Matthew Chapter 8 verse 17 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 17. - Matthew only. A summary statement of Christ's relation to diseases. That it might be fulfilled (o%pw plhrwqh = ""); Matthew 2:23, note. Which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses; diseases (Revised Version); Isaiah 53:4, from the Hebrew. Took (ἔλαβεν) regards the transference, the assumption; bare (ἐβάστασεν), the oppressiveness; infirmities, negative; diseases, positive. St. Matthew in this verse calls attention to two points. First, that prophecy had foretold that Christ would heal the sick. For this he might have adduced Isaiah 35:5, 6, and similar passages; but as one verse will serve his double purpose, he prefers it. Secondly, that the method by which Christ did this was specially noteworthy. He did not perform miracles by magic (as is commonly asserted of him in the Talmud; cf. Laible, 'Jesus Christ in Talmud,' p. 44: Berlin, 1891),nor by the power of God exerted as it were externally on his behalf, nor by his own inherent Divine power, but by himself bearing the sicknesses that he removed. He wrought his miracles at his own expense,and that expense the greatest. The thought is far-reaching, and implies both that he bore the ultimate cause of sickness, the sin of the world (John 1:29), and also that each miracle of healing meant for him a fresh realization of what bearing the sin of the world included. In other words, the passage in Isaiah, as interpreted by St. Matthew, refers, not only to the Passion as such, but also to Christ's suffering an earnest and a foretaste of it at each miracle. May not this have been in part the cause of his sigh at one miracle (Mark 7:34), and his deep emotion at another (John 11:33)? Observe that this may be the complementary side of his experience recorded in Mark 5:30 (parallel passage: Luke 8:46), that "power" went out of him. A miracle of healing, though performed in momentary unconsciousness of what was taking place, still necessitated personal contact with sin, which to Christ's whole nature meant moral effort. The utterance recorded by Origen, "For those that are sick! was sick, and' for those that hunger I suffered hunger, and for those that thirst I suffered thirst" (Bishop Westcott, 'Introd.,' Appendix C; Resch, 'Agmpha,' Log. 47), probably expresses the same thought as our verse, though in the language of Matthew 25:35, 36. A similar idea seems to underlie the well-known saying of Talm. Bab., 'Sanh.,' 98b, with reference to Messiah, "The Leper of the house of Rabbi is his name; for it is said, 'Surely he hath berne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.'" On this and on Raymund Martini's false reading, "the Sick One," vide Dalman ('Leid. Mess.,' p. 36: 1888).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(17) Himself took our infirmities.--The citation is interesting as showing St. Matthew's way of dealing with Messianic prophecies. We see in Isaiah 53 throughout a picture of our Lord's spiritual work of redemption, and the words quoted are almost the cardinal text for the special view of the atonement, which sees in the sufferings of Christ the freely accepted penalty that was due for the transgressions of mankind. The Evangelist, with the memory of that evening present to his mind, saw them fulfilled in this removal of the "infirmities" and "sicknesses" that oppressed the bodies of men. It was not merely that He came, as one of boundless wealth, who might scatter alms broadcast, but that He Himself "took" and "bore" the sufferings which He removed. He suffered with those He saw suffer. The power to heal was intimately connected with the intensity of His sympathy, and so was followed (as analogous works of love are followed in those who are most Christ-like in their lives) by weariness and physical exhaustion. What is related by St. Mark and St. Luke of our Lord's seeking out the refuge of solitude at the earliest dawn of the day that followed, is entirely in harmony with the view thus suggested.