Jesus Saw THEIR Faith; Mark 2

May the mumbling commence!

How wonderful it is to live in a community of faith!  A community of faith makes it possible for me and others to rely on our interdependent relationships.  When I am weak, my faith community helps to carry me.  I’ve seen it too many times to disregard it.  It has happened for me when I was sick, when I was moving, and when I was financially struggling. 

And the lifting up by my faith community happens so often in times of worship and prayer that I often forget it’s there.  When I am limping along in my faith life and just going through the motions, I am picked up and carried by the obvious devotion of the faith community that surrounds me. 

Sometimes we all feel a little paralyzed by the things that life throws at us.  I have faith in my faith community, and I pray that they have faith in me.  It is our faith in the Lord Jesus and the faith that we have in each other that births miracles into our everyday world.  Read from the beginning of Mark chapter two:

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.  So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.  Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them.  Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." 

Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" 

Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things?  Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralytic, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."  He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" (Verses 1-12)

There was a man for every corner of the paralyzed man’s mat.  These men cared so much for their paralyzed friend and had so much faith in Jesus to heal that they braved the crowd.  At times, they were probably discouraged.  The crowd was so difficult to get through – especially trying to carry a man on a mat.  Everybody in the crowd was focusing on Jesus.  It was slow going through the mass of humanity.

One of the friends may have gotten discouraged, but his four other friends encouraged him.  We will make it to Jesus.  But walking through the crowd soon became dangerous for the one on the mat.  They had to find another way.  I wonder whose idea it was to venture onto the roof and lower the mat before Jesus.  The Scriptures do not tell us – not Matthew or Mark or Luke.

Regardless of who came up with the idea, can you imagine the combined effort to carry their paralyzed friend to the rooftop?  Did they even have stairs to climb?  Did they somehow get him up a ladder?  That took a lot of faith in one another! 

And imagine the faith of the paralyzed man!  He had to totally trust his friends to successfully carry him.  The man on the mat had zero control over the proceedings – except that he could have refused to let his friends hoist him onto the roof and then through the roof to Jesus.

Their faith in Jesus to heal and their faith in one another were extraordinary.  It is no wonder that Jesus was impressed by their faith.  Working in community toward Jesus is the road to forgiveness. 

We might say, “I believe; help my unbelief.”  That is the beauty of communities of faith.  When you hit a low in your spiritual life, I can lift you up.  When I hit a low, you can lift me up.  It is the blessing and responsibility we accept when we are adopted into the family of God.

Let’s not hesitate to embrace forgiveness in our communities.  Let’s rejoice and praised God.  In all these things, we will be joined together in love – a love that will sprout faith in Jesus and in one another.

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out