He Had Faith to Be Healed

by William J. Stewart

It is a common perception in the religious world that one must have adequate faith for one to be healed. This false idea has allowed many fake healers to save face when their hypnotic advantage over a would-be recipient has failed. And as sure as it has been a refuge for the charlatan, it has no doubt been the breaking point in the faith of those accused of failing to believe in God's power.

The destructive work of these spiritual con-artists brings to my mind a faith-healing service several years ago in Kingston. The pretender boasted of the wonderful deeds he'd done in Jesus' name across the country for what seemed like hours.

After he finished patting himself on the back, some who had been healed that week during his revival were invited to come and pat his back some more.

A young man sat not 10 feet away from him on the front row. I knew him, for we studied the Bible occasionally that summer. Maybe I am wrong, but I think some go to such events simply for the show. But others are there because they seek healing. He was of that sort, for he was troubled with Cerebral Palsy. One row back sat another whom we knew. She would have also sat in the front row, but her interpreter needed to sit there. She was deaf.

After stroking his ego, he began to heal those who came forward. Neither of those whom I knew got into line to be healed. I can only speculate on why they didn't. Was it because they were pre-screened and disqualified? Was it because they were in line earlier that week and were not healed? Had they been told that they lacked faith to be healed?

I've not seen either of them in several years. It would not surprise me if the self-righteous fraud who graced the stage that week trampled their faith so severely that they turned away from it entirely.

It is a false claim that the one seeking to be healed must have faith to be healed. The Lord went to Bethany after the death of His friend Lazarus (Luke 11). From outside the tomb, He called for his friend to come forth. How much faith did this dead man have?

In John 5, Jesus found a man sitting by the pool of Bethesda. Several believed that an angel stirred the water from time to time, and whoever got into the pool first would be healed. The Lord asked this man who had been lame for 38 years, "Do you want to be made well?" His presence at the pool said "yes," but his answer to Jesus sounded skeptical. There was no expectation that he would be healed. He had no one to help him into the water. I wonder how many he had seen hobble into this pool and then walk away whole. But it was never him.

Jesus gave seven simple words: "Rise, take up your bed and walk" (John 5:8).

It is a false claim that one seeking to be healed must have faith to be healed. He was made well! Now, how much faith did this man have? We already saw that he clung to no expectation of being made well. Further, John 5:13 reveals that the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn. How much faith did this man have? When the religious leaders asked him who had told him to take up his bed, he did not know. He had no faith in Jesus at all, but he was healed.

Jesus revealed that it was necessary for the healer, not the healed, to have faith. In answering his disciples about why they were unable to cast out a particular demon, He said to them: "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:20-21).

If a miracle fails, it is because of a lack of faith on the part of the miracle worker! The healer, not the healed, must have adequate faith.

And yet we read in Acts 14 of a man crippled from birth, of whom it is said that "Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, 'Stand up straight on your feet!' And he leaped and walked" (Acts 14:9-10). Ah, see, he had faith to be healed! So the faith healers are right when they say that some do not have faith to be healed, right? No!

The woman with the issue of blood was like this man. She thought: "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well" (Mark 5:28). She did, and she was!

The Lord commended her faith. She knew without a doubt that He could make her well. As Paul looked at this man, he saw the same trust in God's power.

It would be wrong to conclude from John 5 or 11 that for one to be healed, they must have no idea who Jesus is or be dead. It is equally wrong to draw from Mark 5 or Acts 14 that a certain level of faith must exist for a healing to be received.