Mark 2:5

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

Mark 2:5

In this parable, four friends carry a paralytic to see Jesus, because they believe that Jesus can heal their friend, but the crowd was large, and the four men could not approach Jesus with their friend. However, possessing a strong faith, they concocted a backup plan. Onto the roof they went and tore through it just enough to lower their friend into the home.

Their faith was evident to Jesus, and I have to assume their strong faith was evident to their paralytic friend. If not, would he have taken the inherently dangerous risk of being hoisted onto the roof and back down again? Perhaps the level of faith that Jesus saw in his friends he did also, and this faith was so contagious that he decided to allow himself to be put into a risky situation so that he could encounter this Jesus whom he had heard so much about. Of course, this is conjecture, but it is interesting to ponder the paralytic’s perspective.

What we can assume is that there was tremendous joy for the paralytic when he was healed, for a momentous change occurred in his life. He was no longer dependent on others for each and every physical need. This glorious change began with the faith of his friends. Do we exhibit his friend’s kind of faith in our lives? Is our walk with Jesus contagious to the point where others are pointed to Him? Lord increase our faith!

Pastor Jeff Mericle