The next passage offers two stories in one. In the first, the leader of a local synagogue came to Jesus because his daughter was deathly ill. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.” Hearing the request, Jesus and his disciples went with the leader and headed toward his house. That’s the first story. The second happened on the way there. A woman with a chronic bleeding condition was desperate for healing, having spent all her income on doctors who could do nothing for her. Her thought was, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” She did, and she was. Jesus stopped, for he felt the healing power go out from him, and he said, “Who touched me?”Truth was, lots of people were touching him, as he was the center of a large crowd. When the woman fessed up he said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” And she did, and it was.
Then, back to the leader’s daughter. While still on the way to his house, messengers came with the news that she had expired, that it was no use, “troubling the teacher now.” But Jesus would have none of it and asked for faith and patience. Going to the house he dismissed everyone else, taking in the girl’s father, mother, and only Peter, James, and John of the apostles, then took the girl’s hand and said, “little girl, get up!” And she did.
What is the connection between faith and healing? There certainly is one, but is the connection formulaic…have enough faith and healing is sure to follow?
I am always distressed by the news reports of families who are part of churches who hold against medicine and exclusively for healing through prayer. They only make the news when one of their children fall “deathly” ill, prayer fails, and the child dies or is taken as a ward of the state. A trial follows and another brick is put in the wall of rationalism that says, “To pray for healing is foolish and irresponsible.” Soon it may be illegal to hold such a position of faith.
Perhaps I am most distressed because the fervent prayers of those parents and their brothers and sisters of faith are not always answered to the positive. Of course, we only hear about the “failures,” and not about the many times when prayer and healing seem to go hand in hand for a good result. That, of course, would not be “newsworthy.”
The need for faith is strengthened by the Scripture as we read on from the healing of the little girl. The very next incident involved two blind men who followed Jesus even into the house he was staying at, saying “Son of David, have mercy on us!”...and Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can make you see?” “Yes, Lord,” they told him, “we do.” Then he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, it will happen.” And it did…because of their faith.
So I’m back to my question; what is the connection between faith and healing? And, why are some healed and not all?
I do not have satisfactory answers.
I have only questions to offer. First, few of us know the kind of faith that cannot be shaken. What we know best, and what we often call faith, is deep desire, rooted in our feelings of what is right, what is fair, and what we want. But, to be fair, that’s the kind of faith that surrounded Jesus, and he responded with healing. If we had to have resolute, unshakable faith before God would move in our behalf, we would be well on the way back to a religion of works, in which the good were rewarded and the bad were not. But Jesus did not heal on that basis, and did not quiz a supplicant on the status of his goodness before healing him or her.
You know what? I’ve decided I just don’t have a consistent answer for this issue. When my brain just can’t wrap itself around an adequate (in my mind) answer, I seem to find myself back to this realization…God is not tame, and does not act according to our priorities and desires. He is not like us, and part of that means that he realizes and sees reality as a whole. Seeing that, he can make decisions that seem unfair to us, but in the long run make perfect sense. We just can’t pin him down on matters like this. The apostle Paul said, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
If I am left with uncertainty about some matters, but with an abundance of love, I’ll take it.
Prayer: “Father of truth, my understanding is clouded and incomplete. Strengthen my faith so that I do not fall from the path of truth. Lead me to understanding and steadfastness. Grant to me a patient spirit, so that I do not press for answers before I am ready. I know that you are good, and I trust you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”