The Faith/Miracle Connection

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2013;%20Luke%208&version=NIV

"And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith." - Matthew 13:58

As we read through the gospels, we read about the many miraculous works Jesus did as he walked this earth. But at the end of Matthew 13, we hear of the many miraculous works he did not do - and in his own home town, of all places. That's right, he didn't do miracles for the people who probably thought they knew him best. And maybe they did know him - but there's a huge difference between knowing God and believing God. And it is the belief that Jesus was interested in.

Matthew emphasizes the close relationship between faith and miracles. And indeed, based upon the previous verse and the other miracles of Jesus, we can see that He was often moved to act based upon the faith of the one making the request. In Matthew 8:10-13 he praises the great faith of the centurion asking for healing for his servant and promises him that, "It will be done just as you believed it would." When he heals the woman with the issue of blood in Matthew 9:22, he says, "Take heart my daughter, your faith has healed you." Later in the same chapter he asks the blind men who come to him for healing, "Do you believe that I can do this?" When they answer with "Yes Lord", he touches their eyes and says, "According to your faith will it be done to you" (Vs.28-19). This is not an exhaustive list - but it makes the connection between faith and the miraculous works of Jesus quite clear.

But why was faith some important. Performing miracles was one method Jesus used to prove he was the Messiah, so why not just perform the miracle any way? I can think of at least three reasons:

It honors God. The faith of the people Jesus healed was honoring because it took Jesus at his word. It was based on the character of Jesus and the word of Jesus - not on what he did for them. And so it is with us. God wants us to believe he is the God he says that he is, that he will do the things he says he will do, and put our weight firmly down on that without having to have proof. No doubt, the proof will come because when we put our faith in God and walk according to it, there is always blessing that follows. But their is a pattern that runs throughout scripture - faith, obedience, blessings. Taking God and his word, walking and acting according to the belief, and receiving that which he has promised.

It creates a faith that puts hope on the right object. It helps us to keep our eyes focused on Jesus - not on the things that He will do for us. If we put our hope in the thing we want Jesus to do for us, and not in Jesus himself, we've put our hope - and our faith - on the wrong object. Misplaced hope is quite dangerous - it makes an idol of the thing hoped for. And what happens when we receive it and it does not make us feel the way we thought it would? Where are we then? Our hope must be in Jesus Christ. We must seek his face more than we seek his hand.

It has eternal consequences. Faith is not meant to be momentary - it is meant to carry us through the rest or our lives and into eternity. It is meant to put our eyes on the things that are unseen so that we continue to walk with confidence towards our heavenly reward. It is meant to carry us through not just this one trial in life, but every trial in life. And so we place our eyes on God's character, and not on his activity. The people in Jesus home town knew his character - and they weren't interested. They only wanted to know what he would do for them. God desires that we know him, serve him, take him at his word and walk with confidence in who he is so that we are those who believe and are saved. Hebrews 11:6 tells us, "Without faith it is impossible to please god, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." But notice, the reward is not for those who seek a reward, but for those who earnest seek HIM. He is both re warder and reward.

I pray, my precious friends, that we would be ones who want to know God personally. I pray we are the ones that he would encounter and say, "it will be done according to your faith." I pray that we would ask - as we read yesterday - for those Spiritual blessings that would build our faith, before we ask for those things that are miraculous but only physical. I pray that we would seek a faith that makes us approach God boldly as confident children of the King. I pray that he would build us into a people of such great faith that it would be written of us, 'He did many miracles among them because of their great faith.'

Press on, precious friends!

Here's a little homework assignment if you want to read ahead - spend a few minutes in Hebrews - especially the end of chapter 10, all of chapter 11, and the very beginning of 12. Here you will find great encouragement to persevere in faith.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." - Hebrews 11:1

Today's post was submitted by Carol Bartels