"When He Saw Their Faith"
"When He Saw Their Faith"
"And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven." Mark 2:5
Over my pastoral career I've preached from the above text many times. Yesterday, I was blessed with the opportunity to listen to another pastor preach from this same text. The sermon was not only awesome, but once again, I was astonished by the Word of God, because His Word never gets old.
When the Bible says, "And when Jesus saw their faith" who's faith did Jesus see? Was it the faith of the paralyzed man, or was it the faith of others? For you to answer this question for yourself, I encourage you to read verses 1-12 of Mark chapter 2. Each time I've studied and preached from this text, the answer for me, remains the same, Jesus saw the faith of the men that carried/brought the paralyzed man to him.
What's the deeper soulful message behind Mark 2:1-12? What lesson can you learn from this text? You can learn many lessons, but today, I want to focus on the paralyzed man because there will be times when you too will feel like your faith is depleted and you don't have any left in your spiritual tank. We can see evidence of this because of what the scripture does not say; the paralyzed man did not ask for help and he did not ask to be carried.
When you experience days that leave you exhausted and on empty, remember that God can still touch your life and change your circumstances when you yourself don't have any faith to give. The paralyzed man was healed, but his healing did not happen because of his faith, Jesus used the faith of the paralyzed man's friends to bring forgiveness and healing in that crippled man's life.
I have to admit that there have times in my life when my faith tank was empty. It was the prayers and faith of others that helped me get through some of the most difficult times in my life. Times like, the death of my deceased wife (Brenda), serving my country as a United States Marine, and navigating the valley lows of marriage and parenthood. I would be lying if I told you that I faced every challenge with my faith, because there were times when I felt like I had no faith left to give. It was the faith of others that got me through:
- Jesus saw my father's faith and He heard his prayers.
- Jesus saw my mother's faith and He heard her prayers.
- Jesus saw my friend's faith and He heard their prayers.
When I had nothing to give, God still brought healing into my life and He did so by using the faith and prayers of others. God can do the same for you.
2026 Copyright (c) Elton L. Young
All Rights Reserved