When I think of women of faith, I immediately think of Mother Teresa and Corrie Ten Boom. There have been many books written, movies made, and interviews given about these two women of faith. In their lives, they suffered much for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and directed other people toward Jesus through their faith. But there is a small, lonely, woman of meager means in scripture who shows a terrific amount of faith. We find her story in three Gospel books, and what happened to her was a miracle because of her faith in Jesus.

In Matthew 9, we see Jesus answering a question, which the disciples of John the Baptist had asked, concerning why Jesus’ disciples do not fast. I am sure Jesus was in a deep conversation when Jairus, a leader in the synagogue, comes in and disrupts his teaching. Jairus’ daughter had died and he wanted Jesus to come heal her and raise her to life. So, Jesus leaves the conversation and walks with Jairus to his home. Jesus’ disciples are following behind. I can imagine the scene of the busy street, people chattering, the marketplace filled with people, and Jairus is filling in all the details as he walks alongside Jesus to his home. I am sure Jairus was in a hurry to get there, so he is walking, almost jogging, while Jesus calmly walks along at an unhurried pace with the disciples following behind. The disciples are probably talking and wondering how a leader of the synagogue could know about Jesus and had the faith to believe that if only Jesus would come home with him, his daughter would be healed.

As they were walking along, a small, lonely woman steps up from the crowd of people and says to herself, “If only I may touch his garment, I shall be made well.” This woman had an issue of bleeding for 12 years. She was probably shunned by most people around her, because Jewish people were not to touch anything with blood because it was believed they would be defiled. I imagine she was lonely, hungry, afraid, and trying to live day by day. She had to be tired just from the loss of blood. Where and how did this woman come to know about Jesus? How did she have the faith to come so boldly? Did she realize when she touched the hem of his garment that Jesus would know someone touched him? Jesus did see her, and he looked at her and said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed right at that moment. See Matthew 9:20-22.

This scripture leaves me with more questions, and I would love to know the backstory of this woman and her story after her healing. I believe these three little verses about this woman are pretty powerful. She did not get attention from others like Corrie Ten Boom or Mother Teresa, but there is much boldness and power in these three verses. She must have had much love and hope in her heart to acquire the faith to step up and know that Jesus could heal her. I also love the fact that Jesus, although interrupted by Jairus and then interrupted by this woman on the way to heal Jairus’ daughter, stopped to notice this woman and heal her. The woman’s needs were important to Jesus, the death of the daughter was important to Jesus, and showing his disciples and John’s disciples what was most important was all met in a short time in the middle of a busy day by Jesus. People will always be the priority to Jesus, and I believe that is still the ultimate priority today for Jesus. All we have to do is have faith to reach out and touch the hem of his garment to know his power and his love. All we have to do is have the faith and do something.

Written by Cindy Music

The Faith of the Centurion Matthew 8:5-13

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

Why was Jesus amazed with the Centurion’s faith and so disappointed with the faith of those in Israel?

Let’s look at Israel first. The Jewish people, especially the leaders, didn’t accept Jesus as the Messiah. They missed all the signs in prophecy, the miracles, and his teachings that pointed to him being God’s Son. They had their own thoughts and expectations of what the Messiah would be like. How he would save them from the Romans. How he would be a political leader. They had created a “box” to put the Son of God in. By doing this, they limited him to their own worldly knowledge and experiences. When Jesus didn’t rise to the political occasion and save them from Roman rule, they turned on him. They looked for reasons to disqualify him as the Messiah in prophecy. They closed their eyes to the miracles he performed and closed their ears to his teachings. They wasted the time they had with Jesus, when they could have been experiencing all God had for them. Hmmm, sometimes we can all be a little like Israel.

The Centurion’s faith was different. That day when the Centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant, he knew what Jesus could do. Even though he had power and authority over hundreds of men, he recognized Jesus as someone who spoke with authority and a power that were not of this earthly realm. He recognized that his own power and authority were limited, and he could do nothing to save his servant. The Centurion knew he was not liked by Jewish people, but he put aside his pride. He came that day with a humble heart expecting Jesus to speak and his servant to be healed. The Centurion knew that day he had nothing to lose but everything to gain by having faith outside of the “box.”

What would it look like to have faith that goes beyond what our minds can dream? We are limited in our knowledge and experiences because we only have what we see around us. What if we look outside of our “boxes” and believe that Jesus can do so much more than what we can fathom? The only box God lives in is the one we put him in. We limit what we believe he can and will do based on our small amount of knowledge. He is so much more. He can do so much more. He doesn’t want us to limit him or limit our faith in what he will do.

Dream big and live with a faith that is even bigger. Go outside the box and expect Jesus to work as only he can. What have you got to lose?