on the cross.

8. This verse 17 clearly indicates that Jesus had power over disease by removing it, not bearing it.

9. The miracles of healing or removing diseases were a presentation of the credentials of the King. These credentials prove that Jesus Christ is the God-Man, the only saviour.

10. Diseases such as leprosy often illustrate the sin of humanity and its solution but they must not be confused with the reality of the cross.

11. Healing is not in the atonement except by way of illustration where Jesus used the removal of disease to demonstrate the uniqueness of His person and the efficacy of His work on the cross.

Isaiah 53:5 — “and with his stripes we are healed.” Every word here is wrongly translated. There is no healing in the atonement and the word isn’t “stripes” at all. It is singular in the Hebrew and the word is “bruise.” Why? Because Jesus Christ was one massive bruise when He hung upon the cross. The reason He was so badly beaten up is because everyone wanted Him to die but no one wanted Him to die the way He had to die, which was for our sins - Satan didn’t want Him to get to the cross.

“by his bruise” — 1 Peter 2:24, when Peter saw Christ he saw a bruise hanging on the cross.

“we are healed” is not we are healed. Three things about the verb “we are healed.” It does not mean to be healed although it has been used that way. The word literally means to sow something together. The reason it was sometimes used in a secondary sense for healing is because in the ancient world they just took anything and stitched an open wound together. If the person recovered they said he was healed. The way that he recovered: they sowed the wound up.

So here we are. There is a great gap between man and God and Christ, by His work on the cross, pulls the gap together. So the word means to sow up or to draw together. In other words, man and God are drawn together. Next, the niphel stem — simple declarative, passive voice. The tense is perfect, and perfect means completed action. But this was written 600 years before the action was completed but in the mind of God it has already happened. Therefore it is in the perfect tense because not only has it happened in the mind of God but this is prophecy which is certain of fulfilment.