We tend to think of the cross as all about Jesus paying the price for our sin. Hence the song says, “I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.” But the Bible teaches that there was more hanging on that cross than our sin. Healing from all manner of disease (physical, emotional, psychological) are all founded in the atonement. This truth came out beautifully in my study of Leviticus last week.
We are all familiar with the passage in Isaiah 53:4 that reads, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted." (NASB) When I think of “stricken” and “smitten”, I think of someone who has been beaten. But I discovered that Jewish scholars have historically understood that passage differently. They understood it to say that the Messiah actually took on disease (in addition to sin) on the cross.
In the Talmudic Tractate of the Sanhedrin (a type of Jewish commentary; located in 98b), they call the Messiah, "the leper scholar”, that is, one who is intimately acquainted with leprosy. They go on: “as it is written, ‘Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him a leper, smitten of God, and afflicted.’" This quote is very telling. It references Isaiah 53:4, as you see. But notice this Jewish commentary is giving the sense or meaning of the passage. The literal rendering of the passage in the Bible does not include anything explicit about the Messiah being considered a leper. However, the word used in the Bible for "stricken" in Hebrew (NGF) is used repeatedly to speak of someone who is stricken with leprosy in Leviticus 13-14. Thus, we see that for someone to be “stricken” of God means they are stricken with disease, and the Jewish scholars would say stricken with leprosy.
The Gospel of Matthew gives an account of Jesus healing several people in a row, then Matthew writes, "This [healing] was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases" (see 8:17). What passage was he quoting from? None other than Isaiah 53:4. Thus Matthew is indicating that divine healing has its foundation in the atonement.
Here is the significance of this discussion: Clearly, the Jews understood that when the Hebrew word for “stricken” (NGF) was used in Isaiah 53:4, it was to denote "stricken with disease" (or specifically leprosy). This resonates with what the Scripture says later of Jesus' ministry in Matthew 8:17. It also sheds more light on what Jesus accomplished on the cross. He was not just bearing sin, but sickness and disease. A reason for Jesus to go to the cross was to defeat death. He didn't just deal with the root cause of death, i.e., sin, but also the secondary cause of death: sickness and disease.
So what kind of healing may we expect from Jesus? Isaiah 53:4 tells us that Jesus bore our griefs and sorrows. Are you depressed? Are you dealing with grief? Those things Jesus bore on the cross. Furthermore, Jesus procured healing for all manner of disease. He proved His power over them throughout the Gospel accounts. Those that would deny the provision of healing, deny very real aspects of the atonement.
Now, if there was more to the atonement than just sin, then let us press on to understand and grasp all that God has for us. Salvation is not all there is to Christianity. Consider that the author of Hebrews says, “Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God” (Hebrews 6:1). Brothers and sisters: Press on!