Faith is More Important than Knowledge

(John 9:6-12)

Sometimes the Lord may ask us to do the strangest things. Sometimes we may think, “Surely he is not serious? He must be joking?” There were many times in the Bible where we see the Lord say to His people to do something that just seemed to be…well, strange.

But in all of these things we learn that faith is much more important than knowledge. There were times and situations in the bible that we read about where you had to throw logic out the window. The mind of man said that what the Lord was asking them to do just did not make any reasonable or logical sense.

But what He was teaching in those times was whether the person or people would be faithful. Whether they would obey or not. Even though they may have thought what they were being asked was just plain impossible, whether they would accept the word of the Lord or not. And that is all about having faith.

This section of scripture is a classic example of the need for and working of faith in the face of knowledge, which would tell you that what Jesus asked was ridiculous and impossible. But in Christ we learn that all things are possible.

What Jesus Required

Jesus came upon a man who had been born blind. Rather than just say to him, “Be healed,” Jesus spat in the ground and made clay with which He anointed the man’s eyes and then sent him off to the Pool of Siloam to wash the clay off.

Now to all intents and purposes this sounds strange at best. How on earth could making a spittle based clay and then wash it off in the Pool of Siloam turn a man born blind into one who could see? From a human knowledge perspective it is illogical and impossible. In fact it could even cause ridicule for the man in question, which would add to the test of faith.

Imagine this guy walking down the road, arms outstretched, trying to find the Pool of Siloam with clay all over his eyes. People may have thought he was mad, he may have been subject to taunts from others or some may have just shaken their heads and thought, “What a weirdo!”

The Act of Faith

But this man was only doing what the Lord asked him to do. What this man was doing was walking by faith. He believed that Jesus could heal his sight and so was prepared to do anything the Lord asked in order for it to be restored.

The man was walking by faith and not by sight. The fact that he was blind emphasises this point even more for he had no sight to start with. But when he followed his faith to obey the words of the Lord, regardless of how strange or weird he may have thought the requests were, and by so doing he received his sight.

Faith goes beyond what we can sense using our physical senses. Faith enables the impossible to occur, not because of anything we do, but because in faith we trust the Lord to do what He said he would do.

Look at the many examples in the Bible. By faith Gideon defeated tens of thousands of the Midianites with only three hundred men. (Judges 7) By faith Abraham became the father of many nations even though his wife Sarah was barren, well past menopause and unable to conceive. By faith the children of Israel wandered through the desert for forty years and were fed by God on the manna from heaven until they received their homeland. And there are countless other examples of faith bringing about what man in his knowledge would consider impossible.

Don’t Question…follow in Faith

Too often we question the word of the Lord saying, “Surely this cannot be done?” Especially when we are asked to do something that seems impossible and illogical. As an example I will give my own testimony, or one of them.

Many years ago I suffered extreme dermatitis across the backs of both hands. It was cracked, itchy, bleeding and I had tried many times through doctors to be rid of it. The only thing that gave relief was cortisone or steroidal based creams and lotions. But each time after using the ointments and clearing up the condition, it would return.

But then one time I was driving home from central Australia by myself, which is a two day drive. I had been praying as I drove about various things and the Lord spoke to me regarding the things I was praying about. He said to me to “Speak to my people,” and then He added, “I will give you a sign.” He told me to, “Look at your hands,” so I did. They were still all cracked, itchy and bleeding, but here I was driving down the centre of Australia at 100 kph or 60 mph looking at my hands.

Later that night I noticed the itching had ceased completely. Within a day or two they had completely healed up without ointments or medications and I have not had the condition since. This was the sign that proved what the Lord was asking me to do, which was to speak to His people. And so here I am speaking to you through this blog and website.

The point is, if someone said to you to just “Look at your hands” and they would be healed, you would normally think they were nuts! Likewise when the man born blind was anointed with clay and told to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam, he could have likewise thought, “Is this guy nuts?”

But through these actions we learn that faith is stronger than all things. Faith enables the working of God to occur where man believes things are impossible. Faith is stronger than our knowledge, logic and all human abilities, because through faith we show we believe and trust in God.

(Photo is my right hand taken by me using an iPad)

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John

Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible to help Christians gain a deeper insight into the scriptures that are easily understood. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.