“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”

This is a verse that is often quoted in sermons by preachers of all christian denominations. I have heard it used to say that faith in jesus will heal all things physical and spiritual but what does it actually mean? From my own personal study and through the guidance of the holy spirit I now know that this verse has NOTHING to do with physical healing. The healing of our physical bodies is not mentioned in either chapter 52 or 53 of the book of Isaiah. Chapter 52 is encouraging Jerusalem…Zion…the Jews… to cast off their bondage to unclean things, things that are not of god. “Shake yourself from the dust, arise; Sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion!” they are being encouraged to come back to the God whom they have all but abandoned at this point in time, YHWH. The entirety of chapter 53 is a prophecy about Jesus and what he will come in the flesh, to do. It speaks of the arm of God, the sin-bearing servant which we all know is Jesus. The book of Isaiah, including chapter 53, is generally dated to the 8th century BC. Which means it was written 8 centuries BEFORE Jesus came to earth. It is a prophecy of what is to come, not a telling of what has already happened. 

Jesus came to free us from our sins, to pay the spiritual debt of all the world, a debt we could not pay ourselves. He did so through his jailing, torture, crucifixion, death and resurrection. He did not come just to heal us from mere physical ailments. Did he do that? Yes, he did. There are many examples in scripture of him doing so. Healing the blind, mute, def, lame, those stricken with leprosy, those possessed by demons even those taken by death…all healed by his hand. None of this was done by his crucifixion and none of this is found in Isaiah’s prophecy. Physical healing is not what this prophecy is talking about, nor should it be said to be. Spiritual healing, salvation was the purpose for which he was sent here, to die for our sins and free us from those debts, not our physical ailments.  Physical healing was but an extra kindness that God, the father bid him do for us while he walked this earth. A kindness that put the love, mercy, grace and boundless power of God on display for ALL to see. 

Jesus’ miracles are well-documented in the Gospels, as a quick google search demonstrated to me.  They include turning water into wine (John 2:1-11), healing the sick and disabled (Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 1:30-31, Luke 7:1-10), feeding the multitudes (Matthew 14:14-21, John 6:5-14), walking on water (Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52), and raising the dead (John 11:1-44, Luke 7:11-17). These acts of divine power demonstrate Jesus’ authority and compassion. 

Here are some specific examples and their corresponding Bible verses:

Healing Miracles:

Healing a woman with a hemorrhage: Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, Luke 8:43-48.

Healing the paralytic at Bethesda: John 5:1-15.

Healing a man born blind: John 9:1-41.

Healing Peter’s mother-in-law: Matthew 8:14-15, Mark 1:30-31, Luke 4:38-39.

Healing a leper: Matthew 8:2-4, Mark 1:40-45, Luke 5:12-14.

Healing the deaf and mute man: Mark 7:31-37. 

Miracles of Nature:

Calming the storm: Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25.

Feeding the 5000: Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-15.

Walking on water: Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:16-21. 

Raising the Dead:

Raising Jairus’ daughter: Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43, Luke 8:40-56.

Raising the son of the widow of Nain: Luke 7:11-17.

Raising Lazarus: John 11:1-44. 

Other Miracles:

Turning water into wine: John 2:1-11.

Casting out demons: Matthew 8:16, Mark 1:32-34, Luke 4:40-41.

The miraculous catch of fish: Luke 5:1-11, John 21:1-14.

as you can see, all of the items google told me about are taken from the new testament, not the old testament where Isaiah is found. This makes sense since Isaiah 53 is prophetic writing however, none of these miracles to come are mentioned. Why do you think that might be? They would detract from the true purpose of Isaiah 53, to tell the world about the salvation that would soon come through Jesus Christ, the gift of eternal life purchased for us by his blood. Faith in Jesus leads to many wonderful things, most important and beautiful of which is salvation through him. however, saying that his death and resurrection guarantees healing of physical maladies is to weaken and cheapen it. the purpose for it is MUCH GREATER than physical healing.