There Is A Third Kind Of Faith And That Is The Limited Faith

[Mary Naeem]

By H.H. Pope Shenouda III







There Is A Third Kind Of Faith And That Is The Limited Faith

We mean by that the person who believes in the Lord but in certain limits, and his faith does not exceed these limits. An example of this kind of faith are Mary and Martha, who believed that the Lord is able to heal their brother from sickness so as not to die. If he dies however, then their faith was not yet that far that his being risen from the dead was possible.

Therefore, each one of them said to the Lord "If You had been here, my brother would not have died." (John 11:21,32). When the Lord said to Martha "your brother will rise again" she answered Him "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day " (John 11:24) and when the Lord went to the tomb and said "take away the stone" Martha said "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days" (John 11:39).

God did not refuse this limited faith but He gave it a chance to grow.

That's why He said to Martha "He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live." and He rebuked her at the tomb by saying "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:25,40). He gave her the chance to see the glory of God in rising her brother Lazarus from the dead, so that she believes and also the Jews, who saw the miracle, would also believe.

Here faith came after the miracle and not before it.

May be it happened like that because this miracle was the first of its kind, namely rising a dead after four days of being dead and stinking.