Your Faith Has Healed You

What does Jesus mean when he says, "your faith has made you well?" Let's examine the possibilities. He does not mean There was healing power in your faith. Such a notion would defy the definition of faith—that being belief in a person or object . If healing power was in fact in Bartimaeus' faith (the blind beggar from Mark 10:46-52), then he could just as easily been healed by placing his strong faith in the road he was sitting next to and skipped the whole crying out to Jesus for mercy part. Such an idea is beyond absurd. Bartimaeus was not healed by faith in his faith; he was healed by faith in "Jesus, the Son of David" to whom he cried out. Nor does Jesus mean If you have faith in me, you will never get/stay sick. Here is the faulty logic that is often employed: "Jesus never changes. So if faith in him can make one well, then this must always be the case." True, Jesus' character never changes, but that does not mean he always does the same thing. No two circumstances are the same, and Jesus' wisdom is not flat. For example, Jesus immediately went to heal Jairus' daughter, but lingered to let Lazarus die. Jesus' character did not change between these two incidents, but his actions did. We know that Jesus will always be good, but most often we do not know what he is going to do. In fact, the only things we know Jesus will do are those which he has specifically promised. So what does Jesus mean by, "your faith has made you well?" Jesus means Your faith was a critical component, without which you would not have been healed. God chooses to work with and without conditions in different situations and at different times. Physical healing while Jesus is physically present (i.e. both first and second comings) is freely given on the condition that a person come to him in faith. Spiritual healing, that is salvation, is freely given at any time on the same condition. In Israel, where I live, we have unfriendly neighbors who fling missiles at us on occasion. When they do, a siren goes off and we have 30 seconds to get to the bomb shelter. Should a missile ever hit my building while we are safe in the bomb shelter, someone might later say to me, "your diligence has saved both you and your family." Now, let's be honest. It was the well-designed siren system and strong bomb shelter that really did the saving, but this person's words would still hold true. For indeed, without the critical component of diligently going to the shelter, we would not have survived. So too with Bartimaeus. Jesus is the one who did the healing and the saving, but neither would have happened without Bartimaeus' faith. Indeed, his faith made him well.

notes

Main point summary

As Jesus continues on toward Jerusalem, a blind beggar comes to Jesus, is healed and follows him.

Arc

editing

Mark 10:46-52

mhnt

esv

הֵם בָּאוּ לִירִיחוֹ.

x And they came to Jericho.

כַּאֲשֶׁר יָצָא מִירִיחוֹ הוּא וְתַלְמִידָיו וַהֲמוֹן עַם רַב,

And y as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd,

יָשַׁב עַל־יַד הַדֶּרֶךְ עִוֵּר קַבְּצָן, בַּרְטִימַי בְּנוֹ שֶׁל טִימַי.

Bartimaeus, z a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.

temporal

שָׁמַע בַּרְטִימַי כִּי יֵשׁוּעַ מִנַּצְּרַת הוּא

And when he heard that it was a Jesus of Nazareth,

וְהֵחֵל לִצְעֺק:

he began to cry out and say,

"בֶּן־דָּוִד, יֵשׁוּעַ, רַחֵם עָלַי!"

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

ideaexplanation

inference

אָז גָּעֲרוּ בּוֹ רַבִּים

And many b rebuked him,

לְהַשְׁתִּיקוֹ,

telling him to be silent.

actionpurpose

אַךְ הוּא הִרְבָּה עוֹד יוֹתֵר לִצְעֺק:

But he cried out all the more,

"בֶּן־דָּוִד, רַחֵם עָלַי!"

“Son of David, have mercy on me!”

situationresponse

progression

נֶעֱצַר יֵשׁוּעַ וְאָמַר:

And Jesus stopped and said,

"קִרְאוּ לוֹ."

“Call him.”

קָרְאוּ לָעִוֵּר וְאָמְרוּ לוֹ:

And they called the blind man, saying to him,

"הִתְעוֹדֵד,

c “Take heart.

קוּם.

Get up;

series

הוּא קוֹרֵא לְךָ."

he is calling you.”

ground

הִשְׁלִיךְ מֵעָלָיו אֶת מְעִילוֹ,

And throwing off his d cloak,

קָם מִיָּד

he sprang up

וּבָא אֶל יֵשׁוּעַ.

and came to Jesus.

actionmanner

הֵשִׁיב לוֹ יֵשׁוּעַ וְאָמַר:

And Jesus said to him,

"מָה אַתָּה רוֹצֶה שֶׁאֶעֱשֶׂה לְךָ?"

e “What do you want me to do for you?”

אָמַר לוֹ הָעִוֵּר:

And the blind man said to him,

"רַבִִּי, שֶׁאֶרְאֶה!"

f “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”

questionanswer

אָמַר לוֹ יֵשׁוּעַ:

And Jesus said to him,

"לֵךְ,

“Go your way;

אֱמוּנָתְךָ הוֹשִׁיעָה אוֹתְךָ."

g your faith has h made you well.”

בּוֹ בָּרֶגַע רָאָה

And immediately he recovered his sight

actionresult

וְהָלַךְ אַחֲרָיו בַּדֶּרֶךְ.

and followed him on the way.

He persisted in faith, despite the opposition.

They were not staying long in Jericho. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.

The man actually disobeys this it seems. But was he wrong to follow Jesus??

discourse

Comments

Isaias Vinales

I love that you made the observation in 52b and asked the question that you did. Your question being "was he wrong to follow Jesus?". I think that it's remarkable that our Lord tell's this man "go [your] way" and what [he] does is follow Christ. This is the only appropriate response for those of us who have been spiritually healed by Jesus, follow! Thanks for posting.

Adnan

Thank your for the clear thoughts in the meditation section. That really helped me. I have a question re. the arc. Why did you arc verses 4bc and 48d as Q and A?

Blessings,

Adnan

Andy Hubert

Looks like it was a mis-click, as this is a clear Id/Exp. I will update the arc.

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