You see, faith is never something just to be talked about. It is something that must be demonstrated in the way we walk, in the way we talk and in the way live. Paul Harvey the radio announcer once said, “If you don’t live it, you don’t believe it.” And there’s Biblical basis for that statement. Because James 2:18 said, “Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
There is a story in Mark 2 that demonstrates this principle. And I want you to read and study the whole story, but for now, I want to draw your attention to four short words in verse 5: which said “Jesus saw their faith”. Most people would say, “You can’t ‘see’ faith. People would say faith isn’t in the physical or visible realm.” But I’m here to beg the differences. And how I know that is because Jesus saw the faith of these four men.
It’s an interesting story that begins in verse 1: and it says
"And again He [Jesus] entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that he was in the house. 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." (Mark 2:1-2)
In verse 1, we’re told that Jesus was “in the house.” At least, that’s what the New King James version says. Now it is generally thought that this was just an expression, a figure of speech, which means he was at home. In fact, that’s the way that the NIV translates it: but it seems like to me that the translation should be, and the people heard that he had come home. Reason being is because we know that Jesus grew up in Nazareth, and Capernaum and Nazareth are not far from each other.
In fact, Luke 4 tells us that when Jesus went back to Nazareth, after his baptism and temptation in the wilderness, he was so thoroughly rejected by the people with whom he grew up with, that he left Nazareth and made his way into Capernaum, which was a fishing village on the Sea of Galilee, and this was his home base for the three years of his public ministry.
So, what does it mean, that this was his home? Perhaps his mother and brothers had also moved to Capernaum. Others have speculated that this may have been Peter’s house, and that Jesus stayed in a room with the family of Peter and Andrew. Or maybe Jesus may have had his own place, not one that he owned, but one that was made available to him for use, as he needed it.
Regardless of the specifics, the particulars, and the data when people found out that Jesus was there, they began to gather in. It was clear that Jesus was already starting to be quite a popular fellow. People were following him, they were attached to his ministry, and they were beholding his teaching. And wouldn’t it be amazing if these days the house would fill up when Jesus shows up.
Now what blew me away is, I wondered why these people were just able to walk in the house where Jesus was? It blew me away because the bible said that many people came to where he was that there was no more space left available. But then I remembered that the life in Palestine was a little more public than we are used to. In Palestine usually, the doors would be opened in the morning, and everyone was free to go in or out as they please. So the doors were never shut unless there was some special need for privacy.
So, as the crowd filled the house and overflowed into the street, and everyone trying to get closer to hear Jesus. The bible says then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. And when they had broken through, they let down the bed, on which the paralytic was lying. And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ’Son, your sins are forgiven you.’
Now everything was alright by way of heaven, But some of the scribes, some of the church people, alright let me say it the way it is, some of the hell raiser were sitting there and they reasoning, they were murmuring, alright let me put it in plain English, they were complaining and hating in their hearts, (talking about who can forgive sins but God alone? So that tells me that not only will people hate on you, but they will also hate on Jesus.
But let me put a pin right there and say, that if you look at this point and place in the scripture, this is a word for somebody right here and that is no matter what you are going through, no matter how the enemy tries to discourage you, depress you, deject you, or dishearten you. It doesn’t matter what they say about you, you got to know that you just got to press your way through, and allow the Lord will take care of the rest.
And I know that Jesus will come through for me because the bible
says immediately when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves. Immediately, when he felt dissention in the house He said to them, ’Why are you sitting here tripping about these things in your hearts? Why is that you are sitting here complaining, and are so irritable. Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven you" or to say, "Arise, take up your bed and walk"? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins’ and that just wore me out because Jesus called them on their mess, their shade, and their murmuring in their hearts.
But what really impressed me is that Jesus didn’t care about what they were saying, he didn’t care about what everybody else was saying around town he says to the paralytic, I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go your way to your house.
And what I love about the paralytic is that, he didn’t care what people thought either, because he came there for a healing, he came there with some expectations, he came there with some hope, and the bible says that immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that they all were amazed and glorified God, and in their response they said “We ain’t never saw anything like this before!’"
And here’s a new flash. When you are not a part of the kingdom principles, you won’t be able to see it. When you are always pouting and tripping about the things of God you’ll never see it. When we are getting mad, because truth is calling you out of that sin that you are committing you will never see it.
And I need to tell you that there are a lot of lessons that we could learn and gain from this passage, not the least of which is the power of Jesus to forgive sins. But, I want to draw your attention to that phrase: “Jesus saw their faith.”
While the crowd struggled to get closer to Jesus, these four men came bringing a paralyzed man in on a stretcher. One point I want to make is there is that, some people wasn’t coming for worship they were coming to be nosy, they were coming to be seen, they were coming to complain, and they were coming to see what they could add on their Facebook timeline, they were coming to see what could go on Tik-Tok. They wanted to see and not to be blessed, instead they were coming to be messy.
Now watch this Capernaum was a kind of tight place, and if you have not ever been to Capernaum let me share with you that it’s not a place where you can easily maneuver about if you are disabled. The roads are not paved smoothly, the stairs are on a vertical rise, and it make it difficult to get around, and if you are disable, you really had to rely on your friends to help you travel there if you couldn’t walk.
And that’s what’s going on here. This man has four friends helping him out. They wanted to take him to see Jesus, but there was no way to get in the door. So, what could they possibly do? This was important. They wanted to see Jesus; they needed to see Jesus, so they made up their minds to see Jesus. So they carried the man up on the roof. Someone here this morning need to make up your mind that you want to see Jesus and that you are not going to let the crowd stop you.
Now understand that in Palestine, the roofs were flat. And they would be used for resting and quiet time. They would be used for drying clothes and storing things. It has importance because in 1st Kings 17, we read about Elijah living on the roof. In Acts 10, Peter is up on the roof praying. It was a place of solitude. So, generally there were stairs going up along an outside wall.
And according to some scholars, the roof was usually made of beams about 3 feet apart. These beams would be filled with twigs, then packed with clay and covered with dirt. And if that was the case, it would have been an easy to dig between the beams without doing much damage to the house.
The bible says they uncovered the roof then the paralyzed man was lowered down to Jesus, and when Jesus “saw their faith”, he both healed and forgave the paralytic.
I want you to think about this for a moment, and then I’m going to get out of here. If you were going to visit a famous rabbi who had a large following, who possessed some degree of prominence, and if you wanted to treat the rabbi respectfully, as the Jews were taught to do, and in addition you wanted him to heal your friend, you would certainly try to make a good impression by treating him well. It seems like to me the last thing you would do is tear up the man’s house up. It just really doesn’t seem to make much sense that you would destroy this rabbi’s house and then ask him for a favor, you couldn’t expect him to treat you well after that.
But I believe that some of the reason that these men were so adamant about getting to Jesus is that, these men evidently had heard people talk about Jesus, and how he said that the Son of Man had come to seek and to save that which was lost. I believe that they heard how he said the Shepherd would leave the ninety and nine in the pen, and go out and find the one that was still lost. Or how he said that he was the Physician, who had come for the sick rather than for the well. And I’m sure that throughout his teaching in those early days in the Galilean ministry, Jesus repeatedly made the point that the needy, the broken, the broken hearted, the hurting, and the desperate people were the very ones for whom he had come for, and for whom his ministry was focused on, and that he was God’s representative to meet their needs.
And these men had the confident to believe Jesus and to take him at his Word! What they were boldly saying, "If you say so, we are going to trust that you care more about people than this building, so we are going to tear a hole in your roof and put before you one of the very kinds of people you said you have come to help."
They believed the things that Jesus had said about himself and they acted on their belief. They were willing to go to lengths that some people would regard as questionable.
And let me ask you a question this morning, is there anything bold about your faith? Are you willing to go through some tough times to get to Jesus? Are you willing to do as Jacob did, Jacob wrestled with an angel? Because He wrestled all night, and then grabbed him and held on and he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me" he was bold enough. Are you willing to hold on until God blesses you?
Well, I need to tell you this morning that it’s alright to have a boldness about yourself. Because boldness is a word that the Hebrew writer uses to describe how we ought to approach the throne of grace.
In Hebrew 4:16 the bible says seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
So we see that a hole in the roof was no problem for Jesus. People have always been, and will always will be, more important than buildings to him. So, he saw both faith, and the action taken by these four men.
And I don’t know about you, but all I want to do is just get close to Jesus and get my healing, I just want to get close to Jesus and get my blessing. Because he’s still healing and he’s still blessing and all Jesus is doing is waiting to see our faith, and according to his will he will bless us.
Jesus saw four men who cared, and these four men who weren’t thinking of themselves. They wasn’t looking for a special blessing from the Lord. But they had a friend who was. And they went through a lot of trouble to get him the help that he needed. And because of their willingness Jesus saw their faith.
And I want to know is there anybody here that’s going to help their brother or their sister. Is there anybody here that cares enough to give your brother or sister a helping hand.
Because this is what the Lord did for us, the Lord gave his life for us back on Calvary’s hill?
