Bible Studies

Bible Study on Faith and Hope: Three Healings in Luke (Luke 5-8)

What is the difference between faith and hope? Meet three people who came to Jesus in Luke 5-8 and see what it looks like to trust Him before you can see the outcome.

Chris

• 4 min read
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Bible Study on Faith and Hope: Three Healings in Luke (Luke 5-8)

Hope is something we can easily understand. We hope for a better day tomorrow. We hope to get a tax refund. Some even hope to win the lottery. Faith, on the other hand, can be harder to explain or wrap our minds around. We tend to believe in things we can understand, see, or touch, so walking by faith can be difficult.

This study looks at three people who came to Jesus and what faith and hope look like up close. You can use it on your own or with a small group. Before you start, think of something you're hoping for right now. How confident are you that it will happen?

Big Idea: Biblical hope looks forward to what God has promised, and faith trusts Jesus Himself to keep His word, even before we can see the outcome.

Read first: Luke 5:12-15, Luke 7:1-10, Luke 8:43-48, Hebrews 11:1

Defining Faith and Hope

The dictionary defines hope as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. Faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something. The Bible fills both words with more meaning.

In everyday speech, hope is often a wish with no guarantee. In Scripture, hope is a confident expectation of what God has promised. It is "a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls" (Hebrews 6:19), and it "will not lead to disappointment" (Romans 5:5). Hope looks forward to what God has promised. Faith trusts God to do it, and acts on that trust now.

Faith is only as good as its object. Strong faith in the wrong thing will fail, but even weak faith in Jesus connects us to the One who never fails.

Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy

The first man had "an advanced case of leprosy" (Luke 5:12). Under the Law, people with serious skin diseases were ceremonially unclean and had to live in isolation (Leviticus 13:45-46). He was cut off from worship, family, and community.

He bowed to the ground. "Lord," he said, "if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean." He had no doubt about Jesus' power. His question was whether Jesus would be willing. "Jesus reached out and touched him. 'I am willing,' he said" (Luke 5:13). Jesus touched him before the healing. Touching an unclean person would normally make someone unclean, but Jesus' cleanness flowed to the man instead. Then Jesus sent him to the priest so he could be restored to his community.

Reflect:

  • Was this man showing hope, faith, or both? Why?
  • Do you find it easier to believe Jesus can help than that He is willing to help you?

The Faith of a Roman Officer

The centurion was a Gentile in the occupying army, yet he loved the Jewish people and had built their synagogue (Luke 7:5). When his highly valued slave was near death, he sent Jewish elders to Jesus. They said, "If anyone deserves your help, he does" (Luke 7:4). The officer said the opposite: "I am not worthy of such an honor" (Luke 7:6). He came humbly, not on the basis of his good record.

As a man under authority, he understood that a word from someone with authority gets things done. "Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed" (Luke 7:7). Jesus was amazed: "I haven't seen faith like this in all Israel!" (Luke 7:9). In Luke's account, the officer never met Jesus face to face. He believed Jesus' word was enough, without seeing anything at all. That is "the evidence of things we cannot see."

Reflect:

  • Why do you think this kind of faith amazed Jesus?
  • Where do you need to trust Jesus' word without seeing the outcome first?

Jesus Heals in Response to Faith

A woman in the crowd had "suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding" (Luke 8:43). Under the Law, her condition made her unclean (Leviticus 15:25). Like the man with leprosy, she lived on the edges, probably for her entire adult life. She came up behind Jesus, touched the fringe of His robe, and was healed immediately. She hoped to slip away unnoticed.

But Jesus stopped and asked, "Who touched me?" The question brought her into the open, where she told her story in front of the whole crowd (Luke 8:47). Then Jesus called her "Daughter" and said, "your faith has made you well. Go in peace" (Luke 8:48). She received more than physical healing. She was publicly restored and welcomed into God's family.

Reflect:

  • Did Jesus ask "Who touched me?" for His benefit or for hers? What changed for her because He asked?
  • Is there something you've been trying to bring to Jesus secretly? What would it look like to bring it into the open?

How Faith and Hope Point to Jesus

In all three stories, Jesus does what the Law could not do. He makes the unclean clean and brings outsiders in. That is what He does for all who trust Him, through His death and resurrection. Our greatest hope is anchored there: God "raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation" (1 Peter 1:3). And we are saved by grace through faith in Him, not by our own effort (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Faith is not a formula for getting results. It is trust in a Person, not a force we use. God sometimes heals now, and sometimes He sustains us through suffering while we wait for the full healing of the resurrection. Neither is a sign of weak faith. Doctors, medicine, savings, and careers are good gifts from God. The danger is putting our ultimate trust in them instead of in Him.

Live It Out

Write down one thing you are hoping for. Next to it, write one promise of God that speaks to it. Pray over it each day this week, and do the part that is yours to do, trusting God with the details.

Verse to remember: "Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see." (Hebrews 11:1, NLT)

A Prayer

Lord Jesus, I believe You are able, and I trust that You are willing. Help me put my faith in You and not in the things I can see and control. Anchor my hope in Your promises and in Your resurrection. Where my faith is weak, help me trust You more. In Jesus' name, amen.

Going Deeper