Isaiah 53 · a question people ask
"by his wounds we are healed" (53:5). What healing is this: for the body now as well as from sin, or chiefly from sin?
First, what the chapter says: "Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering" (53:4) (tap sickness), and "But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed" (53:5) (tap healed). The New Testament gives words of these verses twice. Matthew gives words of 53:4 where Jesus "healed all who were sick" (Matthew 8:16-17), and Peter writes, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds" (1 Peter 2:24). Christians read what 53:4-5 promise for the body now in two main ways, each resting on its verses, and these notes don't choose between them. Both agree that Matthew applies 53:4 to Jesus's healing of the sick (Matthew 8:17), that Peter applies 53:5's words to sins (1 Peter 2:24), and that God may heal in answer to prayer (James 5:14-15). Neither says that a sick person lacks faith, or that a healing is owed.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Healing for the body as well as for sin
Those who read it this way note that 53:4 speaks of "our sickness" and "our suffering" (53:4), and that Matthew gives its words where Jesus "healed all who were sick" (Matthew 8:16): "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases" (Matthew 8:17). They read the servant's suffering as bringing healing for the body as well as forgiveness, so that believers may ask God for healing now on that ground, as James writes: "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord" (James 5:14), "and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (James 5:15). On this reading, the servant's wounds bring healing for the body as well as for sin, and believers may ask for it now.
Isaiah 53:4 · Matthew 8:16-17 · James 5:14-15
Chiefly healing from sin, the body's made full at the resurrection
Those who read it this way note that 53:5 sets the wounds beside "our transgressions" and "our iniquities" (53:5), and that Peter gives its words of sins: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds" (1 Peter 2:24), "For you were going astray like sheep; but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls" (1 Peter 2:25). They read Jesus's healings as showing what the servant brings (Matthew 8:16-17), and the body's full healing as kept for the resurrection: "we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body" (Romans 8:23); "The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable" (1 Corinthians 15:42); "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more" (Revelation 21:4). On this reading, 53:5's healing is chiefly from sin, and the body's healing, which God may give now, is made full at the resurrection.
Isaiah 53:5 · 1 Peter 2:24-25 · Matthew 8:16-17 · Romans 8:23 · 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 · Revelation 21:4
The verses
“Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.”
“When evening came, they brought to him many possessed with demons. He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.””
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.”
“Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”