ON BELIEVING
And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell not man, but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. Mt.8:4
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. Mt.8:8
Last Wednesday, in Bible study, we took a look at Matthew chapter 8. During the course of the evening, Fr. Carl pointed out something which I, and the commentators whose works I use, had missed. The testimony referred to at the end of verse 4 can be interpreted as referring to God, the cause of all things. On reflection, I find that to be the most likely explanation of our Lord’s words. Those reflections turned out to be rather involved in what I want to say today.
In the first miracle related by St. Matthew in chapter 8, we learn of a leper who seeks out Jesus in the confidence that the Lord can cure his leprosy. Lord, he says, if your are willing to do it, you can cure me. Jesus at once affirms His willingness and touches the man, curing him. This leper believed that he had actually to come into the physical presence of Jesus in order to be cured, and once there, as Matthew, Mark and Luke in different ways tell us, he worshipped Jesus as his Lord.
This story teaches us that we should approach Jesus in humility, not making loud demands, but also in confidence of the outcome, assuming that our motives are worthy, and with determination.
Now, we are still in the season of Epiphanytide, so it will also reveal more about Jesus himself. For one thing, it tells us that our Lord will not turn aside from any of us in our hour of need. He will touch and heal even the filthiest of us.
The appointed lessons of Epiphanytide all reveal Jesus Christ to us in one way or another. In so doing they help us to believe in Him.
The second miracle described by St. Matthew in chapter 8 is perhaps even more instructive and revealing than the first. The centurion says, Speak the word only and my servant shall be healed. This man knew, he knew, that Jesus Christ could across time and space, heal his servant. Jesus applauded him for his faith, which is for sure the kind of faith that we need, for very few of us will see Jesus on this side of the veil. Some do, but for most of us do not.
What these and all His other miracles teach us is that Jesus is revealed as Lord, the source of all power over all things and it is in this all powerful, supernatural God that we must believe.
Belief is the starting point for the Christian who wishes to live this life in accordance with God’s will and then to live in the eternal presence of God in the next life. Aristotle said, He who wishes to learn must believe. The logic of that statement is never more true than for a Christian – if we really want to learn what Jesus so wants to teach us, we must first believe in Him.
Dig into the logic and you will find a simple truth. Belief has two components, which are inextricably linked. They are belief in something and in someone. Thomas Aquinas expressed it this way, Everyone who believes assents to the testimony of someone.
For the testimony of Jesus Christ to be written in our hearts, we must first believe in Him.
In order truly to repent, we must first believe in Him.
In order to be obedient to His commandments, we must first believe in Him.
In order to worship Him as Lord and God, we must first believe in Him.
In order that He may be revealed to us in all His glory, we must first believe in Him.
In order to have faith in Him, we must first believe in Him.
So St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, In all belief, the decisive factor is who it is whose statement is assented to; by comparison the subject matter which is assented to is in a certain sense secondary.
The leper could not have believed he would be cured if he had not first believed in Jesus Christ. The centurion could not have believed that his servant would be cured if he had not first believed in Jesus Christ.
And that belief in Jesus Christ must, if we hope to reap its full benefits, be total. We can place no restrictions on our belief and we cannot seek to contain it within boundaries of our own devising. If we do, no matter how far out the boundaries are to begin with, we will find them being pushed ever closer by the world around us. If that continues, we will find ourselves, perhaps in some moment of crisis, to be without a bedrock of belief. We have been telling ourselves we believe, but we are not true believers. Lord, try my belief that it may grow ever stronger.
If we have not earnestly sought and been granted the grace of true belief, no matter how fascinating we may find Jesus, we will never begin to understand Him and we will almost certainly, at some point, turn from Him. The truth of that is illustrated in that memorable passage from Matthew chapter 14.
The disciples are on the
It is so simple. If, like St. Peter, we allow our attention to slip from Jesus when we hit a spot of turbulence, we sink. That is because the only object of Christian belief is our living God, as revealed to us in Jesus Christ. And without belief we cannot have faith. The two are not the same, but they most certainly go together. Monsignor Romano Guardini, a Roman Catholic theologian once wrote, Belief is the living movement toward Him in whom one believes. It is the living answer to the call of Him who appears in revelation and draws men to Him in grace.
How right the Monsignor was – belief is indeed a living thing and it does move us towards Him in whom we believe, it moves us towards faith. But as with any living thing, there will be good days and there will be bad days. On the good days, there will be peace. However, even that peace must tremble with an undercurrent of tension, because the God in whom we believe is so Holy and we are so miserably rotten in comparison.
On the bad days, our faith will recede into the shadowy recesses, and it is then that we must retain some vestige of belief, enough so that we can cry out as Peter did, Lord, save me. Then Jesus will stretch forth His hand and catch us. He will not let us sink, because belief in Him is not just the beginning, it is also the sustaining element of a vibrant, interactive relationship with a Saviour who is pure Love.
In that relationship He is always saying to those who believe, Go thy way, and as thou hast believed so be it done unto thee.
Peter Jardine+
Epiphany 3, 2007