Faith is a multilayered subject. A glance at it in the Gospels is enough to reveal this. For example, Jesus did not do many miracles in Nazareth because of the unbelief of the people there (Mark 6:5). At first glance, one would be forgiven for believing that the absence of faith limited Jesus in what he could do.
However, upon further consideration, one finds instances where Jesus works miracles in the absence of faith.
Varying Faith in the Gospel Stories
The man at the pool of Bethesda did not even know who the man was that healed him, let alone have faith in him (John 6:11). The masses Jesus fed weren’t expecting the miracle of bread and fish (Matthew 14:15). The empty-handed disciples in the story are stumped by the command of Jesus to feed the crowd.
Faith is a multilayered subject. A glance at it in the Gospels is enough to reveal this.
Then there are the scenes where Jesus was pleased by specific individuals and acted according to their faith. Two of the most famous instances involve the Roman centurion (Matthew 8:5-13) and a Syrophoenician woman (Matthew 15:21-28). Both come to Jesus with a need: a sick servant and a demon-oppressed daughter, respectively. In both interactions, Jesus marveled at their faith. The needy supplicants received the help they asked for and went on their way.
Then there is the curious occurrence right after Jesus, James, Peter, and John come down from the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:14-20). A despondent father meets them with a severely demon-oppressed son. The situation is quite desperate, as the demon occasionally will throw the child into a fire in violent fits. Jesus’ disciples had been unable to cast it out. Jesus is quite grieved and rebukes the Jewish crowd for their faithlessness. Still, he delivers the boy; and after the disciples ask why they couldn’t cast it out, he responds that it was because of their lack of faith. Mustard seed-sized faith would have gotten the job done.
Looking at the Whole Picture
When one considers this rough patchwork of stories, one sees the complexity in the subject of faith. What are we to make of all this? Is faith needed or not? What explains its presence in some and not others? Why does Jesus do miracles for people without the involvement of their faith? Why do some other miracles hinge solely on the recipient’s faith? What lessons might we glean from these occurrences?
We need to heed the wisdom that calls us not to base an entire doctrine on one passage.
We need to heed the wisdom that calls us not to base an entire doctrine on one passage or verse. Instead, we must take the whole picture into account. What conclusions might we draw? The following attempts to lay out some clarifying findings and lessons on the subject of faith from these accounts.
Unbelief Grieves the Lord
God is grieved when those of us who know him best trust him least.
Let us begin by stating the negative elements. We note first that a lack of faith grieves the Lord. This is a good explanation for Jesus’ frustration with the Jews who didn’t have faith. “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?” (Matthew 17:17). Of all the peoples in the world, they should have been the most faithful. They were the ones who had all the richness of a long history of God’s revelation and dealings with them. They were the covenant people. Yet even with all that, they still did not recognise Jesus and thus had trouble putting their faith in him.
Might we draw a lesson here? God is grieved when those of us who know him best trust him least.
Unbelief Invites God’s Judgment
Beyond this, it also becomes apparent that unbelief invites God’s judgment. The occurrence in Nazareth furnishes us with a glimpse of this. There, met with skepticism and offence, Jesus did not do many miracles. Mark’s Gospel more pointedly says that “he could do no mighty work there” except heal a few sick people (Mark 6:5). It would be wrong, tempting as that may be, to conclude from this that the Son of God was limited by their unbelief. The finite creature cannot restrict the omnipotent creator.
It would be wrong to conclude that the Son of God was limited by unbelief.
A better conclusion is to see it as a consequent judgment of their unbelief. A blessing enjoyed elsewhere was here not given because the would-be recipients were rightly deemed unworthy. Thus, He could do no mighty work there in much the same way God could not bring an unrepentant sinner to heaven. One must not be surprised who rejects God if He finds that God rejects Him in return.
The Absence of Faith Doesn’t Necessarily Imply the Presence of Unbelief
We notice that faith’s absence or weakness does not necessarily imply the presence of unbelief. Just because the Lord’s aid recipients were not expecting it or pleading for it does not mean they were simultaneously guilty of the same unbelief seen in Nazareth. We must admit a category for instances where individuals were sincerely clueless or weak. It is not that they were hostile to Jesus; it is just that they didn’t yet fully grasp who he was even though they thought well of him. To this class of people, the Lord acts not based on their faith, for there was none, but based on his compassion.
Faith is not a precondition for the Lord’s intervention.
Faith, therefore, is not a precondition for the Lord’s intervention. His pleasure and will determine what he does or doesn’t do in any situation. It’s comforting to know that weakness in our faith doesn’t disqualify us from receiving the Lord’s aid.
A Little Faith Can Have Great Outcomes
The comfort does not end there. For we are led to discover that a little faith can have great outcomes. According to Jesus, all one needs is faith the size of a mustard seed. The mustard seed was a tiny seed that, when planted, would grow into a large tree. Jesus employed this imagery to teach about the small beginnings leading to a great and expansive kingdom.
God is so good that he has ordained disproportionate outcomes for his saints’ small faith.
He also used it to teach another lesson. Once again, the contrast is between the small size of the seed and the great outcome. Faith as small as a mustard seed could dislodge an entire mountain (Matthew 17:20-21). Let us pause here and rejoice that God is so good that he has ordained disproportionate outcomes for his saints’ sincere yet small faith. He causes a little faith to go a long way.
The Lord is Pleased by Sincere Faith
Therefore, this leads us to note that the Lord is pleased by sincere faith. The two great examples of faith that seemed to most please Jesus came from Gentiles. The Syrophoenician woman and the Roman centurion seemed quite aware that they were outsiders to the commonwealth and covenant of Israel. They show that they know how unworthy they are to receive anything from Jesus. At the same time, they note that a simple and effortless gesture from Jesus would set everything alright: “just say the word,” and “just drop a crumb.” That’s all we need.
God is pleased when we trust him as much as we can.
Notably, Jesus made a point to comment that he had not seen such faith in all of Israel. Why the comparison? Could it be because those from whom faith was expected had little of it to show; yet those from whom it was unexpected showed plenty? God is pleased when even though we do not know him as deeply as we could, we still trust him as much as we can.
Faith Is a Gift from God
Finally, on its presence in some and not others, we learn that faith is, at bottom, a gift from God. We cannot say any less than this about it. Whenever and wherever we see it, we are bound to conclude that it is there because God has given it. Faith, in the end, is not a matter of ginning up a feeling of confidence; instead, it is a matter of God’s sovereign grace.
Faith, in the end, is not a matter of ginning up a feeling of confidence.
Jesus rejoiced that God had hidden the things about his kingdom from “the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children” (Luke 10:21; Matthew 11:25). This reality lies underneath the various reactions we see people have to Jesus. Faith was sovereignly given to some and not to others. In the end, God gets the glory because he’s the one who works faith in us.
