The Faith of Others

“When Jesus saw their faith,

he said to the paralytic,

‘Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.’” 

Matthew 9:2

We are told that “when Jesus saw THEIR faith” was when the paralytic was healed. Jesus was so moved by the people and their love for this friend and brother of theirs that He healed him. Love, my friends, bring healing. Not the kind of love that seeks pleasures or self-interest, but the kind of love that wants only the good for another. The kind of love the moves us to sacrifice our own comforts and wants for the sake of another, even to the point of sacrificing our own lives.  That is the kind of love that those friends had when the put aside their own wants and struggled to bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus.

We need one another. Intercessory prayer is crucial. We are not alone on this journey of faith. Sometimes when we are paralyzed by our sinfulness and shame, we must ask others to help bring us to Christ. We can not do this alone. When we bring to Jesus our prayers, He hears them. When Jesus sees the earnest look in our eyes, His heart is moved. And by our persistence in prayer and commitment to love, may the Lord see our faith and say to us, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”