Did Jesus take up our infirmities and bear our diseases? ~ Cross reference of Matthew 8:16 to Isaiah 53:4

 

If you read Isaiah 53 without reading Isaiah 52 you are bound to think that Isaiah is talking about Jesus. The key to understanding any text is to know the context[who is speaking, who is he speaking to, what is he saying]

I will cover Isaiah 53 in a detail post but for now let me share some thoughts on Matthew 8:16 where Jesus took on the infirmities and diseases of all mankind. 

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All Greek Text references are from NIV and Tanakh references are from Chabad.

This post is not intended to offend anyone's faith but for those people who are Seeking the truth of THE ONE TRUE G-D of the universe to who we owe all our love, gratitude & devotion.

My encouragement to you is that you read the whole chapter of Tanakh that the Greek text quotes so you get the context and understand what G-d actually said.

G-d Bless and Seek THE Truth.

Matthew 8:16 When 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. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”[b]

Isaiah 53:4 Indeed, he bore our illnesses, and our pains-he carried them, yet we accounted him as plagued, smitten by God and oppressed.

1. Matthew claims that Jesus took on himself the infirmities & diseases of all mankind. This should ideally mean that mankind is free from sicknesses and physical infirmities or like most Christians would like to midrash it he took away the biggest infirmity and sickness called sin.
2. They have a right to do it, but consider the below two points.
• Clearly the physical infirmities and sicknesses have not been eliminated. The Pharmaceutical & Medical industry is still in business.
• Spiritual infirmities and sicknesses still exist, humans sin and humans do not not all worship the ONE TRUE G-D.
3. This leaves only one option, and that is to believe that our sins and spiritual infirmities are forgiven by G-d because of Jesus's sacrifice and those who believe in Jesus will be saved from hell.
4. This is a statement of faith that has no basis in the Tanakh. There is not one passage in Tanakh that says that the messiah will die for us and we need to believe in the messiah to escape hell. 
5. The entire Christian faith that Jesus came to die for our sins is based on Isaiah 53 which does not have any markers like "anointed one" "line of David", "peace", "gather", "rule", "kingdom", "knowledge of the ONE TRUE G-D" ... to say that it is talking about the messiah.

I have listed 3 passages where Tanakh is talking about the messiah. Judge for yourself if you can see the highlighted markers in Isaiah 53 and ask yourself why only Isaiah 53 talks so differently about a messiah that dies vs the other clear passages that talk about a messiah that does not die.

Zechariah 13:1 On that day, a spring shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for purification and for sprinkling. 2 And it shall come to pass on that day, says the Lord of Hosts: I will cut off the names of the idols from the earth, and they shall no longer be mentioned. And also the prophets and the spirit of contamination I will remove from the earth. 3 And it shall come to pass, if a man still prophesies, that his father and his mother-his parents-shall say to him, "You shall not live, for you have spoken falsely in the name of the Lord." And his father and his mother-his parents-shall thrust him through because of his prophesying. 4 And it shall come to pass on that day that the prophets shall be ashamed, each one of his vision when he prophesies; and they will not wear a hairy mantle in order to lie. 5 And he shall say, "I am not a prophet! I am a tiller of the soil, for a man entrusted me with his cattle from my youth." 6 And one will say to him, "What are these wounds between your hands?" And he shall say, "That I was smitten in the house of my friends."

Zechariah 9:9 Be exceedingly happy, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold! Your king shall come to you. He is just and victorious; humble, and riding a donkey and a foal, the offspring of [one of] she-donkeys. 10 And I will cut off the chariots from Ephraim, and the horses from Jerusalem; and the bow of war shall be cut off. And he shall speak peace to the nations, and his rule shall be from the sea to the west and from the river to the ends of the earth.

Ezekiel 37:24 And My servant David shall be king over them, and one shepherd shall be for them all, and they shall walk in My ordinances and observe My statutes and perform them. 25 And they shall dwell on the land that I have given to My servant, to Jacob, wherein your forefathers lived; and they shall dwell upon it, they and their children and their children's children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. 26 And I will form a covenant of peace for them, an everlasting covenant shall be with them; and I will establish them and I will multiply them, and I will place My Sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 And My dwelling place shall be over them, and I will be to them for a God, and they shall be to Me as a people. 28 And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, Who sanctifies Israel, when My Sanctuary is in their midst forever."