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Answer
Isaiah 53 contains a detailed prophecy about the Messiah, including the declaration that “He took our infirmities” «Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. », (Isaiah 53:4, BSB) or “he himself bore our sicknesses” (CSB). Matthew references this verse when recounting Jesus Christ’s healing ministry: “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’” (Matthew 8:16-17;NKJV).
After Jesus explained the righteousness required for people to enter His kingdom (Matthew 5—7), He began to heal people. He healed a leper (Matthew 8:1-4). He healed the servant of a centurion (Matthew 8:5-13). He healed Peter’s mother-in-law (Matthew 8:14-15). He healed many who were demon-possessed «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: », (Matthew 8:16). Matthew explains that in healing these infirmities, Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy that “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases” «that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities.»
Yes, and bear our sicknesses.” (Matthew 8:17, LSB).
There were many pieces of evidence that Jesus was the Messiah. John the Baptist testified to His identity when he baptized Jesus, “And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.” (Matthew 3:15). At Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit showed that He was upon Jesus, “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.” (Matthew 3:16). Also at Jesus’ baptism, the Father audibly proclaimed that Jesus was His Son and in Him the Father was well pleased, “and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17). While Jesus Himself claimed to be God (e.g., John 8:56-58), He also acknowledged that a matter should be affirmed by two or three witnesses. He offered even more than that to affirm His deity and His role as Messiah: John the Baptist, the Father, and Scripture (John 5:33-39). But Jesus also pointed people to His works as testimony of Him. He even explained that the works He did were a greater testimony than that of John, “But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.” (John 5:36).5:36). Those works included fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy that He Himself took our infirmities.
The works Jesus did were signs pointing people to His identity as the prophesied Messiah who would take away sins. The apostle John explains that there were many more signs that Jesus performed than were recorded in John’s Gospel. The signs that John recorded were written down so that people would believe in Jesus— that He is the Christ, the Son of God— and that believing they might have life in His name (John 20:30-31).
Isaiah and Matthew recognized that the Messiah would bear the sicknesses and griefs of the people. The Messiah would come to heal and to give life. Jesus came fulfilling those promises, even to the extent of giving His own life to pay for the sins of all humanity. As Paul would later explain, we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9). God’s gracious gift was Jesus, and by Jesus’ death, He graciously paid for sin. That grace is applied to us by faith (belief). Not only did Jesus carry away our physical griefs and sicknesses— and we will see the results of that someday in glory— but He also carried away our spiritual griefs and sicknesses. The greatest sickness of all— sin— is gone. Christ has redeemed us from sin and removed our condemnation. “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”
