In this article I want to reflect, in an exploratory way, on a question which has intrigued me for a long time. While faith is vital in our Christian life, did Jesus have faith? The answer depends on what we mean by faith. In our culture we say a person has faith if they believe that God exists. Clearly, Jesus didn’t need to believe in his own existence. Christian faith can refer to the assent of mind and heart to the truths taught by scripture and the Church. Jesus did not have this kind of faith either. Those truths were about himself and the other persons of the Trinity. Christians also talk about saving faith e.g. in Rm 10:9. Obviously, as one who was utterly sinless and divine, Jesus didn’t need or have justifying faith. So it would seem that the Son of God did not have faith. St Thomas Aquinas confirmed this fact when he said in one of his writings, “Faith is the evidence of things not seen.” But there was nothing that was not known to Christ, according to what Peter said to Him “You know all things.” Therefore there was no faith in Christ.

The New Testament on the faith of Jesus

There is not one single, unambiguous reference to the faith of Jesus in the New Testament. However, there are a number of ambiguous references which imply that he did have faith. For instance, many translations of Heb 12:2 read: “look to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of OUR faith.” In the Greek, the word “our” is not mentioned. The more accurate translation would be: “look to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” The phrase “perfecter of faith” could refer either to our faith in Jesus, the faith of Jesus himself, or possibly both together. If you read the story of the cure of the epileptic boy in Mk 9:17-29 you will find that the disciples were unable to cure him because of their lack of faith. When the boy’s father said that the demonic spirit: “has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us,” Jesus replied: “If you are able! – All things can be done for the ONE who believes.” To whom does the word “one” refer? to the father? to the disciples? or to Jesus himself? or to a combination of all three? When Jesus casts out the spirit, it is strongly implied that He is the one who has faith.

Did Jesus have the charism of faith?

If Jesus needed faith to exorcise the epileptic boy it would have been the charism rather than the other forms of faith. It is mentioned in 1 Cor 12:9, “To some is given the charism of faith.” It is the firm, expectant trust that is needed to perform miracles. Jesus described it very accurately when he said in Mk 11:23-24, “Have faith in God. I solemnly assure you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.” Did Jesus have this kind of faith?

It may come as a surprise to hear that St Thomas Aquinas implied that the answer was yes. “Christ,” he said, “is the first and chief teacher of spiritual doctrine and faith, according to Hebrews 2:3,4… Hence it is clear that all the gratuitous graces were most excellently in Christ as in the first and chief teacher of the faith (my italics).” It is worth noting that in par. 4 of his encyclical Divinum Illud Munus (1897), on the Holy Spirit, Pope Leo XIII endorsed Thomas’s view when he wrote: “In him (Christ)… were all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, graces gratis datae (i.e. charisms), virtues, and all other gifts foretold in the prophecies of Isaiah.” So if we take Thomas’ and Leo’s words literally, it would seem that they were implying that Jesus did exercise the charism of faith. This gift would have enabled him, among other things, to perform deeds of power such as healings, exorcisms and miracles. It goes without saying that the raising of Lazarus prefigured Christ’s own resurrection from the dead after three days in the tomb.

The Raising of Lazarus a possible model of faith

It seems to me that we may have an outstanding example of the exercise of such faith, in the raising of Lazarus from the dead (Cf. Jn 11:1-45). To exercise the charism of faith a person firstly needs a revelation of God’s will. We know that in all things Jesus was led by the Spirit. There is clear evidence that God the Father had made known to him that Lazarus would die and that he would raise him from the dead. As a result Jesus was able to tell the apostles, in a prophetic manner, what was about to happen. When he got to the tomb of his beloved friend the people were wailing and crying loudly in accordance with the Jewish custom of having intense mourning for four days. He was so moved in an empathic way by the sadness of the mourners that he sighed and wept quietly. Besides saying that he felt compassion the Greek text implies that he was angry, not with the mourners, but with death and its ultimate master, the devil. But he knew that it was God’s will to reveal His glory by defeating the devil and raising Lazarus from the dead.

What Jesus said to his Father at the tomb is really significant. “I thank you for hearing my prayer. I knew indeed that you always hear me.” It does sound like an expression of faith, of unhesitating confidence, that God will act in answer to a prayer which is in accord with his will. As he said to St Peter in Mk 11:24, “I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you will have received it, and it will be yours.” There is a similar verse in the writings of St. John: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him” 1 Jn 5:14-15. If Jesus had this kind of faith, as I suspect he had, it was quite remarkable. By now, Lazarus was dead for four days. Jews believed that after the third day, the soul had definitely left the body. The corpse was already in a state of decay. So there is something utterly awe inspiring and majestic about the words that Jesus spoke. “Lazarus, here, come out!” Is 55:11 says: “my word …shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” The words of Jesus contained the power of their own fulfilment. As soon as they were uttered, the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, raised Lazarus from the dead. It was a mighty miracle, and as a result many of the people who witnessed it, believed in Jesus.

He lives in us

It seems to me that the raising of Lazarus like other miracles of Jesus, seems to indicate that as the Son of God, he is not only the object of our faith, in a qualified charismatic sense, he may also be the model of that faith. Par. 521 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church says that “Christ enables us to live in him, all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us.” In other words, Christ enables us, when God wills it, to live in him the charism of faith which he exercised, and he lives it in us, by enabling us to occasionally heal the sick, drive out evil spirits, and perform miracles.