Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

Eisegesis: 

Physical healing is a guarantee within the salvation package. You can command healing to take place for a person right now.  

Exegesis:   

This verse is primarily concerned with spiritual healing through salvation. Although God can still heal someone if it is in His will to do so, however, this verse should not be used as a magical formula to claim that healing is instantly available for us today. 

The physical healing implied in this verse is an auxiliary (secondary) benefit. It is an outworking of the atonement that one day in heaven, we will all be completely healed.

More importantly, this verse speaks of a spiritual healing that Jesus accomplished for us by suffering as a servant and atoning for our sins. By His stripes and scourging, our sick twisted and transgressed souls are made right before Him.

Unfortunately, the improper interpretation of this verse as a promise for physical healing has devastated the hearts of millions of people who are led to believe that something is wrong with their faith because they aren’t receiving the promise of healing.

The immediate context of the Isaiah 53:5

When we look at the context of the word ‘healing’ in the surrounding verses and even in the rest of the book of Isaiah, it becomes clear that ‘healed’ refers to the spiritual healing of God’s people. It highlights God’s ability to save us from our sins through spiritual restoration. This is evident from the language used in Isaiah 53:5, which includes several terms directly tied to sin:

• Transgressions – is another word for Sin
• Iniquity – is another word for sin
• Chastisement – is a reference to our salvation (being freed from the bondage of sin)
• Turned away (mentioned in the next verse, Isaiah 53:6) – is a reference to our sinful disobedience.

As evident from the immediate context, there is nothing in this verse that teaches that Christians have an earthly right to demand physical healing. Rather it speaks of believers having an earthly right to be justified by faith with a promise of eternal life.

New Testament context

The New Testament quotes Isaiah 53:5 twice, which seems to support both physical & spiritual healing.

Supporting Physical Healing

Matthew 8:16-17 (NKJV)

When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”

Supporting Spiritual Healing

1 Peter 2:24-25 (NKJV)

who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. or you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

How do we reconcile these two?

We could safely ascertain that God has both aspects of our healing provided for by the atoning work of Jesus, but it is also true that both of these will not be fully realized until the very end.

So if physical healing is a component within the scripture, what is the problem with quoting the verse?

The problem is when preachers will use this verse out of context to claim that every believer has the right to the promise of perfect health right NOW and when this does not happen in the person’s life, it is simply because the believer did not claim this promise in faith. 

This of course ends up discouraging for the believers who do not have their prayers answered. It also contradicts and devalues the personal pain and struggles of the Saints in the Bible and throughout history. 

If healing was something promised “instantly” to all believers, no one would have to go through pain and suffering.

So what is the promise of physical healing?

Simply put, physical healing is not guaranteed to every Christian right now; likewise, the totality of our salvation (in our glorification – being completely free from sin and conformed to the image of Christ) is not promised to us right now. We know that removing the penalty for sin will not remove the presence of sin in a believer’s life until and after the resurrection.

The Bible explicitly says concerning our salvation that we have been saved (Ephesians 2:8), are being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18), and we will be saved (1 Corinthians 3:15). In the same sense, we could also add that we have been healed, are being healed, and one day will be healed. 

God’s ultimate healing for us will happen at the “resurrection,” during His second coming, and this is a glorious promise to every believer. 

Every temporary or patch-up healing that happens during this present age is simply an anticipation of the ultimate healing that will come.

What not to do & what to do? 

Christians must not absurdly “claim” to have been healed, despite having minor symptoms, and later state that they are standing on the promise of Isaiah 53:5. Christians should not add physical healing as a requirement or evidence of a person’s salvation/repentance of sins. 

What Christians can do is pray boldly and trust in God’s goodness and mercy to heal us now, even before the ultimate healing of resurrection, and to help us be content if it isn’t in His will for us to be healed instantly.

The beauty of this verse

Unfortunately, the language of the substitution (Christ dying for our sins), which is the theme of the passage, is ultimately lost in all of this dialogue.

Just look at the following emphasis of Isaiah 53:5.

“wounded for OUR transgressions . . . bruised for OUR iniquities . . . chastisement for OUR peace.”

Christ suffered not for HIS sin but OURs; He came as a substitute for sinners and became the recipient of God’s wrath. He sustained the chastisement to restore OUR peace with God.

The spiritual healing of the cross brings us a promise of restoration of having a right relationship with God.

Isaiah 53:5, when understood properly, is a wonderful, amazing, and grace-filled verse.