Could Isaiah 35:8 be the basis for Jesus citing the cleansing of lepers as a messianic sign?
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In Matthew 11, Jesus is questioned about whether he is the messiah. Instead of answering directly, in Matthew 11:45 Jesus points to his deeds. The deeds he lists are messianic signs according to passages in Isaiah 26:19, 35:5-6 and 61:1. However, one evidence that Jesus offers is not named in Isaiah or in any other prophet as a messianic sign (as far as I can tell). That miracle is the cleansing of lepers.
In my research, I found sources that say that it was a Rabbinical tradition of that time that only the messiah could cleanse a leper. Yet in studying one messianic passage more closely, I wonder if I have found indirect Biblical evidence for that being a messianic sign.
> And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of
> Holiness; **the unclean shall not pass over it**. It shall belong to those
> who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
>
> - Isaiah 35:8
The “unclean” above could mean only the morally wicked, but in the Old Testament it would seem to also include anyone who was ritually unclean. If the promise of a safe highway, a safe passage through the terrors of life, was denied the ritually unclean like lepers, then they would be excluded from the blessings of the messianic age. To fully participate, they would need to be cleansed.
Have any theologians proposed Isaiah 35:8 as supplying the prophetic basis to Jesus’ statement in Matthew 11 concerning the cleansing of lepers, making it a messianic sign?
Asked by Paul Chernoch
(15386 rep)
Dec 25, 2025, 02:38 AM
Last activity: Dec 28, 2025, 05:00 PM
Last activity: Dec 28, 2025, 05:00 PM