Jesus’s miraculous works of healing were not random acts of kindness, nor were they motivated merely by His compassion for hurting people. Their purpose was to demonstrate that He was the Coming One, the prophesied Messiah Who would come and rule as King. There is a specific connection between Jesus as King and the healing of diseases. He is the King of a kingdom that will one day come upon the earth where there will be no disease, in fact, there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things will have passed away (see Rev 21:4). By His mighty works, Jesus showed the ability to bring about the conditions that will be enjoyed when the kingdom comes upon the earth. Jesus took the opportunity when He healed a Gentile, a centurion’s servant, to indicate that Gentiles will participate along with Jews in this coming kingdom.
The quotation Matthew includes, “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” is from Isaiah 53, where the prophet describes the Servant of the LORD’s suffering on the cross for our sins. Jesus did not “die” for our sicknesses, but since illness and disease are the results of sin, when sin is ultimately removed so too will its effects. So, healing is in the atonement in the sense that Christ died for our sins, and since He took them away, all sickness in the age to come will also be taken away.
So, the healing ministry of Jesus not only demonstrated that He is the King, but it also foreshadowed the ultimate healing Jesus would provide at the cross (8:5-17).