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)

Key points

• Faith in the wrong thing doesn’t do anyone any good.
• what we need is not so much great faith in God, but faith in our great God.
• Listen to the ‘Miracles of Jesus’ series and others on Real Hope | The Podcast.

Faith in the wrong thing doesn’t do anyone any good.

Faith in the right thing can change us for good.

When Jesus’ disciples asked Him to increase their faith, He implied that was not the right approach.

A tiny mustard seed of faith could move mountains.

It was all dependent on the object of faith.

When we read of this woman being healed as a result of her faith, we must keep all that in mind.

Faith in the wrong thing doesn’t do anyone any good.

The woman had a bleeding problem that rendered her ritually unclean.

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She was cut off from normal day-to-day routines because of it.

So, she resorted to drastic measures.

She was aware Jesus could heal, but she dared not make a formal approach given her unclean status.

So she nervously touched His robe, far from a bold and assertive approach.

But that was enough. She was healed.

Jesus says it was her faith that healed her, though it can be understood as Jesus being the one doing the healing and the woman being the one doing the trusting.

What we need is not so much great faith in God, but faith in our great God.

Healing is not a reward bestowed on those who have bucketloads of faith.

Loud, assertive demands for healing are not necessary.

It’s a guilt-inducing mistake to try to psyche ourselves up to have more faith.

Better by far to focus on the faithfulness of Jesus instead of the strength or weakness of our own faith.

As the old saying goes, what we need is not so much great faith in God, but faith in our great God.

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Feature image: Photo by CanvaPro

Episode supplied with thanks to David Reay

Originally published as ‘Miracles of Jesus: How Much Faith?’ in Real Hope, November 2024