A Faith Jesus Can See

Luke 5:17-26

17One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus. 18Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, 19but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So, they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”

21But the Pharisees and teachers of religious law said to themselves, “Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” 22Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 23Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? 24So I will prove to you that the Son of Man^d has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” 25And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God. 26Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, “We have seen amazing things today!”

What did Jesus see in them that caused this man’s sin to be forgiven and for him to be physically healed. We often think of faith for us as a measure of faith. God has given all of us a measure of faith. The scripture says that Jesus saw their faith and he received healing. What was it about their faith that Jesus saw that caused Him to want to heal the man. Our faith may depend on someone else’s faith. We are all in here because somebody prayed for us.

There are three characteristics of the men’s faith that should be manifested in our lives.  We must have a:

Dedicated Faith (V.17-18)

• They carried the man, they exerted physical energy, they pulled on what was in them. And he wasn’t little, he was paralyzed, could not assist in any way possible. If he was going to get to Jesus, it was up to them, all of them to get him there. They gave of themselves.  They were willing to give up their plans.  They took it all upon themselves to get him there. We don’t know if they were his closet friends or not. Scripture doesn’t identify the men. They were committed to assisting this man to get to Jesus.
• How dedicated are you in getting people to Jesus? Are you willing to carry them, exert the energy needed to get them there?
• Jesus needs to see that we are dedicated in the lives of others.

Determined Faith (V.19)

• Note the latter part of v.17 – “And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.” In the preceding verses, Jesus had been healing people and the word began to travel of his healing power. Mark and Luke report that Jesus went to desolate places and the people started coming to him. V.19 in Mark 2 says “And when they could not get near him because of the crowd.” (NAS)
• They didn’t give up because they came with a purpose – to get this man to Jesus.
• They didn’t make excuses because of the crowd.
• They didn’t concern themselves with what people might say.
• They didn’t use this man’s condition as an excuse to get through the crowd, which would have been nearly impossible because I imagine the crowd was made up of people who needed healing.
• How far are you willing to go to get people to Jesus?
• When God leads you into it, He’s going to cover you in it.
• We are children of the King and we are afraid. We have weak faith or no faith. Stop using where people are as a reason not to help.

Demonstrative Faith (v.19)

• These men were so dedicated and determined to get this man to Jesus, they made a hole in the roof, tore it up, displaced some of the tiles, to get him there.
• They put action behind what they believed and that was if we can get this man to Jesus he will be healed.
• They lowered him down right in the midst of Jesus, while he was preaching.
• Jesus saw their dedication; He saw their commitment.
• There are people who are destined to die; we mess up because we are trying to find out how they got where they are.
• We stress on physical healing and God is trying to heal a soul.
• Don’t miss your blessing trying to judge people on what they are going to do.
• The scribes and the Pharisees talked about Jesus. So, Jesus told the man to get up and walk.
• You have move to demonstrate your faith.
• You’ve got to demonstrate to God that you believe Him.

Conclusion

• These men’s faith, what Jesus saw in them for this man, brought forth a move of God in the paralyzed man’s life that he was healed in his spirit and in his body.
• There will be scribes and Pharisees who will speak against what Jesus has done. Let Jesus handle them.