It’s one of my favorite healing stories in the Bible. You’ll remember it. But as always when you revisit a favorite Bible story, it can reveal something new.
Early in his ministry Jesus came back to Capernaum after performing a host of miracles in Galilee. He seemed to be a bit ambivalent about His fame. He did tell a man He’d healed of a skin disease not to say anything to anyone. Fat chance. The word spread. The news got out.
Because of it there was a huge crowd gathered around the house where Jesus stayed. There wasn’t even room to get in the front door. And people were desperate for his healing words and touch.
Four of them, in fact, had brought a paralyzed man on a pallet—a friend no doubt. They couldn’t make their way through the crowd so they got on the roof and tore off part of it. (Imagine what the owner of the house thought about that.) Then through a hole they lowered the mat upon which the paralyzed man was lying.
The Bible says this: “And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘My son, your sins are forgiven’” (Mark 2:5).
Jesus went on to say, “Rise, take up your pallet and walk.”
Indeed the man did get up and walk and everybody was amazed, and they praised God saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”
But I want to go back to what happened first, “When Jesus saw their faith…” It wasn’t the faith of the man who was healed—we hear nothing about that—but the faith of the friends who believed that Jesus would make a difference.
Because of their faith. This is exactly what we do when we pray for others. It’s our faith that’s the motivator. It’s our actions that speak. It’s what we’re doing that catches the divine attention.
So each time you’re praying for someone, think of yourself punching a hole in that ceiling, bringing a need—a desperate need—before the Lord. What you do matters.
