Faith With and Without Questions

             As I read the Gospels, I can’t help but consider the various degrees of faith exhibited by those who encountered Jesus.  Their faith sometimes showed positive responses without question.  At other times, individuals questioned Jesus for more details before acting.  Then, there were some who questioned Him, but their responses were unclear.

            In Matthew 4, we see Jesus call Peter and Andrew as His disciples.  He said, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” I love their response.  The Scripture says, “At once they left their nets and followed him” (Matthew 4: 19, 20 NIV84).  They didn’t hesitate.  They didn’t question.  My response would have been, “How do you fish for men?”  Not them.  They simply obeyed.  That is faith.

            Then, there is the royal official from Capernaum who begged Jesus to come to heal his son, who was dying.  Jesus first chastised the Galileans who demanded signs and miracles before they would believe.  Then, instead of going with the official, He simply said, “You may go.  Your son will live” (John 4: 50a NIV84).  Now, if I had been that father, I would have said, “Why don’t you come with me just to make sure?”  Not this official.  The Scripture says, “The man took Jesus at his word and departed” (John 4: 50b NIV84).  That’s faith.  Sure enough, before the man arrived home, his servants came running with the news that his son was alive. 

            On the other side of the coin, we have Nicodemus who came at night for a private conversation with Jesus.  It is apparent from the Scripture account in John 3, that Nicodemus believed that God was with Jesus.  He just didn’t understand who He was.  Jesus’ reply to him was, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3: 3 NIV84).  That brought lots of questions from Nicodemus, and Jesus’ response is one of the most quoted verses in all of Scripture.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3: 16 NIV84).  Jesus gave Nicodemus the simple plan of salvation, but there is no indication of how Nicodemus responded.  Much later in John’s Gospel, we find him assisting Joseph of Arimathea in burying Jesus (John 19: 39), but we don’t know if he ever accepted Christ as his savior.  Where was his faith?  At the best, he kept it hidden.  At the worst, he had none.

            Finally, there is the story of the woman at the well.  When Jesus approached her in John 4, she was surprised that a Jewish man would even talk to her, since she was a Samaritan.  As He began to tell her about “living water”, she had lots of questions.  Jesus patiently answered each one.  After He told her about her life, she still wasn’t sure of who He was, but she was confident enough to act.  She ran to the town and said, “Come see a man who told me everything I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?” (John 4: 29 NIV84).  She didn’t have all the answers, but she had faith enough to tell others.  Many of the people in the town believed because of her testimony (John 4: 39). 

            What kind of faith do you have?  I want to have the faith of Peter, Andrew, and the royal official.  I want to accept what Jesus and His Word tell me without question.  Unfortunately, I do often have questions.  There are lots of things that I don’t understand.  I only hope that in my lack of understanding, I’ll have the faith of the Samaritan Woman.  I don’t want to stand back, hidden in the shadows, like Nicodemus. I want to profess my faith boldly and openly, knowing that I’ll understand it all “by and by.”  That’s real faith!

John 3: 1 – 21

John 4: 1 - 42