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SOUNDING OUT:
Thy Faith Hath Made Thee Whole
It
is never once recorded in the Bible where Jesus ever
said, “My faith hath made thee whole.” But
it is recorded five times that Jesus said, “Thy
faith hath made thee whole.” Jesus was always
aware of and concerned about people’s faith. He
often asked about it. He asked of one blind man, “Believe
ye that I am able to do this? (Matthew 9:28) He asked
the impotent man, “Wilt thou be made whole?”
(John 5:6) If their faith was not adequate for their
healing, he taught them more of the Word of God. Then
faith came by hearing, and they believed to receive.
There are five places where it is recorded that
Jesus attributes a healing to someone’s faith.
On these occasions we see the perseverance of the people.
They did not quit or give up until they got what they
needed. This phrase occurs three times in the accounts
of the woman with the issue of blood recorded in Matthew,
Mark, and Luke.
Mark: 5:25-34:
[See also Matthew 9:20-22 and Luke 8:43-48]
And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve
years, [Leviticus 15:19 and 25 says that this woman
would be unclean for the entire time that she had this
issue of blood.]
26 And had suffered many
things of many physicians, and had spent all that she
had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
[Sometimes when people have lost all hope, they
go to God knowing only He can help.]
27 When she had heard of
Jesus [She had heard of the healer, and she went to
him to get hers.], came in the press behind, and touched
his garment.
28 For she said [Lego,
imperfect noting continous, repetitive, or habitual
action in the past over a period of time.], If
I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
29 And straightway the fountain
of her blood was dried up; and she felt [after having
touched him; she took the believing action first]
in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30 And Jesus, immediately
knowing in himself that virtue [dunamis,
a miracle] had gone out of him, turned him about
in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? [Can
you really feel that? He knew it spiritually. The reason
he gets on this is because there is more that needs
to be done for this lady.]
31 And his disciples said
unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and
sayest thou, Who touched me?
32 And he looked round about to see her
that had done this thing. [He was looking for a
lady.]
33 But the woman fearing
and trembling, knowing [Oida; perfect
noting action in the past with its effect in the present]
what was done in her, came and fell down before him,
and told him all the truth. [She told him how it
happened.]
34 And he said unto her,
Daughter, thy faith hath made thee
whole; go in peace, and be whole
of thy plague.
That is what she needed
to know. She needed to know it was OK; she hadn’t
stolen her healing. What she did was all right, she
didn’t need to feel bad or guilty about it. She
didn’t have to wonder if it was the right thing
to do… whether she should she tell people about
it or not.
Matthew and Luke also record this healing and
the phrase, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.”
The next place this phrase shows up is in the healing
of blind Bartimaeus.
Mark 10:46-52:
And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho
with his disciples and a great number of people, blind
Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side
begging.
47 And when he heard
that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out,
and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
48 And many charged him
that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more
a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
49 And Jesus stood still,
and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind
man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth
thee.
50 And he, casting away
his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
51 And Jesus answered and
said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto
thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might
receive my sight.
52 And Jesus said unto him,
Go thy way; thy faith
hath made thee whole. And immediately
he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
Bartimaeus was no longer
blind; his faith had healed him.
That last occurrence of
this phrase is in the healing of the ten lepers.
Luke 17:12-17:
And as he entered into a certain village, there met
him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13 And they lifted up their
voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14 And when he saw them,
he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests.
And it came to pass [pleonasm],
that, as they went [They obeyed a simple command.],
they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when
he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud
voice glorified God,
16 And fell down on his
face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan
[half-breeds].
17 And Jesus answering said,
Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18 There are not found that
returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. [Jesus
didn’t have that cultural prejudice.]
19 And he said unto him,
Arise, go thy way: thy faith
hath made thee whole.
Besides the phrase “Thy
faith hath made thy whole.” Jesus also spoken
many similar truths like: “As thou hast believed,
so be it done unto thee.” (Matthew 8:13) and “According
to your faith be it unto you.” (Matthew 9:29)
In fact the woman who loved much to whom Jesus ministered
in Luke 7 was told, “Thy faith hath saved thee.”
That phrase in the Greek is exactly the same as “thy
faith hath made thee whole.” So in Greek we have
another occurrence.
We saw from these accounts the persistence of
the people to speak their healing into being. They did
not let anyone stop them; they persisted until they
received what they needed. Their faith healed them because
they unleashed its power by attaching words and actions
to it. We also noted the difference between just being
physically healed and being made whole was giving glory
to God.
An important point about this phrase, “Thy
faith hath made thee whole.” is that the word
“whole” is the Greek word sozo. God uses
the same word in the Greek to describe being saved from
sin (Matthew 1:21; I Timothy 1:15; Mark 16:16; Romans
10:9) and being healed from sickness (James 5:15; Matthew
9:21,22; Mark 5:28; 6:56; 10:52; Luke 8:26; Acts 4:9;
14:9).
God’s idea of what it means to be saved
encompasses much more than most people understand. God
not only saves by giving eternal life, but He also saves
from trouble or sicknesses we face in this life. Now
that we are God’s children, we should expect to
see His salvation in all forms and fashions as Romans
5:10 says, “For if, when we were enemies [referring
to before we were born again], we were reconciled to
God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled
[now that we are born again sons of God], we shall be
saved [sozo] by his life.” This salvation is not
from sin, but from sickness and any other difficult
situation we may face once we are born again.
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