Faith: Knowledge, Trust, Assent

Faith: Knowledge, Assent, Trust

Luke 18:31-43 T Quinquagesima

INI

Faith is more than a simplistic belief. When the bible talks about faith, it requires more than someone who might say that they believe ghosts are real. Such a simplistic belief only acknowledges existence.

            However, faith must mean more than that. As James says – even the demons believe in Jesus, yet, the shudder at him. Yes, they acknowledge the historical existence of Jesus. But in reality, they want nothing to do with Him. Because they’re in rebellion against Him and His will in the world. They hate God’s creation, they hate His mercy – they want to be in charge and cast the Creator of the universe to the waste-side. Thus, their belief can’t save them.

            So, when the church talks about faith, it must go beyond a mere historical acknowledgement of a historical figure named Jesus. If faith merely exists as historical acknowledgment, it lends itself towards a dead faith, a lying faith. True biblical saving faith includes not only knowledge of the historical figure of Jesus. It also includes an assent to His will and a trust in His work.

            The two types of faith are contrasted against each other in today’s Gospel lesson. One the one hand, you have the disciples. On the other, you have the blind beggar.

            In the beginning of the Gospel lesson, Jesus clearly states His mission to His disciples. He says “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” However, Luke tells us that this saying was hidden from them. They were blind to it. They couldn’t comprehend how someone they knew to be the Son of Man could forego such horrendous shame.

            Perhaps in that moment, the disciples tried to do something with Jesus’ words that the devil would’ve applauded. Maybe they tried to spiritualize His words – or thought Jesus was speaking in parables again. That would’ve been somewhat understandable for the disciples to do that. He did use parables to teach what His kingdom was like. However, this is the THIRD time in Luke’s Gospel that Jesus told His disciples that He was going to die in Jerusalem. Yet, they still remained blind to His mission.

            The faith of the disciples at this point was more a belief in a historical figure. They even knew that Jesus was the Messiah! They had the knowledge part of faith down. However, Jesus’ closest students at this point hadn’t yet demonstrated their assent to the Lord’s will and directive. Neither did they trust in His work.

            Sometimes when Christians today talk about faith, they ask “do you believe in Jesus”. People understand the question to be a question about the historical veracity of a figure. So, they might say something to the effect of – “yes, I believe in Jesus. However, I’m spiritual, but not religious.” Such an answer isn’t true saving faith though. Because it acknowledges the historical veracity of a Jesus figure. But it doesn’t assent to the will of God, and trust in His merciful work to forgive His people and make them new. Such an understanding of biblical faith seeks to separate the Law from the Gospel – because it sees church attendance as superfluous to faith and not the vital will of the Lord who comes to sinners through what the church gives – namely, Word and Sacraments.

            Or, you might hear people talk about faith as something that’s a one-time decision one has to make. They might say something like “all you have to do is accept Jesus into your heart.” But such a faith trusts the decision one makes over and against the grace of God’s promises freely offered to the individual. If you notice on the front of your bulletin – the article written by Phillip Cary breaks it down well.

            The logic goes like this: “Whoever believes in Christ is saved… I believe in Christ… Thus, I am saved.” Such an understanding of saving faith causes one to look within themselves for knowledge, trust, and assent in the crucified and risen Christ. This understanding of saving faith ‘requires us not only to believe, but to believe that you believe. That’s a pretty hefty requirement for those who are weak in faith.” However, it prevents one from praying what the father with the sick child prayed– “I believe, help me unbelief.” If one were to pray in such a way in this understanding of faith, it would leave the conscience burdened, you would always question your sincerity of your confession, and it would make you question whether you are truly regenerated by the Holy Spirit or not.

            So, faith isn’t so shallow – confessing only a historical figure. But it also can’t put the burden of belief within the sin-filled heart of the individual – a heart that’s constantly filled with sinful thoughts, words, and deeds.

            For what true saving faith looks like in our Gospel text, we don’t look to the disciples, who ironically are the blind ones. We look to the blind beggar on the side of the road. He demonstrates true saving faith through His knowledge, assent, AND trust in Christ.

            He demonstrated his knowledge by His confession. He heard from the crowd that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by on the road. The blind man cried out for Jesus – but notice the name he uses. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” He calls Jesus the Son of David. This beggar saw Jesus for who He truly is. He’s the Messiah – the one promised from 2 Samuel 7 where God promised that a Davidic King would rule His people forever. Despite the beggar’s blindness, he saw with the eyes of faith what many in Israel failed to recognize – that Jesus of Nazareth is the fulfillment of God’s Old Testament promises, the who brings salvation to His people.

            He demonstrated His assent to Jesus’ identity and mission by calling out for mercy. And when the crowds tried to silence the beggar, assuming the mercy he was asking for was money, he cried out all the more – “Son of David, have mercy on me!” In doing so, he not only acknowledged Jesus as the promised Messiah, but he also entrusted himself to His merciful reign. Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the beggar requests “Lord, let me recover my sight.” Now, here, the blind man asks for physical sight. So, Jesus responds, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well” Jesus healed his physical blindness because spiritually, he sees with the eyes of faith. He trusted in the work of the Messiah and the promises from the Old Testament, like the one we read from Isaiah 35 – “He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped.” His faith in Jesus was vindicated, as he assented to the words and promises of our Lord.

            Finally, the blind beggar demonstrated trust in Christ. For right after his healing, he became a full-fledged disciple. After recovering his sight, he didn’t go to the Temple to show the priests his new eyes, like the 9 lepers did. He didn’t go home and show his friends and family the miraculous work that had been done. He didn’t go out and try and find a job so that he could stop begging. He got up and followed Jesus.

            And where was Jesus going? He was going to Jerusalem – where He was soon to fulfill another portion of the Scriptures. He was going to become the suffering servant as Isaiah 53 promised. He went there to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows. He would soon by pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with His wounds, we are healed.

            Like the blind beggar, we come before Jesus in need. Spiritually, we’re blind, helpless, and unable to save ourselves. But through His Word, Christ opens our eyes to see Him as the promised Savior who went to Jerusalem to suffer, die, and rise again for us. True faith is not just knowing about Jesus or agreeing that He exists. It’s entrusting ourselves completely to His mercy, and holding fast to His promises.

            Just as the blind beggar followed Jesus to Jerusalem, we’re also called to follow Him. Wherever He goes – doing whatever He commands us. We flee to Him as he dispenses His grace towards us in Word and Sacrament. We follow Him as He leads us through the path of suffering in this life, to Himself in glory. So let us cry as the beggar did – Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! – knowing that He hears, answers, and saves us.

INI

Pastor Joshua Ralston