Faith That Heals

There He was, surrounded by hundreds of people. The crowd was thick, but she knew she had to get to Him.

Day after day, for twelve years, her pain and bleeding had continued with no relief. But then, she had heard about this man, named Jesus, who could make the blind see and the lame walk. Oh, if she could just touch Him, she knew her infirmity would be gone instantly.

Despite the many people, she knew what she had to do. She made her way through the crowd. There He was, right in front of her. She reached out and touched His robe.

Oh, the relief. Praise God—she was healed!

But that’s not all. He turned around and talked to her: “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well†(Matthew 9:22).

All the woman had to do was put her trust in Jesus—the only One who could heal her. That’s all we need to do too. We are sick with sin: “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard†(Romans 3:23).

Sin twists everything it touches, causing all the brokenness we see and eventually leading to death. But Romans 6:23 has good news: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.â€

Like the woman Jesus healed, all we need to do is put our trust in Jesus and what He has done. That means believing Jesus died and rose again to conquer sin and death. It also means receiving His forgiveness for our sins. When we put our faith in Jesus, we are healed—freed from sin’s power and looking forward to the day when we will live forever with Him and His people, free from the presence of sin, death, and brokenness. • Diana L. Henderson

• The woman in today’s reading was healed by putting her faith in Jesus. She was made whole, which pictures how all of God’s children through faith in Christ will one day be made whole when Jesus resurrects them (Romans 8:1-25; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Why is it important that we can only be saved by faith—and not by what we do (Ephesians 2:8-9)?

• Have you put your faith in Jesus? To learn more about what this means, check out our “Know Jesus” page.

Jesus turned around, and when he saw her he said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.†And the woman was healed at that moment. Matthew 9:22 (NLT)

Read Verses:

Matthew 9:19-22; Romans 3:23; 6:23