Exchange Your Partial Faith for a Living and Powerful Faith

Martha runs out to meet the Lord before He reaches the village, and a very interesting conversation begins in which Martha says to Him: Lord, if You had arrived in time, my brother would not have died, but I know that whatever You ask of the Father, He will give You. And so Martha ends with a positive confession.

And, incidentally, it occurs to me that what she says is actually the basis of our confidence. When we pray to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is because we believe that whatever the Son asks of the Father, the Father grants Him; that is why we ask in the name of Jesus, whom the Father loves.

So Martha says: Yes, Lord, if You had arrived in time, he would not have died, but there is still a possibility of an answer because whatever You ask of the Father, He gives You. So that is the reason we pray: because Christ is powerful enough to make our petitions concerning our needs prevail before the heavenly Father. That is truly the theological basis of every prayer in the name of Jesus.

And then, in response to that positive confession of hers, Jesus says to Martha: “Martha, your brother will rise again.” Here is another interesting thing. This passage is constantly setting what Christ says in opposition to what people understand Him to be saying, isn’t it? When the Lord says, “Lazarus is sleeping,” He is saying that he is dead, but that his death will lead to resurrection and is therefore, relatively speaking, a sleep. The disciples understand: Oh, he is sleeping, reposing, resting; he is not dead—and they think: Oh, well then, everything is fine. They do not understand.

The Lord says: Let us go see Lazarus, and Thomas is saying: Well, let us go see Lazarus, and we will die just as he died too. The Lord says: No, you are in the light; there is no need to fear. So here the Lord says to Martha: Martha, your brother is going to rise again. And what does Martha answer Him? “Yes, Lord, I know that he will rise again,” verse 24, “in the resurrection at the last day.” And here again there are two levels of confession.

The Lord is saying: Martha, do not worry; your brother is dead, but he is going to rise again. Now, today, here. And Martha is saying: Oh, thank You, Lord. I know that he will rise again when the dead rise on the day of Your Coming, on the day of judgment, on the last day, right? That is what she is saying. Two very different understandings. The Lord wants to respond to her need now, here, in a resounding, powerful, vital, real, concrete way. And Martha is thinking about theological castles in the air: Well, in a thousand years, two thousand years, three thousand years, I know he will rise again, Lord; thank You.

Martha’s faith is a partial faith; it is a faith that I would describe as theological, rather. Jesus’ faith is a vital, real faith, present at that very moment. And I believe that this is the faith that the Lord is inviting us, as children of God, to enter into.

There are people who seem to have faith, but it is a religious faith. It is a faith that says: Well, yes, we believe in Christ, and that gives us strength to endure this cruel world and grit our teeth until we die and then enter eternal life; but let us not expect many things from God here on Earth, because this is a vale of tears, and what God expects here is for us to have faith to suffer, to endure, to be resigned to our lot, right? There are aspects of Christianity in which that is what people are taught: that God simply calls us to grit our teeth, endure, and that is all.

But what does the Lord call us to? The Lord says that He has come so that we may have life and have it abundantly, so that now, here on Earth, we may enjoy miracles, the power of God, the power of the resurrection, and live in that power right now. The miracle God wants to perform in your life is now; it is here, just as the resurrection of Lazarus is not in some eternity yet to come. That is beautiful and good, and one day we will indeed rise again on the last day. But here in this present life, God also wants us to enjoy His resurrection power.

It is like when the women go to Jesus’ tomb to anoint His body, and that is a pious, lovely, beautiful act; these women want to tend to Jesus’ body. They think that Jesus is dead, but what has happened? The Son of God has already risen, the stone has been rolled away, the glory of God’s resurrection has entered the tomb, and that is why He is not there. And so, when they arrive at the tomb of a supposedly dead Christ, what they encounter is an angel who says to them: Why do you seek the living among the dead?

How wonderful this idea is, isn’t it? The idea that we live in the power of a risen Christ, a Christ who wants to perform His miracles today, now, in our lives, and who invites us to adopt a posture of bold, confident faith, knowing that we have an Almighty God who can roll away the stone, who can speak a word so that the dead rise, who can change our marriage, who can change our illness, who can change our sad financial situation, and who can revive and bless our emotions.

I believe that through this meditation God is inviting you to believe in Him. To believe in an Almighty God who is present in everyday life and can intervene in your circumstances now and here. Do not think of a God who has things only for the future, for a day that perhaps may never come; no. Believe that God wants to bless you today. God wants to perform a miracle in your life today; God wants to heal you today; God wants to provide for you financially today. God wants to answer your need today, not in some future that you do not know when it will arrive.

Exchange your religious, theological faith for a powerful, bold, present-day faith. That is God’s Word and call for you at this moment. Do not merely believe in the resurrection in the last days, but in resurrection today; the Christ of the resurrection is with you. God bless you, and until next time. Your brother and fellow servant, Pastor Roberto Miranda, bids you farewell.