1Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." 3At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!" 4Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 6But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." 7And the man got up and went home. 8When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men – Matt. 9:1-8 NIV
You know what strikes me with awe whenever I read the above passage? Jesus forgave this man of his sins and the man didn’t even ask to be forgiven. Go ahead read it again. Can you see anywhere in which the man came to Jesus and said, “I am a sinner, please pardon me of my sins?”
I mean, even some of the teachers of the law said, “How is it possible for this man (Jesus) to say such a thing? How can we even be sure that the man’s sins are actually forgiven? Can anyone see sins being forgiven?”
Jesus, of course, knowing their thoughts, said, “I am going to prove to you that I have the authority to forgive the sins of this man. I am going to do something that you all can see. I am doing to heal him. Therefore, if you can see for yourself this man’s healing, then you know that when I say to him, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ I actually have the power and authority to do so.”
So what did Jesus do? He forgave the man’s sins and then He healed him. Again, this is mind boggling when you think about it. This man did not come to Jesus on his own. His friends had brought him. Second, Jesus was not impressed with the faith of the paralytic who He forgave; instead Jesus was impressed with the faith of his friends – “Jesus seeing their faith. . .”
This man literally did nothing and got everything! What’s up with that?
Well, perhaps the connection was this. Sometimes a person’s physical weakness or sickness is the result of some sin. For example, gluttony would fall into that category, so also drunkenness, drug abuse and immorality – getting venereal diseases, etc. The Jews believed this (cf. John 9:2). The Apostles taught it (cf. James 5:14-15; 1 Cor. 11:30). Therefore, when Jesus healed this man, He also in connection with the man’s healing forgave the sin that contributed possibly to this man’s disease.
It is noteworthy that Jesus first dealt with this man’s greater need – his need of forgiveness, only after doing so does Jesus heal this man physically – the lesser need. Therefore, once the man’s sin was forgiven that contributed to his illness, then the only thing left for Jesus to do was to heal the man of his disease.
All this was done by the Lord to show His disciples and those around that the Son of God has the right and the power to forgive sins.
But the question still remains – Jesus only recognized the faith of this man’s friends. Yes, this is true. The faith to carry this man was greater than the faith of the man who was carried.
However, and here is the key: The faith of the man who was being carried, even though small in comparison to the faith of his friends who carried him, was enough for the Son of God to forgive his sins and heal him. You see, God saves not according to our perceive greatness in faith and ability, but according to His mercy (Titus 3:5). Some people do not have the faith of come on their own, they have to be carried to the Lord. By allowing yourself to be carried to Jesus is enough faith for the Lord to respond in an act of kindness. And whatever is missing in the person’s faith who is being carried to Jesus, is more than made up for by the one or ones doing the carrying.
Now I am not suggesting that some people are saved through the faith of others. But what I am suggesting is that by exercising enough faith in allowing oneself to be carried by others to the Savior, God will honor the faith of the one carried and the ones who are doing the carrying. Both are blessed.
Think of the ones carrying this man as those who pray are praying for him. And think of the man being carried as one who is being prayed for. If God chooses to answer your prayer for someone you are praying for, does He answer and bless according to your faith or the faith of the one you are praying for? Well it is according to your faith. The one you are praying for may not even know you are praying for him or her. So it was with this man being carried to Jesus. God saw “their” faith in that they were the ones carrying this man, and that was enough for Jesus to bless their faith.
By praying for or bringing someone to Jesus, you are already exercising a measure of faith. Take steps then to allow your faith to grow and increase. Because the greater your faith in Jesus’ ability is, the better the opportunity for Him to respond to the need. The Lord will then provide the person you are praying for with the faith needed to save and heal him or her. How did this occur? Through the faith of his friends.
For the sake of others who have little faith, believe God! Someone out there is counting on you and the faith you possess in the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment