I have a “war room” in the corner of my bedroom. It’s actually a war room wall, but I love it all the same. (P.S. if you don’t know what I’m talking about, look up the movie War Room after this.)
A few months ago I taped two similar verses, written with Sharpie on old paint chips, up on my wall: Mark 5:34 and Mark 10:52. They both reminded me of the power my faith in God holds, and I would look at them every now and then. But if I’m honest (which I always strive to be here) I didn’t pay much attention to them. It’s something I’m working on, that I can’t just read something once, or tape it up and forget about it, and expect to be changed. After all, faith comes from HEARING so I need to remind myself of these truths every single day.
Mark 5:34
“[Jesus] said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.'”
Mark 10:52
“‘Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”
The past week or so I’ve been struggling, so I added a ton to my war room wall and I’ve just been reading over what I have taped up. A few mornings ago, I felt the Spirit stir in me to go back and read the full stories of those two verses. So I did. For reference, that’s Mark 5:25-34 and Mark 10:46-52.
And I’m so glad I did!
On one hand, I think it’s super important that we look at a single verse or few verses with the other verses surrounding it because this is often how we derive background information, context, and meaning. But reading the stories surrounding Mark 5:34 and Mark 10:52, stories that I have read many, many times before, I found revelation that I never had before.
The story of Jesus healing a sick woman and the story of a blind man receiving his sight. Stories of Jesus performing miracles which He did throughout the 4 gospels. But here’s what I realized, for the first time, reading these verses:
Faith precedes freedom and leads to peace
Faith precedes healing and leads to purpose
In Mark 5, the woman had been dealing with her physical ailment for 12 years and, despite seeing many doctors, was getting worse rather than improving. Now she had heard about Jesus and that He was passing through so she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. Because this woman thought “if i just touch his clothes, I will be healed” (Mark 5:28).
Wow, what faith! It took huge amounts of faith to believe that even though excellent doctors couldn’t help her or heal her, simply touching Jesus’ clothes could. It took faith to believe Jesus was that powerful. Yet she did. And you know what happened? Verse 29 says “immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.” When Jesus asked who touched him (because He realized power had gone from him), the woman fell at Jesus’ feet and, trembling with fear, told him the truth. That’s when Jesus told her “‘Daughter your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.'”
This woman had faith that preceded her freedom from bondage and led to peace. That’s because only Jesus can provide true freedom (Galatians 5:1, John 14:6) and peace (John 14:27).
In Mark 10, a blind man is sitting on the side of the road begging. When he heard that Jesus was walking by he shouted “‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!'” (Mark 10:46-47). Even when the crowd rebuked him and told him to be quiet, the blind man continued to shout. Jesus stopped and told his disciples to call the blind man to him and so they did, and the blind man threw off his cloak, jumped up and went to Jesus.
What faith this man had to be in such a vulnerable spot (without sight) and still trust that it was Jesus walking by and call out to Him for healing — even when everyone was yelling at him to stop. So, when Jesus asked the blind man what he wanted Jesus to do, and the man replied “I want to see”, Jesus said, “‘Go, your faith has healed you.'” And “immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”
This blind man had faith that preceded healing and led to purpose (following Jesus on mission). That’s because in Christ alone we find healing (Jeremiah 30:17) and purpose (Ephesians 2:10, Romans 8:28).
So, what I realized from both of these stories is that faith comes before receiving. Not only that but faith leads to receiving. Receiving hope, freedom, healing, restoration, joy, peace, purpose. Faith even leads to receiving salvation for we are saved by grace, through faith. (Ephesians 2:8; also see Hebrews 11:6).
Faith in Jesus alone brings freedom that leads to peace and healing that leads to purpose. I think we (myself definitely included) often look to other things, other people, or ourselves for healing and freedom and then wonder why we aren’t receiving. It’s because our faith is misplaced.
If the bleeding woman had had more faith in her doctors or her worsening condition than Jesus, she wouldn’t have reached out to touch the edge of Jesus’ robe and never would’ve found freedom or peace. Or if the blind man had had more faith in the crowd telling him to be quiet than in Jesus, he would’ve stayed silent and never been healed or found purpose. But they both had faith in Jesus, and acted upon that faith. And what came after absolutely changed their lives forever.
All because they had faith in what they could receive from Jesus which led to them finding hope, healing, freedom, peace, and purpose in Jesus. Because faith precedes receiving. I hope and pray everyone who reads this would find the faith to reach out and touch the edge of Jesus’ robe or cry out to Him in your suffering, and as a result, experience the life-changing power of Jesus.
Interesting ….. Jesus could have said “I have healed you…..” but instead said “your faith has healed you.” In other words, Jesus was the healer but it was their faith that enabled the healing. Excellent post!
Wow, that’s a great point. I love that! Jesus is the power, but it is through our faith that we are saved and healed. As Hebrews 11:6 says, “without faith, it is impossible to please God”. Our faith enables so much in our lives!