When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
– Luke 5:20
There’s something important in this verse that’s easy to miss if we’re not paying attention. Jesus didn’t respond to the faith of the lame man. Scripture never mentions if he had any. What Jesus saw was the faith of his friends.
This is the kind of faith that looks at someone stuck, suffering, and worn down and says, I know a guy who can help you.
The kind of faith that doesn’t wait for the hurting person to muster belief they may not even have left. The kind of faith that acts on behalf of someone who seems more desperate and exhausted than hopeful and expectant.
This faith picks a man up, straps him to a makeshift stretcher, and carries him several miles under the hot scorching sun because doing nothing isn’t an option. It keeps going even when the enormous crowd blocks the door. It climbs onto a roof. It tears through obstacles. It makes a way when there doesn’t appear to be one.
This is faith with muscle in it. Faith that moves. Faith that risks embarrassment. Faith that refuses to shrug and say, “Well, we tried.” It’s a confident expectation that Jesus will be exactly who He says He is – and that getting someone to Him is worth whatever it costs.
And as impressive as that faith is – and it is impressive – it still pales in comparison to the faith Jesus displayed, faith that trusted the Father all the way to the cross. Faith that endured rejection, suffering, and death so that broken people like me and you could be restored to a right relationship with God.
That’s why Jesus goes straight to the heart of the matter: “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” The man’s greatest need wasn’t the healing of his legs – it was the forgiveness of his sins. It was reconciliation with God.
Walking would change his circumstances. But forgiveness changed his eternity!
The question isn’t “Do I have enough faith?”
It’s “Am I willing to carry someone else when they don’t?”
And most importantly… “Do I trust Jesus enough to believe that what He offers is far greater than what I think I need the most?”
Former Blackout Artist 