Mat 8:16-17 | KingComments | STEP | The Lord remains busy until the evening for those in need. There are “many who were demon-possessed” and that in the land of God. The people must have greatly fallen away. At the word of His power the evil spirits depart. There is no resistance here. Besides the spiritual suffering through demons, there is also a lot of physical suffering. He also heals those who suffer in this way. All these things indicate that instead of being blessed through obedience, the people have brought a curse upon themselves through disobedience. But Christ is present to take away the consequences of the curse from people who come to Him in faith. The quotation from the prophet Isaiah shows how and in which spirit the Lord accomplishes the healing. While He helps the people, He feels all their needs and illnesses at their deepest. He carries the burden of them in His spirit, while He gets rid of them by His power. The miracle shows His Divine power, but there is also the Divine sympathy that enters into the depths of the need of those He comes to help. Taking the weaknesses and carrying away the diseases does not refer to the cross, but to His life on earth. The quotation from Isaiah does not say that the Lord carried away the diseases on the cross and that a believer should therefore no longer be ill. Just as the Lord sympathizes with weaknesses, He sympathizes in cases of disease. He cannot sympathize with sins. For that He had to go into death. He cannot identify himself with someone who sinned and thus support such a person in that path. He can identify himself with someone who is ill to support such a person in his suffering. He identifies Himself with someone who is ill in the same way as with someone who is imprisoned for His Name ( ).

‏ Matthew 8:16-17

Many Healed

The Lord remains busy until the evening for those in need. There are “many who were demon-possessed” and that in the land of God. The people must have greatly fallen away. At the word of His power the evil spirits depart. There is no resistance here. Besides the spiritual suffering through demons, there is also a lot of physical suffering. He also heals those who suffer in this way. All these things indicate that instead of being blessed through obedience, the people have brought a curse upon themselves through disobedience. But Christ is present to take away the consequences of the curse from people who come to Him in faith.

The quotation from the prophet Isaiah shows how and in which spirit the Lord accomplishes the healing. While He helps the people, He feels all their needs and illnesses at their deepest. He carries the burden of them in His spirit, while He gets rid of them by His power. The miracle shows His Divine power, but there is also the Divine sympathy that enters into the depths of the need of those He comes to help.

Taking the weaknesses and carrying away the diseases does not refer to the cross, but to His life on earth. The quotation from Isaiah does not say that the Lord carried away the diseases on the cross and that a believer should therefore no longer be ill. Just as the Lord sympathizes with weaknesses, He sympathizes in cases of disease.

He cannot sympathize with sins. For that He had to go into death. He cannot identify himself with someone who sinned and thus support such a person in that path. He can identify himself with someone who is ill to support such a person in his suffering. He identifies Himself with someone who is ill in the same way as with someone who is imprisoned for His Name (Mt 25:36-40).