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Just in case you had some concerns about the interpretation of Isaiah 53 as being about physical healing, let’s see what Jesus had to say, recorded in Matthew 8.
Now, if you have heard the challenges of the greatest pile of man’s learning, then let me answer each of those. Okay, so you say maybe this is just the words of Matthew. Okay, so given that Jesus did not write anything, why would an eyewitness’ evidence not be admissible? There is no real evidence that this was not written within one lifetime of Jesus, very possibly by the person whose name is on the book, Matthew, the tax collector. At any rate, we can tell that it was written by someone quite familiar with Jewish customs and understanding of the times. It would be absurd to think it was someone other than a Jew. If it had been wrong, it would have been disputed by eyewitnesses.
Notice that there are 4 witnesses, four gospels. While there are some theories about copying, there is no hard evidence. What there is not is any evidence of a dispute. J.A.T. Robinson, a very liberal scholar, has written that there is good evidence to believe that the gospel of John, the one written latest, probably was written by 100 AD. This makes all of the work reasonably contemporaenous, early enough for eye witnesses to dispute the claims if they were false.
In fact, the Gospel of Thomas, not considered canon, was found in Egypt, and also corroborates the sayings of Jesus. So we have plenty of reasoned evidence to suggest that we do have the words of Jesus.
Now, if Jesus, or even one of lifetime community, says that Isaiah 53 includes physical healing, who are we, and who is any modern scholar or supposed minister, to say otherwise?
Take heart. Jesus bought your healing. Let’s just get close enough to catch what is being distributed.
