Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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1
For brief historical summaries of the faith healing movement in the United
States and Canada see Richard Mayhue, The Healing Promise (Eugene, OR: Harvest
House, 1994) 27-39, and John Wilkinson, "Physical Healing and the Atonement,"
EQ 63/2 (April 1991):149-55. For more in-depth treatments consult J. Sidlow
Baxter, Divine Healing of the Body (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979) 29-105; Frank
C Darling, Biblical Healing (Boulder, CO: Vista, 1989); Christian Healing in the
Middle Ages and Beyond (Boulder, CO: Vista, 1990); The Restoration of Christian
Healing (Boulder, CO: Vista, 1992); David E. Harrell, Jr., All Things Are Possible:
The Healing and Charismatic Revivals in Modern America (Bloomington, IN: Indiana
University, 1975); Michael G. Moriarity, The New Charismatics (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 1992) 20-86; Benjamin B. Warfield, Counterfeit Miracles (reprint,
Edinburgh, Scotland: Banner of Truth, 1972) 33-69.
2
Alva J. McCain, Was Christ Punished for Our Diseases! (Winona Lake: BMH,
n.d.).
3
123
The Atonement
Mention of the atonement sacrifice 0 * 3 5 [kippr, "pacify, atone"])
first appears in Scripture as a part of the Mosaic sacrificial system5 (cf.
Exod 29:33, 36-37; 30:10, 15-16). On this one day of the year, Israel's
high priest entered the Holy of Holies, approached the Ark of the
covenant, and sprinkled blood to atone for the sins of Israel.
Aaron, the brother of Moses, was the very first high priest to
enter the Holy Place with a bull for an offering (Lev 16:3). Was it for
a sin or a sick offering? Unquestionably, it was a sin offering (Lev
16:11). Aaron offered a bull for a sin offeringfirst for himself and his
household (16:5-6).
And he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the
impurities of the sons of Israel, and because of their transgressions in
regard to all their sins... (16:16, cf. v. 34).
Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat,
and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all their
transgressions in regard to all their sins . . . (16:21).
Moses instituted the Day of Atonement by the authority of God
about 1450-1400 B.C. Hundreds of years later (about 700-680 B.C.),
Isaiah wrote prophetically concerning a coming servant who would be
"the ultimate atonement." The Atonement ritual that Moses established
and the atonement prophecy that Isaiah penned, Jesus Christ would later
fulfill in reality when He died for sinsnot sicknesses.
The book of Hebrews (the "Leviticus" of the NT) demonstrates
^Tie other significant question raised by Isa 53:4-5, "For whom did Christ
atone?" is treated in such standard works as R. L Dabney, Systematic Theology, 2nd
ed. (reprint, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1985) 513-35; R. B. Kuiper, For Whom
Did Christ Die? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959); John Murray, Collected Writings
ofJohn Murray (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1976) 1:59-85; and George Smeaton,
The Doctrine of the Atonement According to the Apostles (reprint, Peabody, MA:
Hendrickson, 1988).
5
Read John V. Dahms, "Dying With Christ," JETS 36/1 (March 1993):15-23,
which carefully relates the OT atonement to Christ's substitutionary death.
124
the unity of Scripture. When the final atonement that propitiated God's
wrath occurred, Christ served as both the high priest and the sacrifice.
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come,
He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made
with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the
blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the
holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb 9:1112).
Jesus Christ as God incarnate became the Lamb slain for the sins of the
world (John 1:29, 36; 1 John 2:2).
Hebrews 10 addresses the atonement's fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
For example, 'Then He said, 'Behold, I have come to do Thy will.' He
takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have
been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all" (Heb 10:9-10).
In the old economy, year after year the high priest had to make
atonement first for himself and his family and then for the nation. But
with the new covenant, Christ had to sacrifice only once for everyone
else, but not for Himself. Isaiah 53 anticipated Christ's one time
sacrifice: "But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat
down at the right hand of God. . . . For by one offering He has
perfected for all time those who are sanctified" (Heb 10:12, 14).
Both Leviticus and Hebrews demonstrate that in God's mind the
atonement dealt immediately with sin, not sickness. It had everything to
do with humankind's sin problem and the redemption needed to remove
sin and its penalty, so that true believers might stand eternally justified
before a holy God. Christ's atonement paid the due penalty for sin when
God poured out His wrath upon Jesus Christ while upon the cross.
Textual Comments on Isaiah 53
Isaiah 53 serves indispensably as the heart of anyone's healing
125
theology.
One's biblical expectations for eventually restored health
rest on this biblical bedrock. The "Magna Charta" of God's healing
promise focuses on Christ's sacrificial death at Calvary. Clearly the
emphasis of Isaiah 53 centers on spiritual salvation. 7 Since sin is the
moral cause of physical infirmities, it is not surprising (1) that sin and
sickness are related and (2) that dealing with sin (the cause) eventually
addresses sickness (the effect).
Isaiah 53 raises the question then, "What, if anything, does the
prophet promise about physical restoration?"8 Or put another way, "Is
Isa 53:4-5 limited to dealing only with sin and salvation?"
Surely our griefs He 9 Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet
6
I have been greatly surprised by the deficiency of attention given to Isaiah 53
by some of the most recent, highly visible volumes advocating a contemporary
healing ministry. For instance, Jack Deere, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit
(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993) 169, devotes only one paragraph in a 299 page
book on healing. John Wimber and Kevin Springer, Power Healing (San Francisco:
Harper & Row, 1987) take less than four pages (152-56) out of 269 pages, but
spend most of that space discussing what men have said rather than what the
Scriptures teach. Benny Hinn, Lord, I Need a Miracle (Nashville: Nelson, 1993)
provides less than two pages (55-56). Even Jeffrey Niehaus in The Kingdom and the
Power (Ventura, CA Regal, 1993) devotes less than 3 pages (48-50). For an
excellent exegetical discussion of Isaiah 53 see Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972) 3:340-54.
7
The New Testament consistently presents Christ as the Christian's substitutionary sin bearer in His atonement. See Matt 20:28; John 1:29; Rom 4:25; 5:6-8; 8:3;
1 Cor 15:3; 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 1:4; 3:13; 4:4-5; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 3:18; 1 John 2:2; 4:10.
8
This is a legitimate question in light of other passages in Isaiah which point
to a time of physical healing, e.g. 29:18; 33:24; 35:5-6; 65:20.
126
See Isa 1:5; Jer 6:7,10:19; Hos 5:13 for examples other than actual sickness.
12
See Ps 32:10; Jer 30:15; Lam 1:12,18 for examples other than actual sickness.
13
127
128
129
begin to see what God will do in themselves until they leave this world
and enter into His presence. Now they groan within themselves, eagerly
awaiting their adoption as sons and the redemption of their bodies. The
future will be fantastic by comparison. They will experience afflictions
no more because the moral source of sicknesssinwill be no more.
Second, Christ died for sins. The gospel immediately becomes
good news about the sin problem, but not necessarily so with physical
problems. Read about this in such biblical texts as Matt 1:21, John 1:29;
Rom 1:16; 1 Cor 15:1-3; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; Heb 9:1-28; 1 John 3:5.
Disease is not sin, but a consequence of sin. Disease carries no penalty
which must be atoned for as sin does. Disease does not interfere with
a man's fellowship with God like sin does. A sick man can still enjoy
fellowship with God in spite of suffering from disease, and his
experience of sickness may even deepen that fellowship. Once we
recognize that sin and disease belong to different categories we can
readily see that the atonement will affect them in different ways. In
the case of sin we can know forgiveness in this present life, but there
is nothing corresponding to this experience of forgiveness in the case
of disease. The only thing which could correspond to forgiveness would
be an immunity to disease which would be as permanent as our
forgiveness. Those who were healed by Jesus in the gospels were not
given such an immunity for this would have meant that they would
never have died. Even Lazarus who was raised from the dead eventually died again. What was true for them is also true for us today. When
we receive forgiveness on putting our faith in Jesus Christ and His
atonement on our behalf, we are not made perfect by having sin and
its effects removed from us. Sin will only be finally removed at the
resurrection. What applies to sin, also applies to its effects such as
disease for these too will only be removed at the resurrection.15
Next, Christ was made sin and not sickness. Paul writes about the
ministry of reconciliation. "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on
our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2
15
130
16
See Mayhue, The Healing Promise 85-116, for a detailed analysis of healing
history in the OT, gospels, Acts, and the NT epistles.
131
132
17
The New Testament directly quotes Isaiah 53 six times. (1) Matt 8:17Isa.
53:4; (2) Luke 22:37-Isa 53:12; (3) John 12:38-Isa 53:1; (4) Acts 8:32-33-Isa 53:7-8;
(5) Rom 10:16-Isa 53:1; (6) 1 Pet 2:24-Isa 53:4.
133
Young, Isaiah 3:35, writes, "The reference in Matthew 8:17 is appropriate, for
although thefigureof sicknesses here used refers to sin itself, the verse also includes
the thought of the removal of the consequences of sin. Disease is the inseparable
companion of sin."
134
overlook the fact that what Christ did at Calvary actually occurred
several years after His healing ministry at Capernaum.19 This means
that there could be no effectual relationship between Christ's healings in
Capernaum and His later atonement on the cross at Calvary. Rather,
Matthew employed a normal illustration from the OT when commenting
on Christ's healings. He found a point of continuity, a point of identity
between Isaiah 53 and Christ's healing ministry in Capernaum. Matthew
used Isaiah analogically.
Matthew 2:14-15 illustrates this principle when quoting Hos. 11:1:
And he arose and took the Child and His mother by night, and
departed for Egypt; and was there until the death of Herod; that what
was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,
"Out of Egypt did I call My son."
Matthew writes in the context of the Lord's childhood and
Herod's desire to put Him to death. Hosea, on the other hand, was
writing about the historical exodus of Israel out of Egypt's bondage. So
what relation is there between Israel and Christ? By analogy it is true
that (1) they both were in Egypt, (2) they both are referred to as God's
Son, and (3) God brought them both out from Egypt. These then are
the points of analogy which explain why Matthew used the prophecy of
Hos 11:1.
Consider this perspective: Matthew 8 is to Isaiah 53 (in terms of
its analogy) as Matthew 17 (the transfiguration of Christ) is to Revelation 19 (the second coming of Christ). Matthew 17 is a preview, just as
Matthew 8 is a foretaste of (1) resurrection life; (2) the coming
millennial kingdom in which there will be healing; and (3) the ultimate
19
Wilkinson, "Physical Healing" 157, provides another frequently overlooked
point: "There is, however, one detail which is differentfromall the rest All the
injuries and their effects which are described of the servant were produced by
external agents at the time of His suffering." Thus Christ did not bear sickness
within as he did with sin.
135
^Hagner, Matthew 1-13 211: "... Isa. 53:4 guarantees no one healing in the
present age. What is guaranteed is that Christ's atoning death will in the eschaton
provide healing...." Baxter, Divine Heating 136, unequivocally states, "Therefore,
that the healing is in the atonement should not be preached on the basis of
136
137
^Wayne Grudem, The First Epistle of Peter (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988)
133-34.
138
^Matthew 13:15, John 12:40, and Acts 28:27 quote Isa 6:10 while Heb 12:12-13
alludes to Isa 35:3.
^Albrecht Oepke, ", /..," TDNT 3:214.
^It is noteworthy that Wayne Grudem, who might be thought to reason
otherwise because of his Vineyard Fellowship connection, understands 1 Pet 2:24
in reference to salvation (The First Epistle of Peter 132). Of this "healing" D.
Edmond Hiebert concludes, 'The verb 'healed* here does not denote physical
healing ..." (1 Peter [Chicago: Moody, 1992] 189).
139
sin.
4. Matthew used Isa 53:4-5 illustratively to indicate that what Christ
did at Capernaum (8:14-17) with physical healing pictured the
resurrection consequence of salvation, i.e., the end of sickness
when sin has been eliminated.
5. Peter, the Ethiopian eunuch, and Philip understood Isaiah 53 in
reference to sin.27
Isaiah 53 deals with man's spiritual being, not his physical. Its
emphasis is on sin, not sickness. It focuses on the moral cause of
sickness, which is sin, and not on the immediate removal of one of sin's
resultssickness.
Matthew 8 is a limited and localized preview of Christ's millennial
rule and a believer's resurrection experience when sickness will be no
more because sin will have been eliminated. Christ did not personally
bear sickness at Capernaum in a substitutionary way, but instead He
removed it, even though illness would later return and those whom He
had healed would eventually die.
Matthew referred to Isaiah 53 for illustrative and anticipatory
purposes, but by no means intended to teach that Christ ultimately
fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53 two years before He went to Calvary.
First Peter 2:24 rehearses the redemptive implications of Isaiah
53. Christ's atoning death provided the basis for spiritual health and
eternal life. Christ bore our iniquities to satisfy God's righteous demand
against sin. Physical health and healing are in view only in the sense that
once the cause of sickness (i.e., sin) disappears, then sickness (i.e., the
effect of sin) will also be no more.
Recall the question raised at the beginning. "Is there healing in
the atonement?" This writer's answer is, "No." However, there is
healing "through" the atonement or "as a result" of the atonement, but
27
A sixth evidence, although not from Scripture, is the latterfirst-centuiyand
early second-century use of Isa 53:4-5 by the post-apostolic fathers. Neither 1
Cement 16 nor Barnabas 5 quotes Isaiah 53 as teaching a contemporary healing
ministry or even that physical healing is in the atonement. Nor do the fathers teach
such elsewhere (cf. J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers (reprint, Grand Rapids:
Baker, 1976) 19-20,140).
140
It seems more biblically precise to say, "There will be physical healing through
the atonement" rather than "There s physical healing in the atonement." I agree
with Doug Moo ("Divine Healing in the Health and Wealth Gospel," TrinJ 9
[1988]:204): "We would prefer, then, to say that physical healing is one effect of the
atoning death of Christ." See also Bokovay ("Physical Healing" 35): "It is
misleading for anyone to suggest that healing is 'in' the atonement without major
qualifications; sickness is only dealt with in the sense that it is an effect of sin and
its eventual eradication is guaranteed because our sin has been atoned for."
29
Baxter, Divine Healing 136-37. Dr. Baxter, who believes in a contemporary
healing ministry, minces no words here in utterly denying that the atonement
provides any basis for present physical healing.
141
^Wimber and Springer, Power Healing 154, cite R. A Torrey (Divine Healing
[reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1974] 53 [actually on page 43]) writing on Isaiah 53
as meaning ". . . that based on what Jesus experienced on the cross, we as a
consequence may experience one hundred percent healing here on earth." At best,
this is an overstatement of Torrey's discussion (43-46); at worst, a misrepresentation.
31
James I. Packer, "Poor Health May Be the Best Remedy," Christianity Today
26/10 (May 21,1982):15.
^ s
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