The Meal That Heals

Carrying What You Do Not Need To Carry

He Carried Our Sicknesses While the forgiveness of sin is the central feature of Christ’s work, Isaiah the prophet also indicated that the Messiah carried more than just our iniquities: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows...” Isaiah 53:4 Note that the common Hebrew word for sickness is kholee. This Hebrew word is from the root chalah, meaning to be weak, sick, or afflicted. We read in Deuteronomy 7:15, “And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness (kholee)...” This word is translated sickness in 1 Kings 17:17, 2 Kings 8:8, and other places. The common Hebrew word for pain is macob. This is used in Job 33:19: “He is chastened also with pain (macob).” Another verse in Jeremiah 51:8 reads, “Take balm for her pain (macob). In Isaiah 53:4, the word for griefs is kholee and the word for sorrows is macob. Other English translations note this fact: “Surely our sickness he hath borne, and our pains he hath carried them.” Young’s translation “But only our diseases did he bear himself and our pains he carried.” Dr. Isaac Leeser’s translation Alexander McLaren notes, “The Hebrews drew no sharp line of distinction between diseases of the body and those of the soul, as we are accustomed to draw. All sickness was taken to be a consequence of sin.” In other words, both sin and sickness are a result of the fall of Adam. As Christ began to heal the sick in His day, Matthew quoted the seven hundred year old prophecy from Isaiah 53:4 being fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Notice the wording of the following passage:

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