A woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched His (Jesus's) garment; for she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well." But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her, He said: "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." (Matthew 9:2-22).

Commentary and explanation. This is a perfect example of what faith in Jesus does to be saved. In this case there is a woman that wanted to be healed of a corporal dicease she had suffered for twelve years; but we can say the same about sin, which is the illness of the soul.

This woman was convinced that, if she could come to Jesus and touch His garment, that she would be healed; and she was, receiving this answer from Jesus: "Daughter, your faith has made you well."

The miracles and wonders done by Jesus had several purposes:

1. To do good to the people. Jesus teaches us that the main commandment after the love of God is the love of neighbor, and He wants to give us an example. And, as He had so much power to do good, He used it for the benefit of the people. Jesus' miracles are, first of all, acts of love to the neighbor.

2. With His miracles, Jesus proves that His teachings come from God. The signs done by Jesus had an apologetic purpose, that is, they proved that He came from God, and that His teachings were what He had heard from His Father: I have given them the words which You have given Me (John 17:8).

3. His miracles show that He has the power to heal souls. Each miracle performed by Jesus has also a spiritual meaning, besides the natural fact. The wonders and signs He made in the human bodies and with natural elements as the sea, the bread and the fishes, were signs of His spiritual mission: that He came to save all humankind.

Let us notice, then, the relationship between these two facts: the natural one and the spiritual one. To heal the bodies, Jesus demands faith, full trust in Him. To heal the souls, He wants the same faith.

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When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, "Do yo believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you." And their eyes were opened (Matthew 9:27-30).

Commentary and explanation. Jesus demands from the blind men a persistent and trustful faith, before He heals them, as a condition for their corporal salvation. And, once the blind men affirmed their faith and trust in Him, Jesus healed them. According to your faith let it be to you, were Jesus' words. The healing was tied to their faith.

This miracle of Jesus, as well as all His miracles, shows us the divine power that Jesus had, and therefore that His mission was a divine mission, as He used to say, because He was the Son of God. This wonder teaches us also that faith is needed if we want to be saved by Him.

Bodily illnesses produce in the body the same effect that sin does in the soul. Jesus came to heal both, through faith. As faith was a requirement to heal the blind men, so faith is the fundamental requisite to receive spiritual health and salvation.

And, in the same way as the faith that Jesus demanded before a miracle was a firm and trustful faith, the faith that God wants to save and reconcile us with Him must also be firm and dependable. We must believe in the saving power of Jesus; we must believe also in His love for us.

Without faith it is impossible to please Him (God), we read in Hebrews 11:6.

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Commentary and explanation. These words of Jesus that we just quoted are some of the most radical of the whole gospel: all things are possible to him who believes!

They had brought to Jesus' disciples a boy who had a mute spirit, to cast him out, but the disciples couldn't do it (Mark 9:17,18). Then the father comes to Jesus and asks Him to cure him. Jesus reprehended the poor faith of His disciples, and said to the parent: if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.

The father, with all humility, said: Lord, I believe; help my unbelief (Mark 9:24). And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and commanded it to come out of him, and healed the boy.

Once again the message is clear: Jesus demands faith to heal. Much more, He teaches that there is nothing impossible for him who believes. He taught the same on another occasion, with different words, when He said: If you have faith and do not doubt, you can say to this mountain, "Be removed and be cast into the sea," and it will be done (Matthew 21:21).

Faith is the essential requisite for the power of God to be put in action.

What Jesus did in the bodies was just a resemblance of what He does in the souls, because He came to heal the brokenhearted (Luke 4:18), those who repent and come to Him.

When Jesus demanded faith to give bodily health, He was teaching us that we must have faith in Him if we want to get spiritual health, as we can see in many other passages of the gospel.

The sinner that comes to Jesus, and firmly believes in His love and power, can be truly certain that he will receive forgiveness and spiritual health.

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Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him (Peter), and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31).

Commentary and explanation. We have here another example about how important faith is. Jesus reprehended the weak faith of Peter. The facts happened this way.

One evening, the disciples were in the middle of the sea, and their boat was tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary, when Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. The disciples were troubled, saying "It is a ghost!" But Jesus spoke to them, saying: "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid" (Matthew 14:27).

Then Peter answered Him: "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

We see here the effects of faith, and the effects of doubt, of mistrust. As long as Peter had faith in the word of Jesus, he was able to walk on the water, but immediately he started to doubt, he began to sink.

The lesson is clear: we must have an irrevocable faith in Jesus, in the word of Jesus. We understand that when He says or teaches something, it is so.

That is why we also believe His words when He says to us:He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life (John 5:24).

The conclusion is that through faith in Jesus we have entrance into everlasting life.

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