Matthew 8:16–17

Context

Chapters 8–9 of the Gospel of Matthew immediately follow the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5–7). This section presents a series of Jesus' miracles, including the healings of a leper, a centurion's servant, and Peter's mother-in-law. This passage is a summary report that immediately follows the healing of Peter's mother-in-law (8:14–15). When evening came, people brought to Jesus many who were possessed with devils, and he cast out the spirits "with his word" and healed "all" who were sick.

The parallel account in Mark 1 indicates that this day was a Sabbath. Many interpreters therefore conclude that the crowds came at sundown, when the Sabbath ended.

Verse 17 uses the fulfillment formula "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken," a pattern that recurs throughout Matthew. The quoted words come from Isaiah 53:4, part of the passage commonly known as the "Suffering Servant" song. Matthew's quotation is close to the Hebrew text's "sicknesses" and "pains." By contrast, the Greek translation of the Old Testament in wide use at the time (the Septuagint) rendered this phrase as "sins."

Interpretation

• Pentecostal and Full Gospel reading: Because Christ bore not only sin but also sickness on the cross, healing is regarded as a grace included in the atonement that may still be received by faith today. In Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement, the passage serves as a principal basis for the doctrine of divine healing (God's healing of sickness).
• Holiness reading: The Holiness Church confesses divine healing as one element of the Fourfold Gospel (regeneration, sanctification, divine healing, and the Second Coming) and cites this passage as one of its supporting texts.
• General Reformed and evangelical reading: Matthew is understood to have applied Isaiah's words not to the cross but to Jesus' earthly healing ministry. The final deliverance from sickness is grounded in the atonement but will be completed at the resurrection; the passage is therefore not read as a guarantee that every illness will necessarily be healed now. Proponents of this view also note that 1 Peter 2:24 applies the same chapter, Isaiah 53, to the problem of sin.
• Christological reading: The passage is seen as focused on demonstrating that Jesus is the messianic Servant foretold by Isaiah. Some also see in the phrase "Himself took our infirmities" an indication that Jesus personally shares in human suffering.

Controversies and Issues

The central issue is "healing in the atonement." Those who regard healing as a direct result of the atonement cite this passage together with Isaiah 53:4–6. Critics argue that such a reading can lead people to regard those who are not healed as lacking faith, and some criticize it in connection with prosperity theology. In response, those who emphasize divine healing maintain that their teaching affirms both God's sovereignty and his answers to prayer, and does not present healing as a mechanical guarantee. This discussion also intersects with the debate over cessationism and continuationism.

In the Korean Church

The passage is frequently cited at revival meetings that emphasize divine healing and in Full Gospel churches. The Fivefold Gospel of the Full Gospel church led by David Yonggi Cho includes "the Gospel of divine healing," and churches affiliated with the Korea Assemblies of God have carried on this teaching. Holiness churches also use the passage when explaining divine healing as part of the Fourfold Gospel.

Related Passages

• Isaiah 53:4–6
• 1 Peter 2:24
• Luke 7:22
• James 5:16–18
• Acts 8:32–35