Did Jesus Need Faith to Heal

I think that is a fair question to ask. Most people would automatically say … yes. He was the perfect example of faith in action. I do agree that Jesus had 100% of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in operation in His life anytime He so desired. That is why and how He was able to accomplish all the things He did in His earthly ministry. One of those gifts was … the gift of faith.

But wait a minute. Is that really the reason? I have always believed and taught the very same thing … that Jesus emptied Himself of all that was God, when He, as the Word of God in heaven became flesh and blood on earth.

But then I noticed some of the words the Apostle Paul used in his description of Jesus the man; the phrases used as he tried to illustrate how Jesus, as God in human flesh, looked compared to natural man.

You will admit won't you that Jesus was just a little bit different being born of a virgin. His human flesh came from Mary, but since He had no earthly father His individual defining attributes and His inherent nature and character came … not from man … but from God.

We have a natural body made of flesh; so did Jesus. We also have a spirit within us sometimes called our spirit man or our spiritual heart; so did Jesus. Many times people confuse what I call the breath of life, what God breathed into Adam, our spirit man, the real you inside … with what is called our soul. They are used interchangeably in the Bible; sometimes as spirit, heart or soul. But the spirit and the soul are very different.

The Bible doesn't really distinguish the difference between spirit and soul. Let me try to do just that. At conception, where life begins, God breathes into or somehow places our human spirit into the baby in the mother's womb. The baby's body grows; the mother gives birth and the child becomes … a living soul. The soul therefore is the result of flesh and spirit being joined together.

The soul, for some reason seems more closely connected to the flesh than does the spirit. It is in the soul where our flesh battles with our spirit for control over our appetites and the physical desires of our fleshly bodies. This is why Paul said … "to will is present with me, (to please God) but how to perform that, I know not how." Paul was saying his spirit was willing but his flesh was weak and didn't follow the dictates of his heart, his spirit.

Okay, as usual I took a detour the long way around; sorry, but I wanted to give a little background just in case there might be someone who may not know or understand what is involved in … being made in the image of God … as it states man was in the Book of Genesis. God is a trinity; composed of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit … man is slightly different. He is predominantly flesh, has a spirit and a troubled soul.

In the eternal heaven we will still be a spirit being with a new resurrected physical body … but I'm not too sure we will have need of our soul. It sure causes us a lot of trouble here on earth.

Getting back to the question … "Did Jesus need faith to heal?"

Follow along as I present what are to me, some interesting observations.

The Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:7-8 writes that Jesus … "took upon the form of a servant … was made in the likeness of men … being found in fashion as a man …" and again in Romans 8:3 Paul states that God sent His own Son … "in the likeness of sinful flesh."

Do you notice the bold emphasis I have placed on the expressions Paul used? The K.J.V. reads … "the form of a servant, the likeness of men, found in fashion as a man." The Amplified states it this way … "to assume … become like men."

For the sake of argument let me ask this question … was Jesus really a man as we are or was it that He only looked like a man? What did Paul really mean when he wrote that Jesus was made in the "likeness of" or that He was found in "fashion as" a man … He became "like" men? He said that Jesus … "took upon himself the form of a man." Is that like putting on a coat? Was the flesh only used to cover up the fact that He was God? Again, this thought is only for the sake of argument.

Was Jesus more God than man? Was this why Jesus was able to perform all the miracles; healing disease, raising the dead, walking on water and live as a man without sin? Was He really like us? He was tempted in all points as we are … but God can't be tempted.

Jesus did not cease to be God when He took upon the form of a man … God cannot be less than what He is.

Think about this … If He was God in Heaven as the Word, how could He divest Himself of His divine nature … that would be IMPOSSIBLE. He could not … CEASE TO BE GOD … just as God cannot cease to be Holy.

When Jesus healed people, were they healed through His faith? Were all the miracles accomplished by faith only, or was it because … He was God?

If Jesus healed as I believe He did … as God … then His faith wasn't needed.

Why wasn't His faith needed? Because God lacks nothing and needs nothing; He is all powerful and all sufficient in and of Himself; He has no limits or boundaries, is infallible and incapable of failure or error.

To further illustrate that Jesus did not need to use or depend upon His own faith to heal, I want to turn to the Word of God … and the truth of the Holy Scriptures.

Do you remember the woman that had an issue of blood for twelve years; the one who came up behind Jesus and touched the hem of his garment? This same story is found in three of the Gospels. I have highlighted in bold letters the part of the text below that I want you to notice.

Matthew 9:21-22 … "She said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour."
Mark 5:34 … "And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."
Luke 8:48 … "And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace."

Do you see the common theme here? Whose faith did Jesus say brought healing? It wasn't His; it was her faith. She had the faith, He had the power.

There was a blind man begging along the side of the road; the story is found in …

Mark 10:50-52 … "And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way."

Again, the man had the faith, Jesus had the power.

All of us have heard about blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:52 … "Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way."

Remember the story of the ten men that were lepers? It's found in the 17th chapter of Luke. Only one of the ten came back to thank Jesus and hear from Him these words … "Thy faith hath made thee whole."

In Matthew chapter 15 we find a Canaan woman coming to Jesus and asking Him to help her daughter who has a devil. But Jesus answered her not a word. But she didn't give up and worshiped Him and asked again … Lord, help me.

What is going on here? This doesn't sound like Jesus. When He does speak to her it's a put down telling her … it is not appropriate or proper for a Jew to give bread to dogs, meaning Gentiles. Jesus does this to test her faith and to give her the opportunity to exercise that faith.

Her response is one of the greatest arguments in the Bible. "And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."

Matthew 15:28 … "Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."

It wasn't always just Jesus who experienced the faith of others; Paul had the same experience. This is recorded in …

Acts 14:8-10 … "And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked: The same heard Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked."

The man had faith to be healed after hearing Paul preach about Jesus. Paul perceived this man's faith, (through the gift of the Holy Spirit) and the power of healing came from Paul's command to the lame man to exercise his faith and stand; which he did.

In all the examples I have given from the Word of God, there is one common thread, one theme which are the very words Jesus proclaimed to all those who asked for healing from Him … "Thy faith" … has made you whole.

They had the faith, Jesus had the power.

I believe the same still holds true today.


Comments welcome.