Throughout the gospels, there are numerous instances where Jesus heals people and tells them “Your faith has made you well” or some variation of that statement (Matthew 9:22, Mark 5:34, Luke 8:48, Luke 17:19, Luke 18:42). But what exactly did Jesus mean by this? Let’s explore the meaning behind these words.
Faith in Jesus’ Power to Heal
First and foremost, when Jesus told someone “Your faith has made you well,” He was referring to the person’s faith and trust in Jesus’ power to heal them. For example, in Mark 5 when Jesus heals the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years, He says to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease” (Mark 5:34). This woman demonstrated faith in Jesus’ ability to heal her simply by reaching out to touch His cloak. It was her faith in Him that opened the door for her healing.
Throughout Jesus’ ministry, those who sincerely sought Him out for healing and deliverance, believing He had the power to help them, often heard those words “Your faith has made you well.” Their faith in His healing abilities activated His power in their lives. The healing they received was often in direct proportion to the measure of faith they exercised in approaching Jesus for help. Strong faith in Him released His healing power, while weak or wavering faith limited the results they experienced.
Wholehearted Faith in Jesus Himself
However, Jesus was not merely referring to faith in His healing power when He spoke these words. He was also pointing to the person’s wholehearted faith and trust in Jesus Himself as the Messiah and Son of God. Those who recognized Jesus’ true identity and placed complete faith in who He is found healing for their whole person – spirit, soul, and body.
For example, in Luke 17 Jesus heals the ten lepers, but only the Samaritan leper returns to praise God and thank Jesus. To this grateful leper, Jesus says, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well!” (Luke 17:19). Jesus healed all ten lepers physically, but the Samaritan leper received an additional blessing because his faith recognized who Jesus truly was.
Similarly, the blind beggar in Luke 18 persistently cries out to Jesus for mercy though the crowd tries to silence him. When Jesus asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?” the man requests, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” Jesus replies, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 18:41-42). Once again, Jesus affirms it was the man’s faith that opened the door for healing.
Faith that Leads to Salvation
Most importantly, when Jesus told people “Your faith has made you well,” He was pointing ahead to their need for faith in Him for salvation. Physical healing was a blessing that passed away after this life, but spiritual healing was eternally vital. Only through faith in Jesus could their souls be made completely whole. Jesus wanted people to place faith in Him not only as a miracle healer but as the Messiah who alone offers the gift of salvation.
Jesus makes this clear in John 6 after feeding the five thousand. Many were seeking Him simply for more bread, but He urges them, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you” (John 6:27). When the people ask Jesus what they must do to accomplish God’s works, He replies, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:29). In other words, the most vital work God desires is for people to have faith in Jesus as the One sent from heaven to give eternal life.
Every time Jesus healed someone and affirmed “Your faith has made you well,” He was pointing forward to their need to place ultimate faith in Him as their Savior. Physical healings displayed His compassion and authority as the Messiah, but only faith in Him for salvation could make someone spiritually whole before God.
Genuine Faith from a Humble Heart
Why did Jesus highlight the faith of those He healed? Part of the reason was that genuine faith arose from a humble heart of need. Those who knew they were destitute and desperate for help were more likely to approach Jesus with genuine faith. The proud and self-reliant, on the other hand, often rejected Him.
Jesus explains this clearly in the Sermon on the Mount when He declares, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). “Poor in spirit” means recognizing one’s utter spiritual bankruptcy and need for God’s help. Jesus affirmed this humility of heart when healing people like the faithful centurion in Matthew 8:5-13. This Roman officer knew that just as he relied on authority to command his soldiers, Jesus had divine authority to simply speak and heal. It was this genuine humility and faith rising from a sense of need that so often activated Christ’s healing power.
When pride makes people feel self-sufficient, they close their hearts to what Jesus longs to do in their lives. Faith remains dormant when people fail to recognize their helplessness apart from Him. Jesus affirmed those who came to Him in humble faith precisely because their sense of need prepared their hearts to place complete trust in Him.
Faith that Perseveres
Jesus also highlighted people’s faith when they persevered in believing despite difficulties or obstacles. When faith refuses to give up hope even when pressed hard by circumstances, Jesus eagerly rewards it. The Gospels give many examples of people who obtained their healing by steadfast faith that would not quit until the answer came.
The gospel writer Mark emphasizes this need for persistent faith in two back-to-back accounts. In Mark 5 Jesus heals the woman with the issue of blood, affirming her faith activated His healing power. Immediately after in Mark 6, Jesus returns to His hometown Nazareth where people take offense at Him and “He could do no mighty work there.” Mark ties these two stories together by emphasizing that Jesus marvels at the faith of the bleeding woman but is amazed by the unbelief of His hometown. Persistent faith enables the miraculous, while unbelieving hearts restrict Jesus’ power.
Unwavering faith is highlighted again in the account of the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7:24-30. When Jesus initially turns down her request by saying He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, she persists in asking for the deliverance of her demonized daughter. She continues appealing to Jesus until He affirms her faith saying, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” Here was importunate faith that grabbed hold of Jesus in intercession and refused to let go until the answer came.
When people demonstrated this kind of persistent, determined faith, Jesus honored it joyfully. Despite delays, setbacks, obstacles or seeming denials, their steady faith eventually accessed Christ’s healing power.
The Means of Accessing Grace
When Jesus commended people’s faith in healing them, He was affirming faith as the means of accessing God’s grace. Certainly, God is the source of power behind every miracle, but He chooses to dispense that power in response to faith. Faith becomes the pipeline through which God’s enabling grace flows into people’s lives.
We see this clearly when certain people in the Gospels gain limited blessing because “according to your faith let it be to you” (Matthew 9:29). Faith acts like a conduit through which God’s grace is transferred to meet the need at hand. Where faith is weak or wavering, less of God’s power flows through it. But when faith is robust and unwavering, it opens up wide so the river of God’s power surges through mightily.
The Bible repeatedly affirms God’s blessings and the release of His miraculous power in proportion to the measure of faith exercised (Romans 12:3, Ephesians 3:20). Hence, Jesus rejoiced whenever He saw faith firmly anchored in Himself because it allowed a greater measure of God’s delivering grace to flow into those lives.
Glimpses of Saving Faith
Most importantly, whenever Jesus affirmed someone’s faith in healing them, it provided a glimpse of true saving faith. What pleases the heart of Jesus most is when sinners place complete trust in Him as Savior and Redeemer. The physical healings Jesus performed pointed ahead to the greatest healing of all – salvation through faith in His name.
Every time Jesus announced “Your faith has made you well” it ultimately echoed His words in Mark 2:5 when He announced the healing of the paralytic’s soul saying, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Physical healings offered a picture of Christ’s ultimate mission to heal the deadly disease of sin that plagued humanity. Jesus rejoiced whenever faith accessed His healing power because it pointed forward to the greatest miracle of all – sins forgiven and eternal life granted.
That’s why Jesus told people like the woman with the bleeding issue, “Your faith has saved you” using the Greek word “sozo” which means to be healed physically, delivered from danger, or saved spiritually. By affirming her faith had “saved” her, Jesus pointed ahead to her need to place ultimate saving faith in Him as the true Messiah and Son of God.
Whenever Jesus saw the blossoming of faith in people’s hearts as they sought His healing touch, it gladdened His heart profoundly. Their simple trust in His healing power foreshadowed the ultimate demand of the Gospel – childlike faith in Jesus Christ as the only Savior who can make the sin-sick soul permanently well again.
Faith that Transforms
Why was Christ so delighted whenever He saw faith released in those who came to Him? He knew that genuine faith had a redemptive effect, transforming the lives of those who exercised it. When people poured out their hearts in humble dependence upon Jesus, submitting their lives to Him in trusting surrender, it changed them from the inside out.
Jesus emphasized this redemptive aspect when he told the woman with the bleeding issue, “Daughter, your faith has made you well” (Mark 5:34). The word translated “well” in the original language means to be delivered from both physical affliction and the penalty of sin. By commending the woman’s faith, Jesus affirmed she had been spiritually transformed in coming to Him – converted, rescued, redeemed, and made completely whole.
Sincere faith in Jesus releases His redeeming grace to make people spiritually well again. That’s why Christ delighted to see faith flourish in hearts. He knew their simple trust in Him began a transforming work in their lives, bringing spiritual wholeness and salvation to desperate souls.
Evidence of Spiritual Life
Most profoundly of all, whenever Jesus commended people’s faith, He was highlighting an evidence of spiritual life within them. No one can place genuine faith in Jesus unless God first imparts spiritual life into their souls. Faith is the blossoming of the Gospel seed planted in a heart made spiritually alive.
Ephesians 2:8-9 makes clear that even the capacity to have faith originates with God saying, “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Humans are spiritually “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1) until God graciously imparts new life enabling them to believe. By affirming the faith of those who sought His healing touch, Jesus was rejoicing over God’s work in those lives drawing them to salvation.
Jesus’ words also had the effect of strengthening and encouraging newborn faith. When He graciously took note of people’s faith in Him, it nurtured this evidence of spiritual life in their hearts. His commendation caused flickerings of faith to grow stronger. Like a gardener delights to see the first sprouts poke through the soil, Christ rejoiced whenever He saw the buddings of faith in a human heart. It evidenced the regenerating work of His Heavenly Father taking root in that life.
Conclusion
When Jesus told people “Your faith has made you well,” He meant so much more than affirming trust in His healing authority. Certainly, He was underscoring the place of faith as the means to access His miraculous power. But more profoundly, He rejoiced whenever faith took root in a heart because it pointed ahead to the greatest miracle of all – salvation through faith in His name.
Every time Jesus highlighted someone’s faith in physical healing, it provided a picture of saving faith. More importantly, it gave evidence that His Father was drawing that soul to Himself in redeeming grace. No wonder Christ rejoiced whenever faith blossomed in response to His healing touch. It provided hope that the dead hearts of sinners were being revived and transformed by the regenerating work of His Father, planting seeds offaith which would blossom into eternal life.