Death & Disease

Faith. The faith demonstrated in this passage recognizes the utter dependence upon God. It is not a blind faith because it is rooted in the historical works of God and the more recent miracles of God through Christ. The object of faith is what’s important, not the strength or vitality. Women. It is strange to include women so prominently in a first-century work, particularly in a way important to the story's main character or hero. This does two things: (1) Jesus elevates women to a place of importance and has remained core to the Christian ethic ever since. Women are not objects to be obtained, controlled, or traded. (2) If the author wanted to persuade a first-century audience of something untrue, then he would not feature women in these ways.