Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 8:17

"that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: Himself took our infirmities, and bare our diseases." — Matthew 8:17 (ASV)

Himself took our infirmities — This citation is interesting because it shows St. Matthew’s way of handling Messianic prophecies. We see in Isaiah 53 a picture of our Lord’s spiritual work of redemption, and the words quoted are a cardinal text for the view of the atonement which sees Christ’s sufferings as the freely accepted penalty due for the transgressions of humanity.

The Evangelist, with the memory of that evening present in his mind, saw these words fulfilled in the removal of the “infirmities” and “sicknesses” that oppressed people’s bodies. It was not merely that He came as one of boundless wealth who might scatter alms broadcast; rather, He Himself “took” and “bore” the sufferings which He removed. He suffered with those He saw suffer.

His power to heal was intimately connected with the intensity of His sympathy and was therefore followed by weariness and physical exhaustion, just as similar works of love are for those who are most Christ-like in their lives. What St. Mark and St. Luke relate about our Lord seeking the refuge of solitude at the earliest dawn of the next day is entirely in harmony with this suggested view.