Their Belief

10/28/2016

Mark 2.5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  - St. Mark

The friends carried the man to Jesus. The friends believed. The friends tore a hole in the roof large enough to lower the friend through. The friends carried the man up the stair and onto the roof. The friends, apparently, had a way to lower the man; maybe they had rope. And Mark wrote (as Peter recounted to him), ‘when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”'

I wonder how the conversation got started in the first place – did the man come up with the idea to get in front of Jesus or was it the friends’ idea? Did they originally plan to just bring the man to Jesus, but when they got there, the crowd was so large that they had to go to Plan B? And then with whatever plan they came up with, what was their overall expectation? Full healing? Partial healing? Rejection?

And, when Mark wrote “their faith”, was it the faith of the friends or the faith of the whole group: man, mat, and men? Do we have to separate the man from the friends?

I think someone came up with the idea to get the paralyzed guy to Jesus. I think others were persuaded and the plan hatched. I think they intended to just go find Jesus, and have the Lord touch the man and heal him. I don’t think they factored in the size of the crowds attracted to Jesus. I think when they got to Jesus, they went to plan b (hastily concocted) because of the failure of plan a, and the size of the crowd.

And when Jesus saw their faith – man, mat, and men – he said to the paralyzed man: “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Whoa! I thought Jesus was supposed to say to the man: You’re healed! What happened? The plan was going so right! Your sins are forgiven!? Who said anything about sins!?

Well, the men and the man were only part of the story. The rest of the story included the crowd and some religious types who thought Jesus was some sort of a Sham-Wow pitchman. The crowd thought healing was the big item on the menu, and then Jesus started talking about sin. The sin Jesus was referring to was: unbelief. Sin doesn’t cause paralyzation, but sin keeps one away from God, the Healer.

You can’t forgive unbelief. (We can’t really forgive anything if we’re unwilling to forgive everything). The unforgiveable sin is simply unbelief. It isn’t murder, or abortion, or infidelity, or porn. These things are terrible and awful but they aren’t unforgiveable. Only unbelief is. And it is unbelief that got Jesus crucified. Unbelief is unforgiveable because if one cannot believe in the forgiver, one cannot be forgiven. Without belief in God, there is no pardon from God. Hmmm...

So, Jesus said to the unbelievers: Is it easier to forgive sin or to heal? And to the paralyzed man he said: “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” It is easy for God to do both: forgive sins, and heal people. But the bigger issue with God is this: the sin of unbelief; and even God cannot forgive that…

Lord, our lives are all about what we believe. We do what we believe. May my life be all about belief in You. You’re my only Hope. You are my Forgiver. Lord, also be my Healer. Thank You Jesus, amen