Faith and healing

Matthew 17: 14 - 20

Why couldn't we drive it out? He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed........nothing will be impossible.....

I have always wondered how faith can be quantifiable, as if it were a tangible substance. And if that were so, how could one be assured that one has enough of this powerful substance? In this episode, Jesus does not say that his disciples have no faith. They have little faith (v. 20) and cannot accomplish the healing. In contrast Jesus declares the 'perverse' generation of his time unbelieving (without faith v. 17). They have not as a whole placed their faith in Jesus as the Messiah.

From what I have read, it is not the amount of faith that Jesus is concerned with. He uses the analogy of the smallest of seeds, the mustard seed to describe faith that can do the impossible, that is, move mountains. Faith that is effective is focused on God and his power to move mountains. God enables us as we listen to what he calls us to do, and say 'yes' trusting that he will work through us.

We all know of many people who have been healed when prayed for and just as many who did not receive physical healing. If we take the healing ministry of Jesus as the norm, we start to question. Is it because we don't have enough faith? This places pressure on the sick person or those who pray to muster up enough faith, which is really not the point of the healing stories at all. I begin to see these stories as beautiful glimpses of the completeness that will be available for all in the new heaven and the new earth. Those who were healed by Jesus, and even those who were raised from the dead still died physically later on in their lives. We live in a time in between the inauguration of the kingdom and its consummation and only in the new Jerusalem will there be no more tears or pain.

For me, faith means that I trust totally in the ability of God to heal, and pray earnestly for healing. Yet, I need to carefully distinguish between the statements "God can heal" (which is true in all instances) and "God will heal" (which we cannot know for sure). God's will is always somewhat mysterious this side of heaven. One person is healed immediately, another is not. Both have faith. But if faith is trust in Christ, then it does not matter so much the means God uses (healing or no healing) to bring to pass his purposes in their lives. I will cling to this thought as I continue to pray for the healing of my kidney condition.