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Faith, thinking with ascent, is not merely about abstractions. Yes, it is ordered primarily to firth truth, that is, God himself. But it also considers all things as ordered to that first truth. That means that there is ultimately no aspect of life that is not a matter of faith. To broaden a little on Paul's meaning in Romans we can repeat that "whatever does not proceed from faith is sin" (see Romans 14:23). This is because, considered this way, that which does not proceed from faith is not properly referred to God. And if it is not it can only be set up in competition with and opposition to God.
I have not time to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,
of David and Samuel and the prophets,
who by faith conquered kingdoms,
did what was righteous, obtained the promises;
The biblical heroes cited by the author of Hebrews were all individuals who lived by faith. They believed what was revealed to them by God, certain that God himself was worthy of their trust. As a consequence, the battles, challenges, and difficulties of their lives were taken up into a higher story and a more exulted narrative. They no longer fought on the basis of their own strength but in many cases, such as that of Gideon (see Judges 7), explicitly in spite of that strength so that the power of God could be revealed.
they closed the mouths of lions, put out raging fires,
Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael were among those who were unwilling to waver on their commitment to the Lord no matter the consequences, and whom the Lord delivered in order to vindicate their faith. The mouth of the lions was closed by an angel (see Daniel 6) and although the three young men were thrown into the fiery furnace they walked out and "didn’t even smell of smoke" (see Daniel 3:27).
Some were tortured and would not accept deliverance,
in order to obtain a better resurrection.
We see from the reference to the Maccabean martyrs that faith was not always a recipe for immediate success. It was, however, a sure recipe for eventual and everlasting success, the only kind of success truly worthy of the name (see Second Maccabees 7:24). So too for Christians. Sometimes the Lord would deliver Christians from their difficulties, such as when angels set Peter free from prison (see Acts 12:6-19). But other times the Lord would allow difficulties and even martyrdoms in the world for the sake of a greater good known only in part in this life by faith. We see this in the death of Stephen this first martyr. He himself was rewarded with "a better resurrection" and planted seeds from which much growth in the early Church would result.
Yet all these, though approved because of their faith,
did not receive what had been promised.
God had foreseen something better for us,
so that without us they should not be made perfect.
If the heroes of the Old Testament where able to live such powerful lives with a faith that was only vague and shadowy what ought we Christians who have the fullness of the faith be able to do? We see Jesus, the fulfillment of every promise, and know that he has forever connected all sufferings that we choose to unite with his own to the power of his resurrection. This was the veiled hope of all of the Old Testament heroes. But for those of us for whom this hope is explicit let us learn to allow it more completely govern our entire lives, to refer all that we are to God by living out our faith.
As they approached Jesus,
they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion,
sitting there clothed and in his right mind.
Jesus has the power to restore ourselves and our world to the fullness of our humanity, of what it means to be creatures created in the image of God. He can heal us of our tendencies of violence toward others and self harm and restore us to our right minds. Surely the world is in some metaphorical sense in the grip of a demon like Legion. We believe that Jesus himself is absolutely able to bind this demon and set the world free. Let us seek this from him in prayer. Let us be ready to become witnesses to the glory that results.
But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead,
“Go home to your family and announce to them
all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.”
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