Does My Faith Fail Me Or Does Jesus See My Faith? Series

INTRODUCTION

Jesus performed many miracles as recorded in the Four Gospels. In those miracles, many times Jesus healed someone who was paralyzed. Just a couple of weeks ago, we looked at the man by the Pool of Bethesda near the Sheep Gate who had been waiting thirty-eight years to be healed. And remember Jesus asked this man a real interesting question: “Do you want to be healed?” And after hearing excuses from the man why he was not healed then Jesus proceeded to tell him to pick up his mat and walk. In this story, Jesus’ question reveals that He knew about this man, but the man did not know about Jesus. When asked by religious people “who healed you” the now healed man responded I don’t know.

Today, I want to look at another paralytic healing. Now, this story is different than the first story because in that first story Jesus came to the man and healed him; today, four friends need to find a way to bring this man to Jesus. In this story, the paralytic man, or his friends knew about Jesus and set out to go to Him. We don’t know anything about this paralytic man as to the length of his infirmity like we did the first one. We don’t know this man’s name or anything about his four friends. What we do know from the Scripture is that it appears that the four friends or more interested in getting the man to Jesus then the man himself is interested. When they could not get in the door, it was not the paralytic that suggested the roof; it was his friends that suggested the roof. When the four men lowered the man from the roof to Jesus, Jesus marveled at the faith of the four men and then it says He spoke to the paralytic.

Just as Jesus focused on the four men by saying to all present in the house that He saw their faith, I want to put our attention on these four men to gage our level of faith. So, I hope to answer today the question in my own life: “Does my faith fail me or does Jesus see my faith?”

BIBLE VERSE

Mark 2:1-5 (NKJV)

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.”

1

SOME PEOPLES' FAITH WILL FAIL THEM BEFORE THEY EVEN BRING THEIR REQUEST TO JESUS BECAUSE THEY HAVE BUILT IN EXCUSES AS TO WHY IT CAN'T HAPPEN.

In our story, we are told that Jesus entered Capernaum. Capernaum was a small fishing village with a population of about 1500 people in Jesus’ day. There was only one synagogue in the village so all the village people would have attended that one synagogue. Because it was a small village, mostly of fisherman who probably daily talked among themselves about their catch or lack of catch and who on Sabbath attended the one synagogue in the village, I would say that most of the people in Capernaum knew each other.

But in our story, no one mentions any of the four men by name. The crowd outside didn’t talk among themselves saying that it is a shame that so and so can’t get to Jesus since he has been paralyzed so many years. The crowd outside the house acted like these four men and the one paralytic were strangers. No one in the crowd mentioned them by name nor suggested let’s move out the way so our neighbor can get in to see Jesus.

So, amusing that they were from a neighboring village, I can hear the excuses that these four men could have told themselves so not to exercise their faith. Listen to some of the ones I thought of. Are you kidding me, we are going to have to carry him all the way to Capernaum? Even if we go to Capernaum, we are not going to be guaranteed that Jesus will see Him or doing anything to heal him. Why don’t we wait here in our village and see if Jesus might travel through our village rather than traveling this distance carrying our friend? I am not thinking about myself having to carry him, but let’s be honest this trip is going to be too hard on our paralytic friend.