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had an issue of blood for twelve years (Israel's number coming out again), is another
example of Israel's condition. Her complaint would render her unfit to attend the house
of God. It was recognized by tradition as a sufficient ground for divorce, it placed her
outside the pale of society generally. She was in effect in much the same position as the
leper. Yet she dared to contemplate touching the fringe of the Saviour's garment!
Something must have told her that no defilement could adhere to Him. Had He not
touched lepers? Was He not even now going by request to touch the very dead? How
closely He came to the suffering world! How wonderful beyond thought that He, the
holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners, could so mingle with them as to
appear in the eyes of the unsanctified as a friend of publicans and sinners, in a sense
lower than the scriptural one! There is often more of the unsympathetic Pharisee about
our ideas and practice of "separation" than that of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Holy
One of God.
Faith appears in some miracles very prominently, in others it is not mentioned. The
faith of the Centurion called forth the words of Christ, "Verily, I say unto you, I have not
found so great faith, no, not in Israel". There does not appear any room for faith in the
case of Peter's wife's mother. It was evidently possessed by the leper, for his "if" was
merely a question of "will", not of "can".
The mention of "faith" in the storm is one of rebuke--"O ye of little faith". Faith
does not figure in the miracle of the two demon-possessed. The faith which is expressly
mentioned in the account of the healing and forgiving of the man sick of the palsy is the
faith of those who brought him (9: 2). To the woman whose issue of blood was healed
the Lord said, "Thy faith hath made thee whole". No one can question the faith of the
ruler, but the word does not appear. In the next miracle, that of the blind men, faith is
prominent, and the cure was conditional upon it.
The references to faith in this Gospel are subject to a definite arrangement, and as
some of the passages are directly concerned with the miracles, we will give the order for
the sake of future study,
Faith.
A | 8: 10. Great faith; outside Israel. Man for servant.
B | 9: 2. Their faith. Led to forgiveness.
C | 9: 22. Thy faith. Exeranthe (dried up), Mark 5: 29.
D | 9: 29. According to faith. Eyes of blind opened.
HERE COMES REJECTION (12:, 13:).
A | 15: 28. Great faith; outside Israel. Woman for daughter.
B | 17: 20. As mustard seed. Luke 17: 6 links with forgiveness.
C | 21: 21. Remove mountains. Exeranthe (withered), verse 20.
D | 23: 23, 24. Pharisees omit faith. Blind guides.
There is a lesson in all this. It is surely intentional that the two first occasions on
which faith is mentioned concern Gentiles seeking the blessing for others, in one case so
markedly as to cause the Lord to marvel, and in both cases to remark upon the greatness
of the faith exhibited. Yet the Lord would not deny the faith that was as small even as a