Objection: “Our” Sicknesses in Matthew 8:17 Are Only from the Standpoint of the Jews in Capernaum Who Were Healed

This objection interprets Jesus’ healing of “our” sicknesses to be a statement from the standpoint of Jews at Capernaum as opposed to everyone everywhere.  In other words, the Jews would have thought, “He took our sicknesses,” but that would be as far as things went.  This would usually be paired with the incorrect statement that Isaiah’s prophecy was completely fulfilled that night at Capernaum, which is refuted elsewhere.  Thus, according to the objector, Jesus bore all the sicknesses of the people at Capernaum but not necessarily all OUR sicknesses today.

This is doubly ridiculous.  First, Jesus did not BEAR sicknesses in Capernaum – He HEALED them without having to take them on Himself and BEAR them that night.  Jesus did not walk away sick.  His BEARING of sickness came only during His atonement for our sins.  Second, one only has to look at Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 53:4-5 and see that attributing “our” sicknesses to only those there in Capernaum makes no sense for the following reasons:

1.       He did not appear to be stricken, smitten of God and afflicted at Capernaum.

2.       He was not wounded for our transgressions or bruised for our iniquities at Capernaum.

3.       No stripes were laid on His back for anyone’s healing at Capernaum.

4.       To be consistent, we would have to say that Jesus only took the sins of the Jews at Capernaum, not “our” sins as we would understand that.

Jesus’ taking of OUR sicknesses could not have been a one-time event at Capernaum because it directly related to the atonement for EVERYONE’s sins, as is clear when you read Isaiah’s prophecy to which Matthew referred.