Last week I spent some time listening to the book of Mark on cd while I was working. I have to say that it was neat to recognize reoccurring themes through out the book. I have not really read other commentary introductory material on the book, so I really had no preconceptions before listening. Faith seemed to be regularly mentioned through out the whole book. People came to Christ bringing those who were sick or they themselves were in need. Christ constantly commended them for their faith. He told them that their faith had made them whole, or because of their faith one would be raised from the dead.

Another parallel theme seems to be Christ as hope and healer. Jesus is vindicated as Messiah by being One who meets peoples needs. He is not only the Savior of the physical but Savior of the spiritual. Christ says, “Is it harder to heal the body or to say your sins be forgiven?” Christ demonstrated the power of God in physical ways proving that that He too has the power of God to heal spiritual sickness.

But are these truly two separate themes or are they one in the same? Christ did go around healing sickness and forgiving sins and people were commended for their faith. Is the answer to true healing faith or is it Christ?

I find that often, in my life, I pursue a better understanding of faith rather than a greater understanding of Christ. Christ is who heals, not faith. Faith produces the physical response that brings me to Christ, but faith does not provide the power to heal. When a man’s daughter is dead, his hope is not in his faith, his hope is in Christ. When a woman has been sick from birth and desires healing, she doesn’t pursue faith, she pursues Christ. Faith is the vehicle that brings her to Christ.

Therefore, the answer to my deficiency is Christ not faith. When I am struggling for hope, I need to be reminded of the sufficiency of Christ. When I am lured by sin’s enticement, I must see a more beautiful Christ. When I am overwhelmed by sin’s oppression, I must embrace a more powerful Christ. The man in Mark 9 even acknowledges the source of one’s faith. He said “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.” Christ is the answer to an unbelieving heart.

We must embrace Christ. He is our Hope.

Pursuing,
Ricky

This entry was posted on Monday, December 5th, 2005 at 5:49 pm and is filed under Growing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.