Two Women of Faith

In the Gospels there are two stories of women who found healing, one for herself, and one for her daughter.

The first woman had a blood disorder that left her ceremonially unclean and an outcast from society. Her health also drove her to bankruptcy as she turned from one doctor to the next in a hopeless search of a cure. But that was all before Jesus passed by.

This unmanned woman fought through the crowd and was able to touch just one of the tassels on his outer garment. In that instant healing power flowed from Jesus to this woman as she immediately became well. And in Luke 8:48 we see what Jesus credited for this healing: “Your faith has made you well.”

The second woman was a Syrophoenician, a Gentile. In the presence of Jewish men, who would view her as the equivalent of a stray dog, she asked Jesus to heal her daughter. Jesus initially ignored the woman, testing her faith. But as she persisted Jesus healed her daughter, declaring, “Oh woman! Great is your faith! (Matthew 15:28)”

In both situations Jesus commented on the faith of these women, and that faith is what led to their healings. These women were similar in that they had nothing they could boast of aside from their faith. The first woman had spent at least twelve years away from the synagogue and probably knew little of the Scriptures or Jesus. The second woman never presented Jesus with a list of her or her daughter’s accomplishments.

They just had faith.

And faith is all that is required of us. You don’t need a PhD to come to Jesus; you don’t need to be an MVP or CEO. You just need faith. It matters none how much or little you know of the Bible or the church; just put your faith in Jesus. The longer you serve Him the more you will learn, but the first thing you need is faith.

We can learn a major lesson from these unnamed women. No matter who you are or what you have done, if you put your faith in Jesus then you too can be made well.