Whose faith counts?

At once Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, ‘Why do you think such things? Is it easier to say to this paralysed man, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk”? I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ So he said to the paralysed man, ‘I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home!’ (verses 8-11)

Read Mark 2:1-12

Have you ever been told you were not healed of something because your faith wasn’t strong enough? This sort of statement must be very hard on someone with a terminal disease. For him or her this is a theology of despair.

In this incident we are not told whether the man who was healed had any faith. It is his four friends who show faith, getting their companion to Jesus despite seemingly impossible odds. With sheer persistence (and a little vandalism?) they lowered him into Jesus’ presence. There his sins were forgiven (to the utter chagrin of the Jewish leaders) and his body was healed.

You too can place somebody before Jesus – equally persistently. Jesus urges us to pray persistently. We need, however, to do this for a friend without making any demands – even the paralysed man’s friends just placed him before Jesus without comment – and accepting that God has not promised to cure everybody. What he has promised is healing: giving each person the strength to cope with whatever befalls them.

But we must be prepared for God to use us as his means of providing strength, for we are to be Jesus to sick people too.

Thank you, God, for the healing gift of forgiveness. Help me to use this gift in my life more often, especially when Satan digs up ‘old sins’. Amen.

by Bob Turnbull, in ‘New Strength for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 1998)

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