When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
What is going on in this scripture passage is that four men who had faith, had brought this paralytic fella on a stretcher to see Jesus and because the crowd was so thick outside the place where Jesus was, they could not get in so that Jesus could heal the fella on the stretcher or bed . They all had their confidence in His willingness and power to heal so they uncovered the roof where Jesus was speaking and they lowered the bed or stretcher like deal into the house, so that Jesus could heal the fella.
This was the faith for which Jesus was always on the watch for, then and now. Not one single time did Jesus witness this kind of faith and not mention it. He always mentioned it. The text says ‘Jesus saw their faith“. He saw their faith in action.
All five of these men had confidence in the power and willingness of Jesus to heal this desperate case. The astonishing thing both to the paralytic and to the four friends is that Jesus forgave his sins instead of healing him. Those who looked on evidently expected that Jesus would speak first of this paralytic’s body, but instead He forgives the sick man’s sins.
The Greek word, amartiai, translated sins, means faults committed by one. Was this physical disease produced by a violation of physical laws, or laws of health, either by the person himself or his ancestors? This is what many scholars believe. In my mind, when Jesus struck this disease at the root, all sin was forgiven him. To the Great Physician every other evil is a small matter is it not?
Jesus accepts the challenge and performs a physical miracle in order to prove His power to forgive. He knew that the scribes would regard the healing of the sick man as the greater wonder of the two. Later on in this story, in the book of Matthew who also mentions it, the scribes who were writing this all down, were caught in their own trap and put to shame.
Permanent life changing faith is what Christ Jesus is looking for.
December 6, 2010
~ By Eudora
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