Seeing Their Faith
There are some stories in the Bible that are very intriguing to me. They make me think. They don't answer all of the questions I have, but they cause me to ask more questions. I believe the Lord does this to make me think more deeply and to see things that I would never see any other way. I hope all of us have had this experience because God doesn't want us to have shallow faith. He wants us to have solid, strong faith in Him.
The story of the four men who bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus is one of those stories for me. Four men had faith that Jesus could heal their friend. They had so much faith that they broke open a hole in a roof to lower their friend down to Jesus when they couldn't get into the crowded house. (Mark 2:5) "Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "My child, your sins are forgiven." Then Jesus went on to heal their friend, also. What does that tell us about faith? Let's see if we can learn from this story.
Jesus was touched when He saw their faith, and He was moved to action. All we know from the text is that there was more than one man who had faith in Jesus, and Jesus could see it by their actions. It makes me ask myself what could happen if I found others who would have faith in Jesus with me to do something for someone we know? I believe it shows that there is power in that kind of unified faith of a group of believers. It makes think that is that I should ask others to believe the Lord with me for the needs of others and see what Jesus does.
The first reaction of Jesus was not what they were seeking, it was better than what they were believing He could do. First, Jesus forgave the sins of the paralyzed man. What a blessing! Then, to show His critics that He could forgive sins, Jesus healed the man, too. So, this shows me that as a group, we should have faith and pray for God to heal others. It also shows that we should have faith together for others to be saved. It doesn't mean that we can force God to do our will that way. However, it does show that Jesus takes note and acts when He sees our faith.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Mark 4-6.