Physical Healing

Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the edge of His cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” He said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment. (Matthew 9:20-22 NIV)

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When He had gone indoors, the blind men came to Him, and He asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then He touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread the news about Him all over that region. (Matthew 9:27-31 NIV)

This woman suffered greatly from her bleeding. Mark's Gospel tells us she had spent all she had on doctors over the twelve years of her illness. And it only got worse. She believed Jesus could heal her, and she believed she would be healed if she just touched His garment. So in a faith-filled act, she came up behind Jesus and reached out to touch Him. Immediately, she was healed, and Jesus felt the healing power leave Him.

Jesus' words to her were tender and loving. “Take heart, daughter,” He said, “your faith has healed you.” It was not, "Take heart, woman..." but "Take heart, daughter..." Jesus' healing begins with His love! When we need healing, we can be sure the God we pray to is the God who created us and who loves us with deep, powerful love.

Also note that Jesus did not tell the woman her sincerity healed her. He did not say her desperation healed her. He didn't say her moral, well-lived life qualified her for healing. Instead He said, "...your faith has healed you.” Faith means believing Jesus can heal us, and believing He will.

After a brief visit to the home of a synagogue leader where Jesus raised his daughter from the dead, Jesus went on from there, and two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” Healing is an act of mercy and grace from God. The illnesses that plague us were never intended to be part of our existence when God created the first humans. When sin entered the world, so did fallen genetics and creation itself was broken. All healing is God's mercy and grace in the face of this fallen, broken world.

Jesus touched the eyes of the two blind men and said to them, “According to your faith let it be done to you.” Again, it is faith that triggers the power of God to heal. Believing He can and believing He will. This raises a persistent mystery about God's healing. Why does Jesus heal sometimes in response to prayer, and not every time? Through over five decades of ministry we have prayed for healing for countless people. Many were healed. Some were not.

As illustrated in Paul's three requests to remove the thorn in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-9), the Lord chose not to heal Paul, but to make His grace sufficient in Paul's weakness. Sometimes, we pray for healing and the answer is simply "no." At least not in the way we are praying to be healed. Sometimes God chooses to use natural forms of healing instead of supernatural intervention, through our body's immune system and medications and doctors and hospitals. And sometimes perfect healing comes through death and the receiving of a glorified, disease-free body in heaven.

Healing is also not automatic according to the size of our faith. That would be faith in our faith, rather than faith in Jesus. We must believe He can and believe He will. Sometimes people with just a little faith see miracles. And sometimes people of great faith hear God's "no."

I believe Jesus still heals people. Sometimes He responds to prayer in supernatural and instantaneous ways, and sometimes He uses medical treatments. Jesus can heal. He uses every tool at His disposal to do so. And so we pray for healing for people and watch what God does. And we give Him glory when we see His healing. The Gentle Healer, Jesus, still heals physical illness. Like the woman, reach out in faith to Him. Like the two blind men, call out for His mercy. And then watch for what He does.