“Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.”
Matthew 9:22
This verse comes from a pretty well-known story that is actually included in each of the synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It’s an interesting story because it’s really not even about the miracle that healed her, that’s actually a side note to the main story. In Matthew’s gospel, the narrative explains that Jesus is actually on his way to heal the daughter of some ruler who asked for his help. As he was following the man to his house, the woman from our verse, who had been suffering some kind of bleeding disorder for 12 years, thought to herself that if she could just get a hand on even his outer garments, it would be enough to heal her. So she did. She reached out and touched the outer fringe of his robes.
It is at this point in the narrative that we reach today’s verse. Jesus turns around to see her and tells those all-important words: “your faith has made you well.”
In those six words, Jesus more or less summed up the entire message of the gospel. “Your faith has made you well.”
The entire message of Christ is exactly that. Jesus came to save us sinners, the hopeless and helpless and lost. This woman, bleeding for 12 years, represents us. We were suffering in sin, unable to stop the bleeding, and then Jesus came. He didn’t prescribe us to do x, y, or z to stop the bleeding. He didn’t give us a strict diet to follow or a regimen of medicines to take. He simply wants us to believe.
Jesus’ robes weren’t magical. They weren’t made of any heavenly materials that had healing powers. In fact, Jesus wasn’t even seeking this woman out to heal her. That’s why the words he chose were so important. He didn’t say that He had made her well or that God had made her well. He told her that her faith made her well. Of course, Jesus certainly had something to do with the healing, as he does with ours. But the point is that it required nothing more and nothing less than simply her faith in order to be healed.
So it is for us. Christ has come and he has fulfilled the sacrifice that we could never have paid ourselves. He took the punishment for our sin, he conquered death on our behalf. Now, all that’s left is to believe. And if you do, your faith will make you well.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the beautiful gift of faith. Thank you that you don’t require us to earn our righteousness or holiness, but that you give it freely to us by grace through faith. I know that I could never be well on my own, but I know that faith in Jesus has made me well.
In His Name,
Amen.
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