What makes faith in Jesus visible?
And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:5 NASB
Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell the story (Matthew 9:2-8, Mark 2:1-8 and Luke 5:18-26) of a paralytic with some friends, enough to carry him to Jesus to be healed. But the crowd was large and the home was relatively small for such a crowd. They couldn’t get Jesus’ attention.
So they went into problem-solving mode and took him up to the roof of the home. Then, they tore open the roof so they could lower their friend down in front of Jesus.
Seeing Faith
Using the exact same Greek language, Matthew, Mark, and Luke each contain the phrase “seeing their faith” (Matthew 9:2, Mark 2:5, and Luke 5:20). Each author understood and recorded that Jesus reacted to the visible faith of the people who went to the trouble to serve their friend. Jesus reacted to the friend’s faith. Faith in Jesus prompted them to get their friend in front of Jesus. Clearly, they believed that Jesus could, and would heal.
Is your faith visible? Does your faith prompt Jesus to act? What kind of faith prompts Jesus to act?
From this passage, we don’t know much more about this visible faith of the people who brought their friend to Jesus. These people had a faith that moved them to invest energy and overcome obstacles. They took quite a bit of time out of their day. Sticking with their actions all the way to the end, they went to the trouble to make the effort. They didn’t let the challenges of getting their friend in front of Jesus. So, their faith went beyond “intention” and produced a tangible outcome.
Our Faith
Do we have that kind of faith for our friends? What can we do today to bring our friends and family; our coworkers, customers, and vendors, to Jesus? Will you pray for them? Also, look for ways to serve them. Will you spend your personal time and money to make a difference in their lives?
Check out our posts on daily activities. (Try the tag “daily” or “action” or the search term.) There are many actions we can take every day to “bring” people to Jesus. We don’t have to try to bend conversations or make Jesus the answer to every question. But we can each pray for our coworkers. Also, we can find ways to invest our personal time and money in them. We can serve them and love them. When we serve others with no expectation of return, simply because we trust Jesus, we will cause people to ask about him.
Have a faith Jesus can see. When he sees our faith, he will act. I hope the Lord Jesus will act in the lives of your coworkers because he sees your faith.
