Real Faith

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

REAL FAITH

Luke 8:40-48

40 Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 45 "Who touched me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you." 46 But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."  47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace." 

NIV

First of all we have to notice Jesus was more than accommodating to Jairus, even though he was a ruler of the synagogue. There must have been some reason we were told the position of Jairus, but the point here is that he fell at the feet of Jesus concerning his only daughter. Perhaps the reason Jesus responded to him, was because he came about his only daughter. In those days women were not as important as men, women would not carry on the family name, as a son would. Women only had identity in their association with men, a daughter, a wife, a mother. But this man fell at the feet of Jesus pleading for him to come to heal his only daughter, a moving display of love. This in itself could be our life lesson, in that we should be falling at the feet of Jesus for our sick family members. If we do, believing he can heal even those who are dying, he will come with us. Certainly Jairus had that kind of faith. But we also have in this same narrative within a crowd pushing around Jesus this woman who thought if she could just touch the helm of his garment, she would be healed from this physical trouble she had not been able to be cured from which she had for years. When she touched him, healing power went out from him, and he knew it, after all he is God in the flesh. But he was being touched by many people, yet this one touch released power from him. We know, as he told her, it was her faith that caused this power to flow from him. Are we to believe Jesus, being God in the flesh, did not know it was she who touch him? Most likely Jesus knew who it was, but wanted her to witness to everyone about her healing, he wanted the crowd to see faith in action, perhaps even Jairus would be encouraged about the fate of his daughter hearing this woman confess her experience and healing. But we are left with no doubt here about faith. First with the faith of Jairus and then with the faith of this woman. Although God has the power to move mountains, in fact the ones he created in the first place, there seems to be a thread that runs throughout the scriptures, a thread of faith. We come to Jesus for salvation, believing we will be saved and get to go to heaven, but do we continue to come to him, falling at his feet, touching the helm of his garment, so to speak, for all the rest of the areas of our life? Faith is required. If we have faith, Jesus will. Will Jesus still move on our behalf if we do not have the kind of faith we have seen in Jairus and this woman? Maybe not. He continues to teach us about having faith. We need faith, real faith, gut wrenching, unwavering, and falling at his feet kind of faith. Is there a kind of fake faith? There might be sort of a fake faith, in our prayers, we ask, but we are not sure he will answer, or that if he does, he will say not yet, or maybe, or even no. There might be times we pray just because we think we should pray, but it is more a prayer out of obligation, then a prayer of real faith. We hear prayers from others, who choose to make their prayer a teaching moment for others, or at least to show others how well they can pray, but are those real prayers of faith? We need real faith when we pray and that is all we need. Real faith.