"Thy faith hath made thee whole." - Matthew 9:22

Additional readings: Isaiah 26:1-14; Matthew 9:14-31

We recall the setting of our text. A woman, for twelve years afflicted with an issue of blood, came up to the Lord from among the crowd following Him and touched His garment, and was immediately healed. It is recorded that she thought within herself, "If I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole." Then the Lord, turning about and seeing her, said, "Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole."

The outward miracles of the Lord were done to show what the Lord wishes to accomplish in the souls of men. In the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, blood, because of its correspondence, signifies truth, as the bread signifies goodness. The issue of blood represents the loss of truth, which results in weakness and loss of power. This is a picture of the state of the world at that time. Even among those desiring to do good there was decreasing ability to know and do it. And so it is with each of us. No one can of himself cure the diseases of the soul. The Lord alone can cure them. What is impossible with man is possible with God.

As the woman touched the hem of the Lord’s garment, virtue went out from Him and she was healed. If we hear the words "a wolf in sheep’s clothing," we know what is meant. Our thoughts are the clothing of our affections. The Lord’s outer garments are His thoughts revealed to us in the letter of the Word, and the hem of this outmost garment pictures the Commandments, which sum up and hold together all the rest.

There is also a meaning in the woman’s coming up from behind the Lord. It symbolizes the feeling of humility and unworthiness, and trust in His Divine mercy. Then through this external contact she is brought into the presence of the Lord, and she is restored to health. And she is told, "Thy faith hath made thee whole."

What is faith? Faith is the soul’s confidence in the Lord. No one can make any spiritual progress without faith. It is childlike reliance on the truth and on the goodness of the Lord. By faith in the Lord we look to Him rather than to ourselves. It is belief in the truths of the Word. The Hebrew word for faith means steadfastness, faithfulness, and truth. Faith is really belief in the truth as revealed in the Word of God. It is not something with which we are gifted at birth. It is formed in us as we learn and understand Divine truths, cherish them in our hearts, and keep them in our lives. That the truth must be understood and obeyed is taught in these words, "When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside."

Faith is not of the understanding alone; the will is also involved. There must be the love of truth. Without this there can be no faith, nor any salvation. Knowledge is an essential part of faith, but knowledge alone is not faith.

There must be truth, and the first great truth of faith is that God is. But faith grows with every new truth from the Word which is received in the heart. It is exceedingly small and weak at first. It is compared to a grain of mustard seed, which is called the least of all seeds. But it has a marvelous vitality in it, and once it is prized and cherished, it begins to grow, and becomes a great tree in the branches of which all the birds of heaven can make their nests.

Thus faith is a growing principle: the more we hear and understand of the Word the more vigorous our faith will be. So the disciples prayed to the Lord to increase their faith. And we read of those who were strong in their faith, and of others who were weak, of those of great faith and those of little faith, teaching that faith develops and grows with the increase of truth and love. The Apostle Paul expresses this fact when he says, "Charity (or love, as it should be translated) rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth." The parable of the Sower teaches this fact. The seed was sown on all kinds of ground, but only that which fell upon good ground matured and brought forth fruit. If one loves the good and does it, he comes to the light, as the Lord said, and he believes in the light and rejoices in it.

Jesus said, "He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." This means that in him who believes in the Lord there is already that living principle of love for the truth.

The woman thought within herself, "if I can but touch the hem of His garment, I shall be whole." We are not to think of the love that is the soul of faith as a mere sentiment. Jesus said, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." "He that loveth Me not, keepeth not My sayings." Love that does not keep the commandments is not love at all; it is mere sentimentality. Faith that is at all genuine has its roots in love, and produces the fruits of good works. True faith is a childlike belief in the love and omnipotence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like Peter, who among the Apostles represents faith, it exclaims, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the world of eternal life." Faith is trust in the Lord, and not in ourselves. It is the knowledge and belief that He is with us and can enable us to stand, to overcome all those things in us which stand in the way of our eternal happiness and peace. It assures us that all our unworthy and wrong desires and thoughts can and will be overcome. "The lion and the adder, the young lion and the dragon, thou shalt trample under feet."

This faith, which is as small as a grain of mustard seed at first, is a living germ, which has been planted in the soul of everyone by his Creator, and which will grow as we learn and obey the Commandments, until it protects and blesses the whole range of human life. It will bless and protect our friendships; it will bless and protect our homes, making them centers of virtues and graces; our business, our worship and our pleasures will also find blessing under the great branches of this tree.

Life illuminated by faith acquires a certainty, a peace, and a charm all unknown before. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want" becomes the language of the soul. "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters." We may indeed have to pass through the valley of natural sorrows and afflictions. We may be assailed by inward and outward enemies; yet there is this assurance, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall arise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord."

At times our unsubdued evils may assume gigantic proportions so that we feel as "Grasshoppers in their sight." We may shrink from the encounter with them, but faith stills our fears and says with Caleb and Joshua, "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it." Faith overcomes all our doubts and fears. It also transforms the character of death. For faith joyfully accepts the Lord’s assurance, "I go to prepare a place for you," and sees in death only the gateway to a brighter world, the "kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

Faith grounded in love brings forth good works. If it does not do this, it is not faith at all. We all believe that in the ordinary concerns of life what a man does is what he believes. If he professes friendship with his mouth but in deeds expresses enmity, we believe the deeds. This is the simple and true rule. What a man does is what he really believes, and all his professions to the contrary are deceptions. If one is not a doer of good works, he must be a doer of evil works, and if he does evil works, he believes in them. He may believe that good works would be better if his own selfish desires were overcome and his way of life changed, but he loves his vices too much to give them up. His life is the faith of the evil man, however he may deceive himself with the thought that his faith is right, though his life be wrong.

Faith that influences a person’s conversation but does not affect his life is a dead, not a living faith. An evil man hay have this kind of faith. He may speak like an angel, and only be the greater hypocrite. "This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me."

The Lord did not say to the woman whom He had healed from her song infirmity, "Faith hath made thee whole," but "Thy faith hath made thee whole." And when the Lord was appealed to by the blind men to heal them, He asked, "What will ye that I should do unto you?" A faith that does not subdue evil and produce a righteous life is not a saving faith.

John writes, "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

Do we believe that we can follow Him without renouncing selfishness? Do we believe Him when He says, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments?" "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Do we believe Him when He says, "Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I command you" and "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love?"

It is because men do not believe in the Lord and bring His presence and power into their lives by keeping the truths of His Word that there is unrest and insecurity. It is the breaking of His commandments that makes all the burdens of the world. He alone overcame all evil. He alone can overcome evil in us and in the world. As the world comes to acquire faith in HIm, as it comes to believe in His promises and His power, He will be enabled to cast out evil and establish His kingdom in the hearts of men.