According to your faith let it be done

Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you.” ( Matthew 9:29)

 

Jesus the Lord healed those who suffered from disease while being in the world. Disease and hunger are sufferings it cannot be taken off in life. It is the right way to solve whatever a painful thing through Jesus. The ultimate solution is under Jesus’ hands, even if people use medicine or treat a disease by surgery. A woman who had been suffering from bleeding for twelve years, and two blind men who had lost their eyesight, were both treated and saved by believing in Jesus. God the Lord, who made all things, governs all of human life and death. To experience God’s power, you first need to rely on Him with faith.

 

At that time of Jesus Christ, not only a few people who had been treated would have been ill. Since the environment was worse than now and the medical treatment was not developed, there must have been many patients who could not be treated. Jesus came to the world to heal and help them. Jesus’ ultimate purpose was to save people forever, and on account of that aim He taught people and gave food to the hungry and did cure diseases of patients in suffering. The basic lessons and indicators that Christians should learn and follow can be found in Jesus. We have to teach the words of the Bible and deliver the salvation of Jesus, but give food to the hungry and try to cure the sick. For this purpose, it is for Christians to establish and operate churches, schools, hospitals, and social enterprises. None of those things should not to be dealt in neglect.

We feel sometimes heartbroken and strange these days why the churches and the religious congregations are so wrong. The appearances of some Christians, who are absorbed only in their selfish success and wealth, do not look desirable at all. It is also undesirable to expand church property and real estate in a dishonest way. And it cannot be right in the faith of Jesus to argue with each other over some positional honors of a religious body or to do sell and buy those things with money like an item. Everything that is not righteous comes through Satan. It’s a pity why they, who should live in righteousness, are playing like Satan’s friends. However what can we say critically, for we also had once lived as if servants of Satan without knowing?

When Jesus passed by, two blind men followed and shouted, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”. There was not any other hopeful way for them except to call Jesus. Anyone in a state of despair, the one will try to find an object of salvation. But people of well-off in circumstances do not try to seek God for oneself. Yet, even if you are in difficulties and pain a time, you should not to be covered in the sorrow and despair long time, as a man of God. You should rather think that it is a good opportunity and reversely use it well. A man Jang Bogo, who had served as the admiral of Cheong-hae-jin during the Silla Dynasty, was a common people born in a fishing village in Wando. He was captured by them and sold to Tang the Chinese country as a slave, after he had lost his father because of being invaded by pirates. However, even though he lost his parents and country and lived as a slave in a foreign land, he became an excellent commander of Tang country’s armies by working hard on his studies and martial arts. And he came voluntarily back to Silla the home country and worked to protect the country and its people as the king on the sea.

Jesus asked the blind men, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”. And “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then Jesus said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”. As we can find a learning from the story, first thing is to look at God at the threshold of despair and ask to be saved. Then the Lord confirms how our faith is. For instance, people who need funds for business or study must submit a reliable business plan or evidence materials to get a loan from the bank. Likewise, we have to show the Lord evidence of faithful life, for faith is not something that it can be confirmed by just saying it.

 

The Lord already knows in detail what my heart honesty or not. So it is not God asks to me in order to know my true heart. Nothing but, He wants to hear my answer in order to make stand me on the solid foundation of faith through the process of confirmation. And after checking it out, He manages to solve my problem in a mild manner like touching the eyes of a blind man. God solves the problem because He is the Lord, but I have in my hands the key to solve it because I am the created from the image of Him. Faith is exact the key, as the said by Jesus, “Be what you believe in.”

 

(Written by Koonoh, Pastor of JDO Presbyterian Church in Korea, on Nov 22nd 2020)