What Do You Bring to the Table?

We all bring things to the table. In our passage today, let’s think about what kind of faith we bring to the table.

As Jesus went on from there, two blind people followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had gone indoors, the blind people came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; 30 and their sight was restored.

• Matthew 9:27-29

Faith is not the only thing that matters - there were plenty of times Jesus healed people without asking them about their faith and there’s one occasion when he healed after the person asking confessed their wavering faith. So let’s make sure we don’t start shaming ourselves for ‘lack of faith’ if healing doesn’t happen. That’s never healthy.

But all this doesn’t mean faith doesn’t matter at all. How we see Jesus affects our life. In this particular passage he says “According to your faith let it be done to you.” Sure, there’s no new math that makes us all try to measure our faith to see how much we can get from God. But it does matter what we believe in, how we order our lives, and if we’re willing to trust God.

So instead of thinking about this passage as Jesus initiating some sort of litmus test, what if we saw it consistently with the Jesus we know and love. Jesus is curious about where we are on our journey with him; Jesus knows that it matters, and he wants to explore that with you, knowing that many times it makes a real difference.

Have a good conversation now with Jesus who asks with earnestness, humility, and curiosity, ““Do you believe?” (Matthew 9:28)