I remember a sermon I heard a while back that left a strong impression. It was about how Jesus sees our faith, and in this particular case, our faith for divine healing.
A lot of times, we may hear people say that you have to have faith for healing. So, what kind of faith do we need?
3 of the 4 gospel stories describes an incident where Jesus healed a paralysed man. (Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:17-26). All 3 versions are basically the same. Jesus was in a house in Capernaum, and a lot of people were gathered there to listen to Him preaching. Then some men (Mark mentions 4 men) brought a paralysed man who was lying on his bed to the house but they couldn't enter due to the crowd of people there. So, what did these 4 men do? They climbed to the rooftop of the house, and broke through the roof above Jesus. Then they carried the paralysed man up to the rooftop and lowered him down through the opening.
So, picture this in your mind: Jesus is sitting inside a crowded house, preaching, and there's some noise coming from above, and then suddenly a man on a bed is being lowered from the roof. So Jesus looks up. What does He see?
The bed? A man lying on a bed? The heads and hands of 4 men as they lower the man on the bed (presumably with ropes of some kind)? The hole in the roof? 5 people about to interrupt His teaching?
I suppose He did, but He saw something else, too...
"Jesus saw their faith" - Mark 2:5
That's such a beautiful line! When Jesus saw the 4 men lowering down their paralysed friend, Jesus saw their faith! The 4 men believed that Jesus would heal their friend, and went to great lengths to enable Jesus to see him (carrying a man up to a rooftop and lowering him down takes some strength!) and the paralysed man believed Jesus would heal him, too - he allowed the 4 men to carry him up and lower him down - what if they had dropped him halfway?
Basically, all 5 men believed that Jesus COULD and WOULD heal the man. That's the faith we need to have for healing! Jesus can heal you and WILL heal you, too! In today's context, we can't physically go to where Jesus is preaching, but He's left us His Word in the Bible. And we can't physically break a hole in a rooftop to show our faith, but we can go before Him boldly in prayer.
How do we pray boldly? There's no fixed words, but compare the two versions:
1. Thank you for your healing Jesus, I know You are my healer. I thank you for healing me of this disease/pain/sickness etc.
2. Please Jesus, heal me, if that is Your will..
Which version do you think shows a bold faith?
Click to read the full story (Mark 2:1-12)
Mark 2:1-12
1 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
Just a few comments about the rest of this story. Jesus forgives the paralysed man his sins (for Christians today, we are blessed because Jesus bore our sins on the cross and all our sins have been forgiven!). Then some people there got a bit upset because they thought only God can forgive sins (they did not recognise Jesus was God). Jesus knew what they were thinking, so He asked them which was harder - to forgive sins or to say to the paralysed man, get up and walk?
Answer: It is harder to tell the paralysed man to stand up, because it will be obvious one moment after whether he actually stands or not. To say your sins are forgiven, well, it can't be seen physically. So Jesus showed them His power on earth to forgive sins (the "easier" option) by doing the more "difficult" option - healing the man and showing them physical proof right away.
No comments:
Post a Comment