Seventh Sunday After Pentecost

(Matthew 9:27-35)

The Gospel scene that is set before us today is a perfect encapsulation of the spiritual life and of the relationship between God and mankind.

We heard in today’s Gospel how Jesus was passing by two blind men, and they cried out, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”

This image set before us in the Gospel, of blind men calling out to God for His mercy, and of the Lord responding to them in love according to the measure of their faith, this is precisely the true state and picture of mankind. We are indeed like blind men, who have lost our spiritual vision to see the obvious workings and blessings of God occurring every day, every hour, and every minute in our lives. We are extremely limited in our spiritual vision and so often we go about this life as blind men and women, reacting to the ups and downs of this earthly life as if this were all there is… only occasionally ‘seeing through a glass darkly’ at the magnificence and benevolence and eternal perspective of God.

How do we react to this blindness? We may become accustomed to the darkness and refuse to acknowledge our blindness - saying that there is no such thing as light, since we cannot perceive it with our limited physical senses. Or, we might hear the One Who declared, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” If we can hear this voice, we then begin to recognize our blindness and we might call out: ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’

And what is the Lord’s reaction to this reaching out of the blind and the sick, who call out to Him for His grace and mercy? Does He recoil from our sickness and sin, telling us to go away? No, He does not… He extends His hand to us, He extends His compassion and His loving-kindness to us, desiring not that the sinner should perish, but that he should live and be healed.

And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then He touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith let it be to you.’

‘According to your faith, so be it unto you'… this statement contains profound spiritual truth and instruction. How will it be for us?… it will be according to our faith.

Is our Lord promising us that if we have faith, then all of our problems and infirmities will be suddenly resolved? No, this is not often the case. God will permit in our lives whatever is conducive toward our salvation, and sometimes this may include difficult trials indeed. But it is true that if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all things will be added unto us. Our reactions to the circumstances of our life differ greatly depending on the strength of our faith and trust in God. Two people can experience the same circumstances and one will be in heaven while the other is in hell. How can this be? The one who has faith in the Lord does not despair and retains that perspective and trust that God is watching over him. Even though he may have sorrow, he retains the hope which is born from faith. Another may become immersed in the sorrow of his circumstances and see no way out.

According to our faith, so will it be for us.

God pours out His grace and His love to us according to the measure of our faith. According to the measure of our faith… this does not mean that God is stingy with His grace and love and that He only meters this out to us in reward for however much faith we demonstrate. God does not place the limitation of His compassion on us… we do. The thing is - we are only capable of receiving the love of God according to the measure of our faith. The more faith and trust we have in God, the more capacity we have to receive His love and grace.

And that, dear brothers and sisters, is what this life is all about. We have been created by the generosity of the love and grace of God to receive and be transformed by the love and grace of God. The degree to which we can receive that love and grace is according to the measure of our faith.  

Every human soul longs for that elusive ‘something’ which will bring us peace and fulfillment. We seek it in all the wrong places… in our worldly achievements, in wanting the praise of others, in acquiring the next thing that we think will make us happy, in all the various comforts and seductions of this world. Yet, none of these things will fulfill us… we will always be left wanting more. Only one thing fills that gap within us… and that is the love and grace of God.

Our soul calls out to God and Christ stands before us and He asks: ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’

Let us respond with utmost faith, saying: ‘Yes, Lord! I believe in You!’

And may our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ then respond to us: ‘According to your faith let it be unto you.’