Matthew 8 Footnotes

8:17 Matthew cited Is 53:4 as fulfilled in the healing ministry of Jesus. That Matthew understood this fulfillment in the light of the larger, atonement context of Is 52:13–53:12 is made clear in Mt 20:28 (see Heb 9:28; 1Pt 2:24). That is, Jesus’s healing ministry was part of his larger ministry of bringing in the kingdom (Mt 4:23). His atoning death was the central and necessary feature of this kingdom. His healings were a foretaste of the ultimate benefits of his death, benefits that will not be fully realized till his return. Thus this passage does not teach that Christians can expect automatic healing in this age.