What do Christians mean by “Jesus took our illnesses upon himself on the cross” and why?

Question

Having a bit of holiday over Christmas and New Year I'm going over some notes I've made of topics I want to look at.

One such question regards the use of terminology such as "Jesus took our illnesses upon himself on the cross".

I've read a little and seen that there's a variety of perspectives (from perhaps "sickness is something that shouldn't affect Christians" to perhaps a focus on the full-application being in the future kingdom) that this statement could cover, but I'd be interested to see if anyone could give me the background texts to support such a statement (one would not have to agree with the exegesis to present the texts used to support the doctrine).

One commonly referenced text would be Isa 53:4-5 which concludes

and with his wounds we are healed

I'm interested in seeing what is the range of ideas that "Jesus took our illnesses" covers and what key texts are used to build up that argument.

I hope that's reasonably clear!

Answer 1

Isaiah 53 is not just about sin. Much more so, it is certainly not just about disease.

It is a picture of Christ on the cross, so all history leads up to this and all the future feeds back to this. The whole 'curse' of Adam was placed upo Him, and from Him the whole 'blessing' of Abraham is made. This is nothing less than the fall and return to paradise. So in a sense all salvation is here in its primitive kernel.

Even Rabbinic sources before Christ took the Messiah to undergo physical suffering and that would include the healing of physical diseases, not just sin. This can be seen from the Talmud identifyng th Messiah as the 'leperous one'.

Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 98b): "Messiah ...what is his name? The Rabbis say,' The leprous one'... for it says, 'Surely he has borne our sicknesses' etc. (Isa.53,4)."

From the New Testament view:

16When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.” (Mathew 8:16-17)

This makes it sufficiently clear that these words include demon possession and illnesses of body.

24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2:24)

This also makes it clear that this means he would take away our sins.

So the idea seems to be that that Jesus is the great Messiah, the Healer, Comforter, Sin Bearer and killer of all; sin, hell, sorrow, death, and sickness, through his atonement. This does not mean all sickness and death is removed now, for salvation in history had developments and the full achievement of Christ’s work is in the future. All sorrow and suffering and sickness will not be removed until his future return to judge the living and the dead. However, when God met mankind, in the God-Man, it was impossible for the bizarre situation not to drive all sickness and demon possession away. The same will be true when he returns in glory:

16Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev 7:16-17)

This is the final dimension of Isaiah 53.

Answer 2

In Isa 53, the word you are translating "illnesses" is more often translated as "transgressions" or "iniquities." Both of those words highlight the fact that Jesus took our sins with him on the cross, and by the wounds he suffered, we were healed - from the iniquity of sin.

The basic idea of salvation in Christainity is often summarized as this -

1. We are sinners

2. Because of this sin, we deserve eternal death - separation from God

3. Jesus paid the penalty for that sin by dying on the cross, thus we are healed and given eternal life.

(For the purposes of this answer, lets not get into all the different ideas of atonement, etc... I'm going for the overview here!)

The point is "illness" is not a physical thing here, but a legal one. (Indeed, I've never seen that translation before - perhaps its just being confused with iniquities? An iniquity is an evil, a cause of suffering and distress, not necessarily a bodily thing.) We are "suffering" from sin, and the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 pays for that sin, so we are healed.

Beyond that, I've never seen a promise that Christians would never get sick. Even the early church recognized that believers would still die. The Good News, however, is that in our resurrected state, there would be no more corruption in our bodies - i.e. no sickness - but that's on the other side of the Jordan, not this one!