I am going out on a limb here by sharing my views on this verse. I know I run the risk of offending some of you, so I ask at the outset for grace to make my argument. I want to share with you why I believe this passage is misquoted by Christians to “claim” physical healing, believing that Christ was scourged for our physical health. It’s not my intent to debate whether or not God miraculously heals today. I believe that He does and there are Scriptures to prove that – I just don’t believe Isaiah 53:5 is one of them.
There are two common ways that I’ve heard this verse interpreted. The first is what I call the “face-value” interpretation and is used by those who claim this verse for physical healing. It draws on the fact that the Hebrew words for “healed” means literally that – physical healing. The second interpretation is to spiritualize what healing really means. They like to cite Luke 4:18 (and its origination in Isaiah 61:1) where Jesus says he comes to heal the brokenhearted, as well as Psalm 147:3 which says “[God] heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds”. Consequently, the healing implied in Isaiah 53:5 is not a literal physical healing, but rather some kind of emotional or spiritual healing in our soul, or in our relationship to God, or something akin to that.
These two interpretations both have serious flaws. Both interpretations pull this verse out of its larger context and try to apply a meaning to it that is not found within that context. The face-value interpretation has serious theological implications – if Christ underwent scourging and crucifixion for the forgiveness of my sins and my physical health, if I get sick, should I not also doubt my forgiveness, too? How can my forgiveness be complete but my physical health incomplete if the same sacrifice paid for both? Furthermore, the spiritualized interpretation to me seems lacking in credibility. While it is a bona fide Biblical teaching that Jesus heals our broken hearts, it is a stretch to draw this interpretation out of the context of Isaiah 53:5 which has to do with sin and iniquity rather than sadness and loneliness.
So then what is left? Well, I believe there is a solid case for this passage of Scripture being interpreted as a figure of speech called a metaphor. A metaphor is “a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable” (Wikipedia). This explains how a word like “healed” can be literally understood while meaning something apart from physical healing. This is at least an equally valid interpretation of Isaiah 53:5 since it takes into account the greater context of sin and forgiveness found in the entire passage. If this was an isolated occurrence of sickness and healing being used as metaphors, I would understand your skepticism about this interpretation’s validity. However, this is not an isolated occurrence in Scripture.
“Sickness” and “healing” are commonly used metaphors in Scripture for sin and forgiveness, respectively. Therefore, this passage in Isaiah 53:5, as well as in its greater context, illustrates how Christ’s sacrifice on the cross paid the penalty for our sin and reconciled our relationship to God. Let’s give a brief overview of how this figure of speech is used elsewhere in Scripture. While I don’t claim this to be an exhaustive treatment of the subject, I do believe there are enough verses to make a solid case for this interpretation. I will only write out select verses so you for illustrative purposes – I encourage you to look them all up before passing judgment on this interpretation.
Sickness is used as a metaphor in the following verses: Isaiah 1:5-6, “Where will you be stricken again, as you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is nothing sound in it, only bruises, welts and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil.”; Psalm 38:10, “There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation, there is no health in my bones because of my sin.”; Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”. Also see Micah 1:9, Hosea 5:13, Jeremiah 10:19, and Jeremiah 13:19-20.
Healing is used as a metaphor for forgiveness in the following verses: Isaiah 19:22, “The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them.”; Isaiah 33:24, “And no resident will say 'I am sick'; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.” Also see Jeremiah 17:14, 2 Chronicles 30:18-20, Isaiah 3:7, Isaiah 6:10, and Jeremiah 46:10-12.
Sickness and healing are used together as metaphors for sin and forgiveness in the following verses: Jeremiah 8:21-22, “For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken; I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?”; Isaiah 57:17-19, “’Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry and struck him; I hid My face and was angry, and he went on turning away, in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners, created the praise of the lips. Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near’, says the LORD, ‘and I will heal him.’”; Jeremiah 33:6-8, “Behold, I will bring to it [Jerusalem] health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace of truth. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me.” Finally, the best one for last -- Jeremiah 30:12-17, “For thus says the Lord, ‘Your wound is incurable and your injury is serious. There is no one to plead your cause; no healing for your sore, no recovery for you. All your lovers have forgotten you, they do not seek you; for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the punishment of a cruel one, because your iniquity is great and your sins are numerous. Why do you cry out over your injury? Your pain is incurable. Because your iniquity is great and your sins are numerous, I have done these things to you. Therefore all who devour you will be devoured; and all your adversaries, everyone of them, will go into captivity; and those who plunder you will be for plunder, and all who prey upon you I will give for prey. For I will restore you to health and I will heal you of your wounds’, declares the LORD, ‘because they have called you an outcast, saying ‘It is Zion, no one cares for her’”.
The greatest commentary on Isaiah 53:5, however, is given by the apostle Peter. In 1 Peter 2:24, right after he says that “[Christ] bore our sins in His body on the cross”, he quotes Isaiah by saying “for by His wounds you were healed.” I’ve heard Word of Faith preachers cite this verse as proof for their physical healing interpretation of Isaiah 53:5, but doing so is scripturally dishonest. Physical healing is not what Peter is talking about here – sin and forgiveness is. And Peter rightfully uses Isaiah’s metaphor to drive home his point.
So what is my point in all this? It is to offer a biblically sound interpretation for Isaiah 53:5 that is an alternative to the commonly held interpretation which is used to claim physical healing through Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Properly understood, this passage illustrates our sinful condition and how His crucifixion satisfied God’s wrath so we could be forgiven. This passage should not be cited as proof that Christ’s crucifixion guarantees physical health as part of the New Covenant. To do so is to misapply this portion of Scripture. Preachers and televangelists who proof text this verse and use it as a bedrock for their health and wealth gospel build a heterodox theology and thereby confuse many who trust in their authoritative style of teaching.
That’s all I got to say about that! Let me know what you think. Blessings to you all.
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