“Do you believe that I can do this?”
What do we believe about what Jesus can do? Do we really believe that there is one who can give sight to the blind? Do we believe that things which are impossibly humanly speaking are possible for Jesus? We look into ourselves and out toward the world and discover so much brokenness. We realize that human effort, though often laudable, is out of its depth. We cannot build utopia on earth. We cannot even fix our own hearts. The world is continues to be marked by violence, discord, sickness, and disease. We ourselves are still subject to anxiety and fear. We hide from these by a mask of pride or by distractions of entertainment and pleasure. We need a miracle. But are we able to believe that miracles are possible?
“Yes, Lord,” they said to him.
Yes, Lord. We do believe, heal our unbelief (see Mark 9:24). There is no such thing as an impossibility for Jesus. He is the one who designed the eye. If something went wrong and caused blindness he knows the blueprint by which it can be restored. By him all things were made, and he can refashion them by that same power. Yet this power of his will not be released without faith on our part.
“Let it be done for you according to your faith.”
And their eyes were opened.
Things that seem impossible to us seem that way because of the brute fact of repeated experience wherein we see them functioning in no other way. We rule out possibility for the future on the basis of the past. But how, then, can we have faith? Rather than mere wishes crashing against the wall of reality, how can we have actual belief in the power of God, especially when this power seems absent in so many places where it is needed?
On that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a book;
And out of gloom and darkness,
the eyes of the blind shall see.
The words of Scripture have the power to awaken our hearts to what is possible. Not only that, they give us confidence that there is a plan at work. Even if for a time darkness seems to dominate, the Lord has been faithful in the past and will be faithful again. He does not simply remove evil, for we would quickly just make other problems. We would continue to seek other lesser goods in place of higher goods and the world would still be in similar shape. God addresses the issues of the world through Jesus, so that we can know that the source and summit of goodness is not found in ourselves or by our efforts. His plan for the restoration of all things requires faith, because faith ensures the integrity of the gift.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God (see Ephesians 2:8).
Faith is required, not as an arbitrary test, but because there is really no other way for finite and fallen creatures to turn from trusting in their own efforts to trusting in the power of God. Faith seems difficult when it proposes the seemingly impossible, but this is only the perspective of minds still darkened by sin. For nothing shall be impossible for God (see Luke 1:37).
The lowly will ever find joy in the LORD,
and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
Faith centralizes all things around a person rather than a mere technology, method, idea, or doctrine. It is not one more 'ism' in a crowded marketplace of perspectives. It reorders us toward the one in whom alone we can find lasting joy.
They shall keep my name holy;
they shall reverence the Holy One of Jacob,
and be in awe of the God of Israel.
Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding,
and those who find fault shall receive instruction.
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