In Matthew 9:1-8, Jesus crosses the lake and lands in His hometown. Some men bring their paralyzed friend to Him to be healed. Luke tells us they had to cut a hole in the roof to lower the man into the room because there were so many people they couldn’t get to Jesus any other way.
Jesus saw the faith of the men and said to the paralyzed man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
The teachers of the law saw what Jesus did and accused him of blasphemy, so Jesus confronts them. One of the things He says to them is…
“But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”
Then He not only forgives the man of his sins, He heals the man and tells him to pick up his mat and go home.
When the crowd saw what had happened, it says…
“they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.”
Each of the people in this story saw something different. To a large extent, what they saw was determined by what they expected to see. And what they expected to see was directly tied to the results they experienced and how they responded.
Jesus saw the faith of the men who went to great lengths to bring their friend to Him. And Jesus always responds to faith.
Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him…”
In Mark 9:23, Jesus said, “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
Jesus also saw an opportunity to let the teachers of the law see that He had authority to forgive sins. He demonstrated it by not only saying he could forgive, but by performing a miracle.
The men saw an opportunity. Jesus was back in town and they obviously knew what He could do for their friend. Their faith compelled them to seek Jesus out. Hebrews 11:6 says,
“…He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
The teachers of the law, much like the Pharisees, saw blasphemy. Jesus was someone dangerous and was upsetting the religious status quo. But they also saw something else. They got to see the miracle that validated the claims Jesus was making about Himself, but their hearts were too hard to comprehend it. God Himself performed a miracle right in front of them. They missed it, because they’d already made up their minds about Jesus.
And finally, the paralyzed man saw the compassion, forgiveness and healing touch of Jesus, because his friends cared enough to bring him close.
What do you see? Do you see problems? Or opportunities? Have you made up your mind about someone before truly getting to know them? Do you already think you know how someone is going to respond or act? I would only need to listen to your words for a few minutes to know. And you would only need a few minutes with me.
Our view of God is going to determine how we view every person and every situation we face.
What if we expected to see God at work everyday?
What if we expected Him to answer our prayers?
What if we expected Him to use us?
What if we expected Him to bless us?
What if we expected Him to come through for us regardless of the size of the obstacle?
At one point, later in His ministry, Jesus again goes to His hometown and because of the unbelief of the people, it says…
And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
I would rather learn to deal with the disappointment of perhaps expecting God to do too much than to one day deal with the regret of never having trusted Him.
What about you?
Great post, Gregg!
You know me well enough to know that I can sometimes be very Eeyore-ish! But the ability to identify problems is a spiritual gift (i.e. discernment) and is often a strength. However, I’ve heard it said that every strength has a back-loaded weakness. So the weakness is often perceived (rightly or wrongly) as negativity or a lack of faith.
Similarly, those who are by nature and spiritual gifting (i.e. faith) more visionary and positive, don’t always stop to count costs. The example of a man building a tower or a king going to war (Luke 14) highlights the importance of thinking things through. Many a failed business is built on a foundation of misplaced expectations.
Ultimately, it seems to me, that our actions should be animated by faith and informed by reason/wisdom. Proverbs says “…but with many counselors [plans] succeed.” So we all need people around us who “fill our gaps.” I definitely need faith-filled visionaries in my life!