WHEN JESUS SAW THEIR FAITH...

After John the Baptist was arrested and cast into prison by King Herod, Jesus left His childhood home of Nazareth and went into Galilee to the city of Capernaum to live.  From there, He traveled throughout Galilee preaching the Gospel in their synagogues and working miracles.  Afterwards, the Lord returned to Capernaum.  Word spread quickly that He was there, and soon, the house was filled with people who wanted to see and hear Him.  It was so crowded that folks were spilling out of the doorways. (Mark 2:1, 2).

 

At some point, four men arrived who were carrying another man on some sort of couch or bed.  When they had surveyed the situation, they assessed that the only way they were going to be able to bring their friend before Jesus would be to break up a section of the roof and lower him down before the Lord.  I can only imagine the stir it must  have caused inside the house as the people watched the ceiling opening up above them and a man coming down on a bed.

 

We learn from the account that the man on the couch was “sick of the palsy” which means that he was partially paralyzed at least in his lower limbs.  He was obviously unable to get around on his own and needed the help of others to carry him places.  “And they come unto Him [Jesus], bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.” (Mark 2:3).  According to the Penn Medicine website, Spastic Cerebral Palsy is the most common type of palsy. “Symptoms include:

 

·         Muscles that are very tight and do not stretch. They may tighten even more over time.

·         Abnormal walk (gait) -- arms tucked in toward the sides, knees crossed or touching, legs make "scissors" movements, walk on the toes.

·         Joints are tight and do not open all the way (called joint contracture).

·         Muscle weakness or loss of movement in a group of muscles (paralysis).

·         Symptoms may affect one arm or leg, one side of the body, both legs or both arms and legs.”

 

St. Mark records Jesus’ reaction to the situation unfolding before Him in this way: “When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” (Mark 2:5).  Notice that it says “When Jesus saw THEIR faith…” and not “When Jesus saw HIS faith…”  It wasn’t a matter of the paralyzed guy asking his friends to take him to Jesus, and they simply complied.  No, these guys were all committed to this task.  THEIR faith was stirred; and they were motivated to believe that if they could just get their friend to Jesus, he would be healed.  What the paralytic couldn’t do for himself, his friends were willing to do for him.  This was truly faith in action. 

 

The question that occurs to me is, “Was it the four friends only who had the faith for the paralytic, or was it all five who had faith?” 

 

Scripture doesn’t record that the paralytic’s faith was active up to this point.  It was the four who actually exercised their faith in various ways.  When they saw the house was full and that there was no way in with a bed, they could have given up right then and hoped for another opportunity when Jesus was more accessible.  But they didn’t give up.  They believed that the Lord would make the difference for their friend, and they were willing to do whatever was necessary to bring him before Jesus.  It was an effort to carry him from his house to Jesus.  It was also an effort to break up a large enough opening in the roof to let their friend down into the house.  The paralytic was unable to help them.  This indeed was faith made substance!  I personally believe that the paralytic also had faith, but his faith was less evident than his friends’ faith because he could not help himself. 

 

In studying this story, it struck me that not one of the four seemed to complain about their task.  It doesn’t record that they received any thanks or commendation from Jesus for what they did.  No one mentioned anything about their ministry to the paralytic being powerful and dynamic – they just quietly did their job, and God got all the glory.  Not one of them tried to take the preeminence over the others by saying how much more important their part was compared to the others’.  “Well, my corner of the bed was much heavier than the other three, therefore my ministry is greater!”  The four were equal partners in the work of the Lord and in the Body of Christ.  They worked together in harmony and cooperation, in the spirit of love and compassion.  What they did received no visible recognition; and yet, what they did enabled a notable miracle to take place in the life of the paralytic.  Isn’t this the ideal way that the Body of Christ should function?  Paul describes the proper working together of the Body when he says that we are to “…grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from Whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:15, 16).   

 

There are many around us – and if we’re honest we will include ourselves in that number - who have been paralyzed in one way or another from pursuing the type of life that God has called us to demonstrate.  At such times, we need the faith of our brothers and sisters in Christ to remind us of Jesus’ power to deliver.  Sin is one thing that can certainly paralyze us from reaching our potential in Christ.  Doubt and fear can also cripple us from accomplishing God’s will.  Trials, afflictions, and sickness can also disable us in many ways.  Only Jesus can heal our hurts, calm our fears and anxieties, and purge our sins.  He only can give us the power to do the things that He has called us to do, the things that were impossible for us to do before knowing Him.  Sometimes we need the combined faith and assistance of others in the Body of Christ to help usher us before the Lord.  It may be a sermon, a teaching, a prophecy, a prayer, or an anointed song that transports us into the very presence of the Savior and stirs our faith.  It may also be something as simple as an act of kindness.  There is no limit to the things that God can use to reach us and change our lives.

 

We must understand just how powerful the faith of the Body of Christ is when they agree together on any one thing.  Their combined faith can make a big difference in lives that may be “paralyzed” in a spiritual sense.  Make no mistake: it is our enemy’s goal to paralyze God’s people so that they can’t function in faith and confidence.  There is a powerful promise, however, that Jesus gave to His disciples in Matthew 18:18-20.  The Lord said, “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”  In our story, there were five who agreed!  They believed that Jesus was the answer to the paralytic’s needs, and they were determined to seek out Jesus.

 

I have had the opportunity of seeing this type of faith in action many times.  One person may come into the gathering place with a heavy heart and under a terrific burden.  The Body recognizes in the Spirit that there is a need.  They feel the burden that this individual is under and begin to focus on that person’s need.  The Church then begins to minister in various ways to help bear the burden and heal the soul.  Some pray, others exhort, and still others share an inspired word from scripture.  They may then gather around the one who is hurting and anoint them with oil, praying for not just a healing, but also for a release of the oppression they are under.  When the final “amen” is said, Jesus has ministered to that soul, and has restored the peace of God to their spirit.  In the end, God is the one Who is glorified.  Such ministry among the members of Christ’s Body fulfills Paul’s words to the Galatian churches where he wrote, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:1, 2).

 

“When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” Jesus saw that this man had TWO needs: he needed healed of his paralysis for sure (which was the more apparent need), but he also required forgiveness for his sins.  In Jesus’ mind, it was the man’s sin-sickness that was the most crucial need, and that’s what He addressed to begin with.  Sometimes the need that is obvious – like the man’s paralysis – hides another, deeper need that Jesus wants to deal with.  The obvious need is the thing that brings us to Jesus so that He can reveal and correct the underlying need.  God can’t do another thing in our lives until the matter of our redemption is settled.  Jesus said, “Ye must be born again.” (John 3:7).  This is where our spiritual journey with the Savior begins: at the cross of Christ.  That is where the Lord atoned for our sins and cast them away as far as the east is from the west.  It is where the burden of our heart was rolled away.

 

How is it then that we may restore a brother/sister in the Lord?  How do we minister to one who is altogether lost?  The answer is always to bring them to Jesus!  He is the One Who made us, and He is the One Who can fix us. 

 

“But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?  And immediately when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, He said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?  Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?” (Mark 2:6-9).  The scribes didn’t like Jesus very much.  He was always challenging their norms and their traditions.  What was worse, He used their own holy scripture to support His teaching!  To the scribes, it was blasphemy, plain and simple, for a mere man to forgive the sins of another.  This was God’s place alone.  Jesus was no mere man, though.  He asked the scribes what would be easier, to say that the paralytic’s sins were forgiven, or to say to him, “Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?”  “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33).  These “religious” men were about to be schooled and left speechless by the Son of God Himself.

 

Jesus looked on these men who were searching for any evidence that they could find to trap Him and said, “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (He saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.” (Mark 2:10-11).  What was the result?  “And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.” (Mark 2:12).  The people were simply amazed, and they testified that they had never witnessed anything like this before!

 

Jesus has power on earth to forgive sins!  He also has power to heal the hearts, minds, and bodies of those who come to Him in faith.  He not only can erase our transgressions, but He can heal our paralysis of whatever sort it is.  He can give us the power to become effective citizens and members of the Kingdom of God.  Paul mentions both of these works of grace in his letter to the Colossians.  He wrote, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord [accepted His gift of redemption], so walk ye in Him [follow His example; grow up into His likeness]: rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6, 7).  In his letter to Titus, Paul breaks it down again: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” (Titus 2:11-14).

 

In the Lord Jesus Christ we find not only forgiveness for our past sins, but also the power to be transformed by the renewing of our minds to overcome sin.  The key to this is our faith.  Our faith is the victory that overcomes the world (see 1 John 5:4, 5).  All things are possible to them who believe.  We can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us!  When Jesus sees our faith, He forgives our sins and heals our “paralysis.” What we could not do before, we can now do in Christ.  What a mighty Savior, and what a complete salvation we have in Him!