MORE VISIBLE THAN WE HAVE THOUGHT

LUKE 5:18-20 
18 Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. 19 And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. 
20 When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." 

OBSERVATION: 

Jesus was speaking and the place was packed. There were people from all over Israel, including some of the leading religious teachers of that day.   

Right in the middle of Jesus' sermon, the roof above Him starts to break up. It must have caused quite a stir below. With a packed house, someone was bound7 to get dirty. 

So, when the men on the roof have created a fairly good-sized hole, they let their friend down on his bed in front of Jesus. But we get no indication that Jesus was upset. Instead, Jesus saw their faith, and He responded to the paralyzed man.   

That phrase is revealing. Jesus saw their faith. Too often, we have made faith out to be a feeling or a rather abstract quality that some have, and some don't.   

But faith is much more tangible. In the gospels where faith is mentioned, we find people either doing something or saying something. Or doing both. Faith is revealed, made visible or observable, by our words and our actions.   

In our story today, these five men believed that Jesus could heal someone who was paralyzed. They believed Jesus could heal their friend, so they carried him. The paralyzed man believed Jesus could heal him, so he went along with the plan.   

They believed, so they acted. Even though it was disruptive and they might incur the wrath of the religious leaders, they believed, so they did it anyway. Because they believed they acted in spite of embarrassment or risk.  

And Jesus saw their faith. And the man was healed and walked home.   

APPLICATION: 

Faith is an act. We believe, and so we act. We believe and speak. We go to church and read our Bibles because we believe God is real. We pray because we believe He hears and answers. We give Him praise and thanks because we believe.   

You actually have more faith than you had realized. Don't talk yourself out of faith or talk about how weak your faith is. Talk about how you do believe, and your faith is growing stronger. And you will see it and others will see your faith.   

PRAYER: 

Thank You, Lord. I do have faith in You and Your word. My faith is growing stronger and stronger.