Devotional

Jesus heals a blind beggar. We do not even know his name, yet the miracle was credited to his faith. Jesus said, “Your faith has healed you.” But what faith? How did he show faith? The only word this man uttered was “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” And yet Jesus makes a point of his faith. What is going on here? Firstly, he calls Jesus ‘Son of David’. This does not merely mean he is a descendant of king David. How would the blind man even know? This is a title for the messiah. The blind man recognised something that others could not. He believed Jesus to be the Messiah. That is the faith Jesus is commenting on.

We can sometimes get mixed up about what it means to have faith. Some believe that faith is almost like a persistent convincing, “I just have to believe more”. Others attach faith to imagination, claiming that we need to see it in our mind if it is to take place. Still others use some combination of wording or certain scripture. You might notice that all those things are focussed on the efforts of the person praying. The blind man’s faith had no virtue in himself. It is only that he believed in Jesus. True faith is not the focus on an outcome but the total trust in the person of Jesus. I bring nothing into the equation except the simple surrender of “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me.”

God bless you and your family
Brett