.... ‘And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir." Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.’
(Genesis 15:4-6)
.... In this example, let us carefully note that God was
initiating and Abraham was
responding. When we respond to God and trust Him, according to the word He has given, we are exercising our
faith in Him, and this qualifies us to become Abraham’s true heirs (
Galatians 3:6-7). But when we take the initiative upon ourselves and expect God to respond to
us, it is called presumption:
.... "Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that woe and well-being proceed?"
(Lamentations 3:37-38)
.... Therefore let’s understand that faith is never an end in itself, nor even a means in itself, but rather faith describes a relationship in which we are entirely dependent on God. He leads, and we trust Him and follow. So in that sense, it’s entirely a subordinate relationship:
.
.... "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 you 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."
(Matthew 9:27-29)
.... In this passage, the two blind men initiated the conversation and there was nothing wrong with doing that. They were making a request. Obviously, they had complete confidence in His ability from the beginning or they wouldn't be asking. But in itself, this did not heal their blindness! Only when Jesus took over the initiative, and they responded to His leading, did their healing occur. This is the connection of faith.
.
.... Also, Jesus made it clear that their faith should not be focused on the end itself (the desire for healing), but rather in the One who heals, who has the ability to do so. "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" And when they placed their trust directly in Him and believed (which is to say, they responded to Him), their healing came. This is the true perspective on faith, in which He leads and we follow.
To proceed to the next lesson, click here
Daily Bible Reading: Romans 11
2 Comments:
The passage of the two blind men is actually very interesting in another way. Jesus had healed blind persons before this, so there was a precedent. And beginning with the first occasion, the blind men had petitioned him by crying out with a certain phrase: “Son of David!” and each time, He’d had mercy on them.
From the first time onward, word had gotten around. From then on, anyone who wanted to be healed of blindness had closely followed the original pattern closely, and had said the same words. To their minds, they could not risk squandering their only chance of healing by getting it wrong, so they stuck with the ‘formula’ they’d hear would work.
We needn’t put Jesus Himself in a box in such ways, but on the other hand, He didn’t seem to mind when other followed that precedent so closely.
By
loren, at 11/01/2005 11:58 PM
I love that you took this story of the blind men and so clearly defined that it was Christ who took over the initiative, and that the blind men simply responded in faith. Usually when I have heard this story used to teach about healing, they completely skip over the part where Jesus is the initiator. Then we wonder why we don't get healed everytime just by asking.
It's funny that we are always looking for a pattern or formula for healing, but it seems that Jesus rarely, if ever healed exactly the same way more than once.
Good word, thanks!
By
Anonymous, at 11/02/2005 2:30 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home