Great faith doesn’t come by focusing on ourselves. It comes as a natural result when we center our attention on Jesus.
Here Jesus heals a woman as He is on the way to raise a young girl from the dead.
Of course, Jesus’ incredible power is what Luke wants us to see. But there is something more. The great faith of this woman!
We’ve seen this before. Someone who believes without a doubt and receives what they need from Jesus. How do they get to this level of trust?
This woman believes she can be healed by touching the hem of Jesus’ garment. Healed in a moment of a disease no doctor could relieve in twelve years!
Her estimation of Jesus and His power is very high indeed.
And she’s right. She is healed instantly when she merely touches the edge of Jesus’ cloak.
It looks like faith is not so much something within her, as much as it is something she knows about Jesus. Her estimation of Him!
Mmm…perhaps instead of focusing inward on our own faith or lack of it, we should do what this woman does. Focus on Jesus and ask ourselves what we think of Him. What He can do.
If our estimation of Jesus turns out to be as high as this woman’s, then we may find quite incidentally that we have come to a very strong faith.
Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."
What do you think of Jesus?
This woman had great faith, absolutely. I like your view on her "estimation of Jesus"
ReplyDeleteHow ours is may depend somewhat on life's situations. Maybe somewhat like Jarius'
"Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying."
Seems like sometimes we turn to God when we are facing a crisis. Jarius' daughter, the woman's health. Not that these might not have sought Jesus when things were going well...
But don't we tend to seek Jesus when we realize there is nothing left that we can do about things? Maybe if we'd realize the fact that Jesus' ways are better before we try other things on our own, our crisis would end sooner!
Just a thought, that I could use from time to time.