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"EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE FOR ONE WHO BELIEVES" FAITH AND HEALING IN THE NT
Trinity Journal, Spring 2005 by Grindheim, Sigurd
"According to your faith let it be done to you" (Matt 9:29). "Your faith has made you well" (Mark 5:34). The gospel writings betray a close connection between faith and healing. For the suffering Christian, the question lies near: Could I be free from this if only I had enough faith? In other words, is my predicament a result of my own lack of piety?
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The answer to this question can be found only when the healing narratives in the NT are seen in their right context. Healing is not the goal of faith but faith is the goal of healing. Suffering and lack of hearing are not indicative of ungodliness, but the power to heal is indicative of the true nature of Jesus Christ: he is the Son of God. Faith does not primarily come into view as an instrument for healing, but healing miracles are frequently seen as instruments for inspiring and nourishing faith in Jesus Christ. Only the gospel of John explicitly states that this is the purpose of the miracle reports (20:31), but careful analyses of the narratives in the other gospels show that they share the same concern.
I. HEALING AND RELIGIOUS WORTH
The negative counterpart to the idea of religious faith as a prerequisite for healing is the thought that suffering is a consequence of sin. It is commonly noted that the NT represents a corrective to some of the ideas that were current in the first century regarding sin and sickness. While it is sometimes assumed that sin is the cause of sickness and suffering (John 5:14; 1 Cor 11:30), the NT also makes clear that there is no one-to-one relationship. If a person suffers from some kind of ailment, it is unwarranted to conclude that there must be a special level of sinfulness that has caused the condition (John 9:3).1 While the connection between sin and suffering is not denied, the NT dismisses the notion that suffering is indicative of a person's ethical standard or value.
Neither is healing indicative of a commendable religious faith. At first sight, however, the connection between faith and healing appears tight. It may seem that, while the healing power comes from God, faith is the instrument that triggers the healing miracle. On closer inspection, however, it is clear that the connection is not so clear-cut. In several instances, we learn nothing about the faith of those being healed, whether they have any or none at all (Matt 12:9-14; Mark 1:29-34; John 5:5-13). This observation reminds us of the obvious fact that the focus of the miracle stories is not on the faith of the petitioners but on the power of Jesus. His miracles are the sign of the inauguration of the kingdom of God (Matt 12:28) and the sign that he is the Messiah, as John the Baptist is informed when he inquires about Jesus' identity (Matt 11:2-5). In his reply to John the Baptist, Jesus promises a blessing on the one who takes no offense at him (11:6). The question is not whether one is a beneficiary of a miracle, but what one thinks of Jesus Christ. For the incarcerated John the Baptist, part of the message is that he is blessed if he accepts the testimony of Jesus, even though he does not experience deliverance from prison.2
Probably in order to highlight Jesus' identity in connection with the miracles, Matthew also preserves the address "Son of David" more frequently than do the other evangelists (compare Matt 15:22 with Mark 7:26, and see Matt 9:27; 20:30). Whatever the petitioners originally meant when applying this title to Jesus, Matthew probably chose to include it in his account because he wanted to highlight Jesus' identity as the Messiah, the promised Savior of Davidic descent.3 By associating this title with the healing miracles, Matthew subtly reinforces the point that the miracles are a testimony about who Jesus is. Their purpose is not to say anything about the religious quality of those who are healed, but something about the religious quality of the healer. As the healer, he is the one who fulfills the Scriptures. He is the Messiah. In Matt 8:16-17, the purpose of Jesus' healings is explicitly said to be fulfillment of prophecy.
On the other hand, the persons requesting and receiving healing miracles cover the full spectrum of religious types. In the gospel of Matthew, two people are singled out and commended for their "great faith." They are the Roman centurion who pleaded for his sick son (8:5-13) and the Syro-Phoenician woman who prayed for her daughter (15:21-28). Both of these characters stand out by their strong affirmations of their own indignity and strong confidence in the power of Jesus' word. Matthew's two examples of faith are both Gentiles, clearly pointing to the universal scope of Jesus' mission. Both of them are also intercessors on behalf of someone else who was in need of the miracle. As we shall see later, when insufficient faith is criticized in relation to healing, it is never the sufferer, but always the intercessor that is censured.
But it is far from the norm that those who request and receive a healing miracle are commended for their faith. In many instances, the nature of their faith is ambiguous. They show some kind of faith, but they are ultimately not commended for it, even though they receive the requested healing. It is obvious that at least some faith is required, because the very petition for a miracle presupposes both the belief that Jesus is or may be able and willing to perform a miracle and the faith to approach him. This is also what the word "faith" usually refers to when it occurs in the gospels. It does not normally have the qualified sense of being in a right relation to God.4
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