When Jesus says, “Your faith has made you whole,” what does he mean? Among most Christians today, there are two competing interpretations about how faith makes you whole.
How Faith Makes You Whole
On the one hand are those who emphasize the power of one’s faith. The more faith you have, the more likely you are to receive a miracle. But Hebrews 11, the “Hall of Faith,” makes it clear that some who have tremendous faith still suffer and die.
On the other hand are those who put the emphasis on the object of one’s faith. It’s not about the amount of faith you have, it’s all about the One in whom you place it. While I agree with this theology and find the former to be spiritually harmful, I still don’t think either train of thought catches the full meaning of what Jesus was getting at.
If faith is an acceptance of something divine and supernatural that lies beyond what is merely physical, then it stands to reason that growing our faith is a way of expanding our perception and understanding of who God is and what God is doing. And I would argue that there is a strong correlation between our faith and our wholeness.
We tend to compartmentalize life far too much, as though the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and perhaps relational realms of life are disconnected from one another. But I’m a whole person, and so are you. We should keep this in mind when considering how faith makes you whole. Any kind of healing we might need will always be holistic in nature. It will involve the whole person.
My faith, in and of itself, doesn’t have supernatural power the way God does. So it isn’t my faith that performs any kind of healing. But it is my faith that opens me up to perceive and understand the healing work of God in my life.
What I think Jesus was saying about how faith makes you whole was, in effect, Your willingness to exercise faith and open yourself up to what God is doing in your life is going to contribute significantly to your healing in a holistic way and to your being restored to the whole YOU that God created and desires for you to be.
One of the passages in the Bible that suggests this to me is the story of Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19:
Luke 17:11-19 NRSV
[11] On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. [12] As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, [13] they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” [14] When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. [15] Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. [16] He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. [17] Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? [18] Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” [19] Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
