Hi all,
It seemed good due to the response from the last series to talk more about when to believe for a divine healing versus when it is up to our faith. In the gospels we see healings falling into one of those two categories: Either their healing was a sovereign move of God, or their faith attained their healing.
Our interest today is with the ones Jesus acknowledged their faith was involved. I have a series entitled “Healing School” that goes into detail of their faith and on how sometimes the Lord maneuvered them in such a way for their faith to be brought forth, which led to their healing, which may be of interest for further insight. Let’s look at a few of those:
1) The Centurion’s servant of Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7: 1-10
This man understood authority, not wanting Jesus to come to his door, but telling Him to just speak the word of healing ‘For I too am a man under authority.’ Jesus said he had not to that point found such great faith in Israel.
He understood both the authority and the power of the personal promise of healing. Those needing healing need a personal promise from the Lord concerning their healing. My suggestion is make getting that promise to top priority by investing the time and effort to stay before Him until He gives you a word about it.
2) Woman with hemorrhage condition of Matthew 9: 20-22, Mark 5:25-34, Luke 8: 43-48
Mark’s gospel provides the most detail, telling us in v27-28: “When she heard it was Jesus, came in the crowd from behind and touched His clothing, for she had said within herself; ‘If I but touch his clothes I will be whole.’ And immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up…”
When she heard it was Jesus – that was the point of her faith. She had revelation upon hearing of His other miracles that she would be healed – she had that revelation within her, and then acted upon it. Jesus said, ‘Your faith has made you whole.’
3) Two blind men found only in Matthew 9: 27-31
They called Jesus the Son of David, which was a term for Messiah. Whenever we see people calling Jesus ‘Son of David’ it stops Him in His tracks. And also with each time, He tests them to see if they are using the term as a general term, or if they really believe He is the Son of David, the Messiah. If they demonstrate true revelation that He is Messiah, He meets them at their faith. These two blind men are the first of 3 examples we will look at who called Him ‘Son of David’.
When these 2 men got Jesus’ attention calling Him Son of David, Jesus tested them: “Do you believe I am able to do this?” When they responded; “Yes. Lord.” That was all Jesus needed to know – they called Him Lord. His response was to acknowledge their faith: “According to your faith be it unto you.” And immediately they were healed. His instructions not to tell anyone had to do with the confirmation of the fact to them He was Messiah the Son of David, more than anything else. According to your faith be it unto you seems to be the common thread, even for us today. Zero in on your core faith as they did. That’s where He will meet you. At the acknowledgement of His Lordship. Read on:
Canaanite woman – In Matthew 15: 21-28 and Mark 7:24-30 we have a person of great faith who like the Roman Centurion, wasn’t Jewish. She calls Jesus ‘Son of David’ as she asks Him to heal her daughter, ‘vexed of a devil’. The disciples told Jesus to send her away, but her claimed revelation that He was the Jewish Messiah arrested Jesus’ attention.
He had to test her to see as He did with the blind men; Did she really have the revelation that He was Israel’s Messiah? To do so He spoke a parable to her as He had done so often with the people – those who had revelation received great truths while those following Him without revelation and with ulterior motives heard only stories about seeds and ground and such.
“It isn’t right to give the children’s bread to the puppies” came His parable to her. If she had revelation He was indeed Messiah she would be able to answer back in parable form, and she did: “True, Lord. Yet the puppies eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” She had it! She truly believed! Jesus responded: “O woman! Great is your faith! Be it unto you as you will.” And her daughter was made whole from that hour. This was the 2nd ‘according to your faith’ statement, just like with the 2 blind men. We miss that – we want God to touch us, but the truth is we need revelation first, and then healing comes.
The last example of the Son of David stopping Jesus in His tracks is blind Bartimaeus of Matthew 20: 29-34, Mark 10: 46-52, and Luke 18: 35-43, with Mark’s gospel providing the detail we are looking for today.
The text says when he heard it was specifically Jesus from Nazareth, he cried out for His attention: “Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me!” The crowd told him to shut up. But that only made him cry out still louder. Jesus heard him and v49-50 tells us “Jesus stood still” which was polite, allowing the blind man to make his way to the Lord. Immediately Bartimaeus “…casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.”
The test Jesus used to discover if Bartimaeus calling Him Son of David was real or just a title was simple: “What do you want me to do for you?” That sounds like a silly question to the obvious, but it was a test. Did he want something fleshly like money, or for Jesus to talk to someone in town about providing a house for him to live in? Did what he want in life correspond to him calling Jesus the Son of David, the Messiah? Doesn’t Jesus do that to us today: What do you want of Me? Our response betrays our selfish heart sometimes. He responded, “Lord! That I may receive my sight!” Jesus response was:
“Your faith has made you whole.” Bartimaeus then immediately followed Jesus as a disciple, because the short answer to ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ was to be healed, but the long answer was he wanted eternal life. He knew, really knew, Jesus was the Son of David and responded to the larger revelation of salvation. That is where we have to be!
All 3 of these examples of people calling Jesus ‘Son of David’ demonstrate Jesus tested their revelation to find out if it was genuine. All 3 of these had to respond in a way that showed they were indeed moved by revelation to believe Him for healing (or deliverance). For us it means we need to go back to our earliest and core revelation when we first met Jesus. There remains Life in that initial revelation when you knew that you knew Jesus is Lord and you had to respond from that revelation – that same revelation can stir faith in you for healing.
I’ve run a bit long today, but review the points concerning faith – and we’ll pick it up with other examples of faith for healing next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
