My husband and I were blessed to take a trip along the Seine River in France last year. It was a good opportunity for me to revive (resuscitate?) my college French. Somedays it worked well, but other days I had that “Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore” feeling. Several days into the trip we ventured into a Creperie Restaurant. I had noticed less English speaking in that small town, so I worked very hard to construct our order in what I hoped was acceptable French. After my delivery, the waitress gave me a blank stare. Finally my husband pointed to the menu and indicated “two” with his fingers. She beamed with comprehension at him and scowled at me. I was in a foreign land for sure.

In our reading today, Jesus was in a similar situation. This scene takes place on the Gentile side of Galilee. Mark called this location the Decapolis, i.e. the Ten Cities, indicating a wilderness spot on the east side of the Sea of Galilee (See Mark 7:31). The people there were heathen or semi-heathen, yet they confidently and boldly sought out Jesus for healing. And they were healed, every one of them.

Matthew 15 (Common English Bible)

²⁹ Jesus moved on from there along the shore of the Galilee Sea. He went up a mountain and sat down. ³⁰ Large crowds came to him, including those who were paralyzed, blind, injured, and unable to speak, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. ³¹ So the crowd was amazed when they saw those who had been unable to speak talking, and the paralyzed cured, and the injured walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

This raises an uncomfortable question for us about the value of our faith. These folks had no faith in Jesus, no frame of reference to the messianic prophecies, no connection with God, and yet they were healed. Do we need faith to be healed?

We see a clue in the stories that come before and after this one. In the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4.000 there were many in the crowd who had no idea who Jesus was. And yet they were fed. They came from pagan faith systems or no faith systems and yet they were healed. They were freely offered “even the crumbs” of Jesus’ ministry regardless of the fact that they weren’t Jewish. Do you remember that story? A Canaanite woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter. He told her he couldn’t because he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. The mother reminded Jesus that even the dogs get to feast on the Master’s crumbs and Jesus was impressed with her persistence. The daughter was healed, unlocking grace in an earth-shattering, universal way.

The healed people praised “the God of Israel,” confirming that they were saved by someone else’s God. But by praising God, they were now included in this crumb ministry that went forth and changed the world.

How important is faith in our healing? Does it bother you that Jesus’ salvation is offered to unbelievers? Remember, grace is just that: Freely given and freely received so that all might be saved.

Freely Given by Kathy Anderson Weeks