HOUSTON GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY
HEALING AS A UNIFYING THEME IN THE BOOK OF
Isaiah
A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO DR. CHUCH PITTS
AS A
REQUIREMENT OF OT 661A
THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
BY
DIANNA CAMPBELL
HOUSTON, TEXAS
14 DECEMBER 2001
CONTENTS
Chapter I
1.
Introduction .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
2.
Healing in Old
Testament Culture . . . . . . . . . .
3
3.
“Healing” in
the Book of Isaiah . . . . . . . . . .
5
Healing
in Isaiah 1-39
Healing in Isaiah 40-55
Healing in Isaiah 56-66
4. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 21
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In the beginning when God spoke order out of
chaos and declared it good, there was wholeness in creation; there was no need
for healing. It was only after
disobedience and going one’s own way came into the world that God’s story became
the story of healing. Wholeness and
well being always have been and always will be God’s plan and purpose for his
creation; disobedience and lack of trust always have been and always will serve
as barriers to this plan. In answer to this, the mission and message of the
book of Isaiah say, “trust in God!” “Trust
in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal”(26:4.)
Out of this one central theme flow all of the imagery and other themes that
make this book so rich and important.
The book of Isaiah is usually called a story of
judgment and redemption; it is also a story of healing. Although it is an important theme in the
development of the canonical text, healing has received little attention from
biblical scholars. Explanations of this are most likely related to the facts
that it is often more implied than specific, that it sometimes is included as a
part of one of the other themes, and/or that it is cloaked in typological and
eschatological language. The skillful linking of healing to the allegorical and
metaphorical images, as well as to the major themes, unifies them and binds
them inextricably to God’s ultimate purpose and plan.
The contemporary definition of healing includes the
word “cure,” in fact, Webster’s dictionary defines healing: ”to restore to
health; to effect a cure”(Grove 1976, 1043).
According to Walter Brueggemann, in his book, Isaiah 1-39,
healing is not really definable: “Healing is in any case a miracle that outruns
scientific explanation...the miracle of healing is connected to the immediate
hands-on governance of Yahweh”(Brueggemann 1998, 305). In God’s dictionary,
healing is a mystery that involves wholeness of body, mind and spirit for all
of creation somehow wrapped up in his will, his peace and his rest. Ultimately,
it is only through him that genuine healing can happen.
There are only a few accounts of physical healing in
the OT. They are random and usually occurred to redeem disobedience on the part
of the one who was healed. God sometimes used the prophets as instruments of
healing but this was true only on a limited basis. In Genesis Abimelech, who
was a victim of circumstance, was healed by Abraham’s prayer(Genesis 20:7,17).
In the case of Miriam, her disease was a result of disobedience, a judgment coming
out of God’s anger against her. God
healed her after she repented and Moses prayed for her (Numbers 12:9-15). The
healing of Jeroboam is also a result of disobedience and judgment (I Kings
13:1-6). However, the healings of
Naaman (II Kings 5:14) and Hezekiah (Isaiah 38:5) were different, theirs were
clearly cases of God’s grace in action in the OT; perhaps a foreshadowing of
the healing ministry of Jesus
In this paper the development of several important
healing passages in the Isaianic text will be examined. It will discuss how the
concept changes with the conditions in each of the three books, and also show
how they are intricately related to unifying the books. Emphasis will be placed
on the commissioning passage, on the suffering servant passages and on passages
related to the covenantal relationship between God and his people.
Healing in
Old Testament Culture
In order to put Israel’s theology of healing into
context, it is necessary to understand the beliefs concerning healing in OT
culture. Their concept of healing was
inclusive of body, mind and spirit; it did not necessarily mean a physical cure
and it was not confined to persons, it also encompassed nations and all of
nature. As will be seen, “healing,” as
it was used within the Biblical context, was synonymous with and used
interchangeably with ”restore,” “comfort,” and “salvation.”
Beliefs based on who God was and how he
related to them dictated the understanding of healing among the children of
Israel. Their belief that God was the initiator as well as the healer of
diseases eliminated the necessity for “healers,” among them. In his paper,
“Patterns in the Prophetic Canon,” Ronald Clements writes:
Medical knowledge was clearly
minimal in such a society and it was both natural and necessary to turn to God
for the remedy…[the]ancient Israelite society looked upon healing as one
distinctive aspect of the mysterious powers of life….Fundamental aspects of the
experience of life and basic insights of Israel’s faith in Yahweh as
life-giving Creator and Sustainer of the universe pointed to the importance of
healing as a mark of God’s power touching and entering into human
lives.(Clements 1982, 199)
Pagan
cultures around them had diviners and magicians who sometimes acted on behalf
of those who were ill, but these practices were expressly forbidden among God’s
people.
The
Levitical priests did have a role in the healing process. As defined in the cultic law, it was their
duty to certify a person as being healed (or not) and to make offerings of atonement
when healing occurred, but they were not the healers (Leviticus 14:1-31). In
his paper, “By His Stripes We Are Healed,” Bruce Reichenbach points out,
...it is probably safe to say
that in general the ancient Hebrews believed that serious illness was more than
a physical phenomenon. It had moral and spiritual dimensions that made it
appropriate to beseech the Almighty for deliverance (Psalm 91:1-10). Since a
function of God was to heal the sick (Exodus 15:26) the role of healer, found
in surrounding cultures, did not form a significant part of OT Hebrew culture
(though this apparently changes in the Greek period). Priests provided
diagnostics and administered purification laws and rituals but were not
considered healers. (Reichenbach 1998, 553)
Reichenbach
goes on to explain that priestly duties were specific and related to the
sacrificial system. The people
understood that neither the certification nor the sacrifice cured the ailment.
(Reichenback 1998, 554)
From the time of their deliverance from Egyptian
slavery to the time of Isaiah, the history of the chosen people reflected this
pattern: the people sinned (got into trouble), they cried out to God, God
intervened and delivered them, and then the cycle began again. By the time of Isaiah, God had become tired
of their behavior; he had lost his patience with this people and had decided to
judge and punish them. This time, God’s deliverance was to be different and it
would include healing in the deepest sense of it’s meaning. This time God would
heal by first withholding healing: “See now, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, is
about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support….in that day he
will cry out, I have no remedy. (or “I will not be a healer”)(3:1,7a) This
time, God would deliver his people from the root cause of their problem and his
instrument of deliverance (or healing) would be his judgment.
The opening verses of First and Second Isaiah set
the tone for the prophecies they contain.
First Isaiah, in judgment, says: “I will not be your healer”(6:10);
Second Isaiah, offering hope, says: “Comfort, comfort my people”(40:1). In both of these verses, healing is the
theme, a significant connection between the two sections. Healing is also the theme of Third Isaiah,
and offers perhaps the clearest message of judgment and salvation. Sandwiched between the first verse: “This
is what the Lord says: ‘Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation
is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed’” (56:1) and
this verse in the final chapter: “As a mother comforts her child, so will I
comfort you...your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like
grass...”(66:13,14) was God’s plan for restoration during the time it would
take for the prophecy to be fulfilled. It is a way of life for the “remnant”
for all times. The progression of God’s plan clearly shows that the theme
develops from healing of the people, to include the healing of the nations, and
ultimately to the healing of creation.
Healing in
Isaiah 1-39
In First Isaiah healing is presented in a negative
way and is tied to God’s judgment of the people. This judgment is introduced here in the deafness/blindness theme
thus defining “illness” as sin. Sin was defined as disregard for God’s law and
for the welfare of others. It is this sin that permeated all areas of society
that the prophet’s message was addressing. “OT thought frequently links
sickness, suffering and sin. Humans
freely sin, and sin leads to punishment, which culminated appropriately in
suffering.”(Reichenbach 1998, 551) God’s covenant with his people was
indisputable evidence that he desired for them health and wholeness, not
suffering. However, by this time, it
had become clear that judgment and punishment were the only means of providing
true healing.
Chapter 6 describes the commissioning of
Isaiah and how God would use him to implement his ultimate plan. Verses nine and ten are significant to
Isaiah’s call, to God’s plan and to the theme of healing:
He said, “Go and tell this
people: Be ever hearing but never understanding; be ever seeing but never
perceiving. Make the heart of this
people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be
healed”(6:9,10).
The
language of this verse seems to be addressing a physical problem, especially
since many people of that time were afflicted with deafness and blindness.
However, on closer examination, the deafness and blindness described here were
related to a spiritual condition rather than physical disease. It also becomes
clear that in this sense, they functioned as symbols of God’s judgment (Childs
2001, 299). However, whether the condition was physical or spiritual healing
was needed.
The words of this verse give the impression of a harshness contrary to the nature of God who
was viewed as a loving provider. Here was a description of illness that God did
not want to heal; an illness he seemingly ordained. How can this be
reconciled? Childs says this brings up
several theological issues that are not easily resolved, but one way of
considering them is to look at the text as a whole where it becomes obvious
this is not the final intent of God for the people (Childs 2001, 56). It would
seem that this is one of those instances where God’s timing and God’s ways are
not our ways(55:8b). If the people had
been healed before the judgment was carried out, the cycle of sin would have
continued. Going to the root of the
problem and instituting healing from that point was the only way for God’s plan
of salvation to be realized.
It is harsh to recognize that the rule of God is rejected by God’s own
people. It is enigmatic to see that the
rejection is not only willful hard-heartedness, but is decreed by God, decreed
because God wanted (?) the defeat of Jerusalem; wanted(?) the resistance of
unbelievers to Jesus. It is clear in
this hard saying, even if much else is not clear here, that the purposes of God
are at work in the midst of severe human obduracy. There are no easy healings.
There are no ready turnings. The
healings are not readily available, and the turnings are too demanding
(Brueggemann 1998, 63).
The unwillingness on the part of God that the blind and
deaf be healed in 6:10 seems to be not only harsh, but also contradictory to
this promise found in Exodus 15:25b,26:
There the Lord made a decree
and a law for them, and there he tested them.
He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and
do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all
his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the
Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”
The
Lord named himself, Yahweh Rapha(God who heals) and entered into a
covenant which included healing that would be available through him for his
people. OT relationships between God
and his people were always covenantal, establishing God as the instigator and
his people as the beneficiaries.
God who named himself “the God Who Heals” in the
Mosaic covenant, reminded his people through Isaiah this covenant is still in
effect on his part; this same God named himself the God who will still be the
healer when all of these prophecies have been fulfilled: “he will swallow up
death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away
the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all
the earth. The Lord has spoken”(25:8)(cf.
Revelation 21:4). When the Lord speaks, he does what he
says: “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God
stands forever”(40:8).
It is not by accident that the theme of
blindness/deafness introduced in 6:10 can be traced throughout the entire
prophecy. The interweaving and blending of themes is an important aspect to the
unity of the book as a whole and perhaps no other theme is as prominent or as
complex as this one. It can be traced through all three parts of Isaiah from
6:10 to 59:10, and beyond that into the New Testament and the ministry of
Jesus. “In John 12:37-43, the same verses are quoted to comment negatively on
those who suffer from spiritual blindness and do not properly discern Jesus –
who he is and what he requires” (Brueggemann 1998, 62).
After this theme was introduced in First Isaiah, it
moved and changed with the “weals” and “woes” in both Second and Third
Isaiah. The language moves back and
forth between being able to see and hear and not being able to see and hear
according to the need for emphasis in the oracles (29:9,18, 35:5, 42:7, 42:18,
43:8, 56:10, 59:10).
Additionally, in response to the blind/deaf verses,
are the passages that specifically use “healing” in some form. For example,
29:18 says, “In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out
of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.” Almost as in answer to this 30:26 says, “The
moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter,
like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his
people and heals the wounds he inflicted.” It is as if one cannot be
separated from the other without compromising the efficiency of the judgment
and redemption.
Intertextuality is a dominant feature of the book as themes are woven and
interwoven throughout it to form networks...Words having to do with
sight/seeing in physical and metaphysical senses (e.g. understanding, insight,
disclosure, revelation, realization) abound throughout the book...From 1:2-3 to
66:24 the book of Isaiah is about seeing and perceiving, lacking understanding
and being blind. (Carroll 197, 79-80)
It has already been
established that where there is blindness and deafness, there is a need for
healing. Seitz explains that deafness and blindness in this context are not
physical illnesses, “But . . . are rather, signs of the extent of Israel’s
deafness and the accuracy of the divine diagnosis”(Seitz 1993, 27). Carroll
agrees calling these diseases evidence of “the metaphysical condition of the
community”(Carroll 1997,87).
The function of First Isaiah was to pronounce
judgment on the people. Much of this section was filed with hopelessness and
despair, however in chapter 35, the blindness/healing themes began to take on
an eschatological voice and began to foreshadow the hope of Second Isaiah:
Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear, your God
will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to
save you.” Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf
unstopped(4, 5).
Brueggemann
says of this verse:
It is important to notice the linkage made in Luke to the ministry of
Jesus. Thus it is attested, that where
Jesus is present: “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought
to them”(Luke 7:22). The claim is made that in the ministry of Jesus, God’s new
governance is effected (Brueggemann 1997, 277,78).
In chapter 38, as First Isaiah is coming to a close,
there is a story of physical healing.
It is a narrative in a book of few narratives; a physical healing in a
book that does not specifically record any other physical healing. Why is this
included? Why is it placed here? What is its function? This passage could be seen as a study in
contrasts: first, as a contrast between Hezekiah and his father, then as a
contrast between Hezekiah and Jerusalem. Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, was
portrayed as the exact opposite of his father. When Ahaz was offered
deliverance from Syria he chose to rely on himself instead of God (7:1-13). But
in Hezekiah’s case, when it seemed that Jerusalem was about to fall, he sought
God and relied on him for deliverance (47:14-19).
Hezekiah
trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel.
There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before
him or after him. He held fast to the
Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given
Moses. And the Lord was with him: he
was successful in whatever he undertook. (II Kings 18:5)
After being told by Isaiah that his illness was
terminal, Hezekiah, remembering God’s faithfulness, again turned to him in
prayer and was healed (38:2,5). Hezekiah’s condition was contrasted with the
condition of the city of Jerusalem, both were “sick from head to foot”(1:5 and
38:10). But Hezekiah “takes a stand on
the basis of his faithfulness before God – something the nation cannot
do”(Seitz 1993, 257)! Childs does not see this as a parallel or contrast
between Hezekiah and Jerusalem but rather as “a typological relationship...set
up between the sickness and recovery of Hezekiah and the judgment and
restoration of the people of Israel”(Childs 2001, 284).
The final comparison is between the responses of
Hezekiah and Ahaz when offered a sign that God would do what he said. Ahaz refused because he thought he could
rely on his own devices, but Hezekiah accepted God’s sign as a seal of their
covenant relationship (38:7,8).
Throughout chapters 1-35, God had been calling his
people, through Isaiah, to come to him and trust in him. Hezekiah did this, thus becoming a model for
what happens when people place their trust in God. Perhaps it is also a foreshadowing of the servant messages to
come in Second Isaiah. This narrative was a positive reminder at the end of the
long pronouncement of judgment, affirming what God had been saying all along.
It also served as a link to Second Isaiah and his promise of hope.
Healing in Isaiah 40-55
Second Isaiah, or Deutero-Isaiah, was written during
the time of the exile, after the judgment had taken place. The beginning words
of this section set the theme for the next fifteen chapters: “Comfort, comfort
my people, says your God”(40:1). This is a far different voice from the one
heard in 6:10. Judgment and punishment had taken place and now was the time for
healing, the time for “the new thing”(43:19) God was going to do; the change
that would take place in the relationship between him and his people.
Beginning, middle, and end, Second Isaiah’s message consistently
describes how God was about to heal a torn creation and restore a broken
community...The inbreaking of the new that breaks the bonds of exile and heals
the brokenness of both human community and nature is a central theme in Second
Isaiah (Hanson 1995, 48,10).
In this
section the healing theme developed in conjunction with and as a part of the
salvation and restoration that would result in a new covenant. “Our disease is
no trivial matter. It is rooted in our
sinfulness, our rejection of God, our setting up of ourselves in his place, our
breaking of the covenant” (Reichenback 1998, 559). However Oswalt writes, “It
has been through his [God’s] keeping of his side of the covenant when the
people had hopelessly and repeatedly broken their side of it that the
incredible nature of his love has become known” (Oswalt 1998, 119). It this element of the nature of God that
ties healing to the covenantal theme.
Throughout
the course of the “comfort” oracles and in conjunction with the “remnant,” “covenant”
and “servant” themes, the function of healing continued to broaden so that it
was becoming more and more inclusive of the earth, the nations and future
generations. The blind/deaf theme appears again in chapter 42, bringing it into
the body of Second Isaiah, but it has also changed to fit this “new thing” God
is going to do. “Listen, you that are deaf; and you that are blind, look up
and see”(42:18)! This statement is an answer to the accusation in 40:27
that God is the one who is deaf. He is
refuting that and saying in effect, “Yes, indeed, deafness and blindness is the
problem, but the record needs to be clarified as to who is afflicted with
deafness and blindness. It is not God
but Israel”(Hanson 1995, 53)! He seemed
to be saying that once the people grasped this, then he could get on with his
purpose. This verse can be related back to 6:9-10 and forward to 59:10
powerfully unifying all three sections (Clements 1982, 25).
The central
theme in Second Isaiah is connected to the “servant” who is first mentioned in
42:1-9 and culminates in chapter 53. “The linkage between sin, sickness,
suffering and death forms a background motif for Isaiah in the Servant song of
chapters 52-53”(Reichenbach 1998,553). In chapters 42, 49, and 50, the identity
of the servant is not always clear, but in 53 he becomes perfectly identifiable
– at least from a Christian point of view.
The Isaiah 53 passages describing the “suffering
servant” are the most beautiful passages in all of Isaiah. Hanson says,
The
Servant of the Lord stands out as the most arresting metaphor of all for the
individual community drawn into partnership with God in restoring all of
creation to health through reconciliation with its Center. (Hanson 1995, 11)
The
work of this Servant would complete the requirements for the full restoration
of all life that was promised in Second Isaiah. The images of the healing and restoration of the people and the
earth are made possible by the atonement act of the Servant. “Thus the
Servant’s ministry will not constitute an imposition of some new regimen, but
will be, in fact, the renewal of creative design”(Oswalt 1998, 116-17).
Isaiah 53:6 is the “proof text” that supports the
position that salvation, restoration, comfort and healing are inextricably tied
to the book of Isaiah as a whole. These recurring themes, interwoven through
the whole book are brought together in this one person and his work as a
unifier of the whole.
Healing in Isaiah 56-66
Third or Trito-Isaiah is considered by most scholars
to come out of the post-exilic period.
In contrast to Second Isaiah, it begins on a very somber note, one much
different than would be expected given the picture of the return to Jerusalem
painted by Second Isaiah. It is reminiscent of the conditions described in
First Isaiah, yet it is different. The
judgment, the promises of restoration and the atonement of the Servant have
happened and the “remnant,” who are now the “chosen people,” have returned to
Jerusalem. Healing had not taken place in the way the people had expected, in
fact, it seemed there had been no healing at all. Restoration was not what
Second Isaiah had promised. What had happened to all those beautiful
promises? This is another “God’s ways
are not my ways”(55:8b) situation. The people did not understand that the
prophecy would not be fulfilled instantaneously; that it would evolve as the
people’s trust and obedience evolved. They were looking for physical and
tangible healing; they did not understand that spiritual healing was the way to
all wholeness.
Second and Third Isaiah (chapters 40-66) together,
continued to expand and broaden the way to the promised restoration and
salvation (healing) available for those who believed God and put their trust in
him. Hanson says that Second and Third Isaiah are closely related and that
Third Isaiah is “a dialogue” with Second Isaiah. This dialogue “[reflects] the
changes in the social and political conditions being experienced by the
returnees as they sought to reestablish themselves in their Jewish homeland”(Hanson
1995, 191). He goes on to explain that the earliest part of the message of the
prophet in Third Isaiah:
Closely resembles that of Second Isaiah both in form and in content.
Thus 57:14-19 introduced with the repetition of an imperative and following an
even meter much in the style of Second Isaiah, develops the twin themes of a
way for the returning of the people and of the healing and comfort that God
intends for them (Hanson 1995, 192).
In one sense Third Isaiah sets forth the proper
response of the people in this new relationship with God. But in another sense,
these responses are highly eschatological in nature applying to people today
and to whatever future generations remain. This is especially significant in
that the message of Third Isaiah is essentially: God’s people must be God’s
people no matter what conditions they live under. In fact, “it is precisely in
the midst of spiritual confusion and moral dissonance that the faithful must
remain steadfast”(Hanson 1995, 245).
The ten chapters that make up Third Isaiah, in
particular, put much emphasis on God’s “word” and his everlasting covenant.
This is one way in which it differs from Second Isaiah. This word:
Was instrumental in freeing the people from the
self-imposed bondage of futility that kept them in exile, it was effective in
encouraging them to begin the rebuilding process that would reestablish the
Jewish homeland, it was spiritually powerful in directing the attention of
human beings to the release from sin and restoration unto wholeness that was
the most miraculous of all God’s gifts and the one that set the foundation for
all that they were called to do (Hanson 1995, 190).
Second
Isaiah, said of God’s word: “The grass withers, the flower fades; but the
word of our God will stand forever” (40:8). In Third Isaiah, the work and
effectiveness of his word is expanded: “So shall my word be that goes out
from my mouth, it shall not return to me empty, but is shall accomplish that
which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (55:11). Eschatologically,
from here his word would also reach into the NT to adding to the dimension
of that Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”
(John1:1,14a).
The word that God pronounces and that the prophet proclaims, the word
taking form both in judgment and in promise, accomplishes its purpose by
reshaping the thoughts of people, driving them to abandon their self-reliance,
to repent of their wickedness and to accept God’s will as their own (Hanson
1995, 190).
Third Isaiah presents, particularly
in chapters 56-66, a picture of God’s word coming into human reality and
interacting in their suffering and struggles (Hanson 1995,192).
The prophecy of Isaiah has not happened in a chronological
and historical manner, rather, it has evolved through
An efficacious divine word that drew a people back onto a historical
pilgrimage that was not limited to one generation but reached out over the
ages. Its powerful images of sacrifice,
healing, and redemption renewed the creative process that sustained the witness
of the Jewish community to God’s righteousness through the ages down to the
present time and that helped the followers of Jesus of Nazareth to understand
the significance of what they were experiencing within the context of God’s
purpose. (Hanson 1995,190)
This is seen in 57:14-19 in
the “twin themes of a way for the returning of the people and of the healing and
comfort that God intends for them”(Hanson 1995, 192). And in 58:8,10-11 in the
words of light, healing and restoration encouraging the people to find
reconciliation with God through the building of community. They could do this
by returning to “true personhood” as set forth in the covenant. The end result
of this would bring an all encompassing healing. (Hanson 1995, 206)
One major difference between the emphases of Second
and Third Isaiah is in their descriptions of the servant. In Third Isaiah the Servant has become the
“servants.” This coupled with the eschatological nature of this part of Isaiah
shifts the responsibilities assigned to the Servant onto those who are his
disciples in all times.
Conclusion
In the year 2001, the prophecy of Isaiah has
still not been completely fulfilled.
Some of the things promised by Second Isaiah are still in the future as
were most of those things in his time.
Jesus Christ, the Messiah, has come and fulfilled the extending
prophecies in Isaiah 53 and he has brought Kingdom living into the world in a
way hoped for by the people in the 5th century BC. He brought with him healing in a way that it
had not been experienced before and he
perfected it in his death and resurrection, making it available to those who ask. He has extended the community that Third
Isaiah talked about into a community who truly has as its vision inclusiveness
of all the nations. In this continuing
fulfillment of the everlasting covenant, healing is a gift of the Spirit, also
made possible by the atonement made by Jesus for those who believe and trust
God. Healing is still tied to
salvation, comfort, and restoration and is still a powerful force flowing from
God’s willingness to save and from his power to save.
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the Blind and the Lame.” In Canon,
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