Faith Bucks
Notes
Transcript
Matthew 9:18-34
Sometimes Jesus heals regardless of faith, like raising the dead girl. Other times, often times, Jesus says things like “your faith has healed you” or “according to your faith.” How does this work? Jesus nurtures the mustard seed of faith in these early disciples, they are right to look to him for healing, let them look to him for more. Faith is not the means by which we manipulate God… it is trusting God with more and more, towards trusting God with all. This is heaven.
Roblox Bucks
Roblox Bucks
Pay to Win
Roblox is amazing. They built this minecraft like platform, and made it really easy for people to spin up different games in it… and now there supposedly over 40 million games on Roblox. Most of them are trash that someone created with a few clicks and nobody plays. But there are hundreds that are making money like crazy.
And they are monetized. You give Roblox money, real US dollars… and they give you “Robucks.”
Within a game, if you have enough Robucks, you can buy better gear, better classes, better everything… and then win. We call that “Pay to Win.”
How often do the kids ask me for money for Robucks??? All the times.
Faith Bucks
Faith Bucks
Maybe God works this way.
Do you have enough faith bucks to be healed? Redeem your faith bucks today and make God do what you want.
That isn't how this works. It isn't how any of this works.
... and yet Jesus says confusing things sometimes like “you are healed according to your faith" and “by your faith you are healed.”
How does this whole "faith" thing work, really?
Faith Healer Jesus
Faith Healer Jesus
While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”
And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples.
Luke calls this man Jairus - a ruler of the synagogue. (In his version, the daughter is just dying at this point).
Miracle Interrupted
Miracle Interrupted
On the way:
And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment,
for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.”
(Injection from Luke)
And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone.
She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased.
And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!”
But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.”
And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.
Did Jesus really not know who touched him? How does that work? It doesn’t seem like theater for the sake of the woman to admit it...
But the Trinity is at work, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, even if Jesus does not know for a minute, it is the power of the Holy Spirit at work, the Spirit by which Jesus does every miracle.
In both versions (now back in Matthew)
Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.
“your faith” has made you well. How does that work?
Miracle is Back On
Miracle is Back On
And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion,
he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.
But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.
And the report of this went through all that district.
The funeral has begun, the music is playing… it’s not too late for Jesus.
We laugh, like the audience, at Jesus saying “she is not dead but sleeping.”
But there is no difference to Jesus. We make the distinction because we know that sleepers “wake up” and the dead don’t usually. Not often.
But for Jesus, restarting consciousness from sleep, from a coma, from a cooling body, from absolutely nothing… is that harder than speaking the cosmos into existence?
In Luke he says:
But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.”
And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat.
Can Jesus heal the dead? Yes. He. Can.
Two more, real quick:
Two Blind Men
Two Blind Men
Two blind men. See how they run! See how they run!
And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”
When he entered 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 be it done to you.”
And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.”
But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.
Speechless
Speechless
As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him.
And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.”
But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”
(The seeds of the unforgivable sin we will deal with in Chapter 12)
There is a progression here, welcome reception, tepid reception, beginning of opposition to Jesus’ healing and deliverance. We see the seeds of rejection and ultimately crucifixion.
But we also see this language around the healing. “Your faith has healed you.” “You are healed according to your faith.”
Your Faith-Magic Has Healed You
Your Faith-Magic Has Healed You
Even with the dead girl, Jesus invited the family to faith. Here’s what he said to the family:
While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler’s house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.”
But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.”
Only “believe” is the same word as “faith.” It is the verb form, so only “faith” she will live!
It kind of seems magical, doesn’t it? “Faith-Magic.”
In a video game, you need a certain amount of power, enough “mana” to cast a spell. That model would fit a ton of these moments. Enough “faith points” and you can perform miracles!
Do you have enough faith bucks to be healed? Redeem your faith bucks today and make God do what you want.
It even fits with Jesus feeling the “power go out of him.” when the woman touches him. And some “faith healers” build a business on this model. The power of their faith is sufficient, if the power of your faith is sufficient, and maybe you can demonstrate the “sufficiency” of your faith with the “sufficiency” of your checkbook.
The “sufficiency” of faith seems to be the amount required to get to Jesus.
But we saw how “faith” and “belief” go hand in hand.
Faith is a vector. (For you math nerds). It has magnitude AND direction.
This is where our popular definitions go so very wrong.
You’ve got to have faith, faith, faith
You’ve got to have faith, faith, faith
George Michael? Just wait till you hear the worship band cover version. “Jesus, I know you’re askin’ me to stay.”
The word “faith” gets a lot of mileage in our world. Have “faith” in yourself.
George Michael has faith that a better girl will come if he waits.
We mean something like the power of belief, and sometimes that gives someone the encouragement to rise above challenges, to face fears, to do more than they thought they could do.
That’s a use of the word, but I don’t think that’s what’s going on here.
Jesus demands faith from people, responds to that faith, and does the miracle.
But I’m pretty sure Jesus, the maker of the Universe before humans existed… doesn’t “need” our faith. It doesn’t empower him, or encourage him to do things that he thought were impossible before.
Faith in faith is faith astray.
A. W. Tozer
We’ve seen before, it is the object of faith that matters.
Faith is a vector. It has magnitude… and direction.
To the woman he says “your faith has made you well.” Makes it sound like a “her” thing. But what is the direction of her faith? What is the content of her belief? “If I can get to Jesus I’ll be healed.”
To the blind men, “do you believe that I am able to do this?” That who can do it? Faith has a direction. Jesus.
Faith must be sufficient… sufficient to get you to Jesus. Have enough faith to get Jesus in the room with the dead girl, and send everyone else out because he isn’t ready to reveal himself as the Messiah to everyone.
Faith must be sufficient… for the afflicted woman to get through the crowd to Jesus. She can be wrong about all sorts of “how it works” kinds of things… she is right to get to Jesus.
And that faith, trust rightly directed to Father, Son and Holy Spirit… that is the whole point. The healing, that’s an exercise in nurturing and growing faith.
We get that backwards. We think the goal is getting healed all the time, every time, and “doing faith right” to get there. Every healing is temporary… faith, trust, hope, love, the foundation of our relationship with God is forever. That is what Jesus is nurturing and building.
Faith is the point.
Logan Swimming
Logan Swimming
Teaching Logan to swim as an infant. Like 1-years old, he can’t walk… but he can swim. I read somewhere if you keep them swimming they never lose the instinct to hold their breath.
So I would set him on the edge of the top step, and have him wait… then dive to me arms stretched out. Getting farther and farther away, and he would jump off, dive off, trusting a little farther each time.
If he panics, if he starts thrashing, if he starts trying to breathe underwater… that’s when he is in trouble.
But as long as he dives and stretches out for Dad… he trusts… he faiths… and his faith is sufficient.
Did I need his faith? Nope. I was fine. Could I have picked him up without his faith? Yup.
But his faith was crucial, critical… for him. For him to learn, for him to learn the immediate skill, and for him to learn trust in me.
And I was trustworthy… with Logan. I may have let Dylan drown once, but that’s another story.
Our heavenly Father is infinitely trustworthy.
Our Jesus is forever worthy of faith. We can be FULL of faith, because he is faithful.
And when he requires faith in us, faith as part of it, that is for our good. Not because he needs, but because we do.
Why is faith a vital component?
Here’s my theory: Because we are never going to fully fathom and understand everything that God is. I don’t think even in heaven. We are finite, He is infinite. We can behold, but we can’t contain. We can marvel and worship, but I don’t know if we’ll every fully comprehend.
From glory to glory, from seeing dimly to seeing more clearly, the angels who are fully in his presence can’t comprehend the full glory and majesty of God.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
And then every example, in that “Hebrews book fame” has a direction. Straight to God, trust in God.
They had “faith” and it was accounted to them as “righteousness” (right living that leads to right relationship that leads to right living…).
Faith - the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.
What is hoped for? God and the blessings from God. The good gifts from the giver.
What is our conviction? In the Creator God who made us and loves us and saved us for Himself, to dwell with Him forever.
Faith has a direction. It’s Jesus.
Faith has to be sufficient… to bring us to Jesus. To trust in Jesus.
And we trust Him to heal us according to his will,
to lead us according to his will,
to call and direct us, according to his will,
To call us home to glory, and to resurrect us from the dead… when he calls we answer.
Teach us Lord, to put our faith in you, to trust you for you are trustworthy. To dive in head first, to follow always.