When Jesus Saw Their Faith

Jesus was teaching in a house in Capernaum, and the crowd filled the room and spilled out the door. Four men arrived carrying a paralyzed friend on a mat. They could not get in, so they went up on the roof, dug through it, and lowered the man down in front of Jesus. Mark records what happened next with a phrase worth stopping on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, son, your sins are forgiven.

He saw their faith. He did not hear a confession or receive a creed. He saw four men who had decided that getting their friend to Jesus was worth the trouble, the climb, the damage to someone's roof, and the stares of a crowd. Their faith was visible because it had been turned into action. It came down through the ceiling on ropes.

This is the episode from Jesus's own life that stands behind what James writes about faith and deeds. Jesus did not object that the men's faith was too active, too practical, too much about a body on a mat. He honored it, forgave the man's sins, and then healed his legs so the skeptics would know he had authority to do both. The lesson is plain. Faith that Jesus can see is faith that has done something. If you want to bring someone to him, be willing to carry the mat and cut the roof.