The Year of our Lord Jesus Christ
Mark 2:5
When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
The “their” were the four who let the man who was sick of the palsy down from the roof for the Lord to heal him. He was healed too! Why? Because Jesus saw their faith. He saw their faith through their actions. Read the story, they, the “their”, broke up Jesus’ preaching service by cutting a hole in the ceiling thereby lowering this sick man into the crowd. It was their faith that the Lord saw which caused Him to heal the sick person.
Oh, that we would, could have such a faith. A faith that the simple act of bringing someone to Jesus that He would heal them because of our faith. Today though, we can bring a person to Jesus by relaying the Gospel story, yet it is their faith that heals them from the curse of sin, not our faith in the bringing of them to Him. Yet we must bring them. That is all we can do. Bring them to Jesus.
To the man in the story today Jesus said Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. This was the Lord’s public announcement that He had power on earth to forgive sins. Others throughout history spoke of sins being forgiven. But this man, Jesus, He forgave sins on earth. No one had ever spoken those words, not like that. He forgave the sins of the sick man because of the faith of those who labored to do the bringing. Perhaps there will be those who will be in Heaven simply because of the faithful prayers and works of a praying mother, or faithful father, or godly pastor. Jesus seeing “their” faith, thereby forgiving the sins of the ones they bring to Him.
Yes, the one who is sick of sin must receive Jesus by faith. But somewhere along the way there must be someone in that person’s life that brings them to Jesus, no matter the cost of effort, energy, or ego. “Their” faith may just be the one thing that makes an eternal difference in the life of the one who needs divine forgiveness. So, do what you can to bring others to Christ. Invite them to your Bible believing church, give them a tract, befriend them in order to talk with them of the gospel, dare to make a difference in their life any way you can. The four who carried the palsied man to Jesus did, and so too can you.
Until next time,
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
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