Faith Part XII · Ephesians 6 Ministry

Faith Part XII

Part XII

We need a savior, but we also need to know that we need Him. Perhaps the most difficult obstacle to faith is the obstinate insistence that we are “fine” as we are. Belief is hard because we are often deaf to God’s voice and blind to our own needs.

Bishop Barron in one of his many speeches once remarked (as I can recall) that the whole of Jesus’ mission is the “great opening.” He was preaching on Mark’s gospel, chapter seven about the man who was both deaf and mute. He couldn’t hear the word of God nor make himself known. Jesus meets the man, touches his ears and tongue and cries out, “Ephphatha” – BE OPENED! The whole of Jesus’ ministry is this, to make us open to the divine life. Notice how fitting it is that our faith begins by hearing the faith proclaimed. God opens us so that we can hear the good news and receive it.

The belief that we have a savior presupposes our need for Him. Jesus came to save the lost and the broken, but for us, here and now, our need for Jesus must come into full view.

The profession we make is not new to the Judeo-Christian. The Jews began with a profession of faith that paved the way for the “I believe”, and it started with a proclamation, “Hear, O Israel”. The Shema is the proclamation of God’s goodness, what God has done for the people, which turns to an enjoinment against all other forms of worship. The Lord, the God of Israel, is God alone. He Alone cares for the people of Israel. He alone is the one who led Israel out of slavery and death to freedom and life. God alone is the savior of His people. The Israelites knew God through God’s saving action.

The prophecies regarding Jesus in the Old Testament also speak of God’s saving power. Isaiah prophecies, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.[b] 15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.” (Is. 7:13-16). See again, the message begins with “hear.”

In Mark’s Gospel, the gospel that gets to the heart of the matter of Jesus’ ministry, opens with a proclamation that announces Jesus’ arrival. Mark begins with the familiar, the prophet Isaiah’s prophecy about the forerunner, St. John the Baptist, announcing the coming of the Lord. Then, at Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan river, the voice from Heaven proclaims, “You are my beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.” Now that Jesus is revealed, He can go about the work of proclaiming the kingdom. At first Jesus says, “the kingdom of God is at hand, repent.” Then Jesus makes Himself known through the various miracles that attest to His power and sovereignty. The miracles of Jesus demonstrate what was spoken from Heaven. God’s great miracles open us to give Him our attention, to receive His word, and to let it take root in us.

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