“Jesus, seeing the faith of those who carried him, said to the paralytic: ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” –Mark 2:5
All people. I've told God many times in my life, I'm available to all people, whoever, wherever. But that’s actually me filtering out the uncomfortable reality of what my heart sometimes says: I’m available to people who are like me, who are easy, who have a similar personality type, political persuasion, economic position, or at least people who are open and ready!
I can get tired of casting a wide net, constantly initiating and pursuing spiritual conversations. So I tune my radar to those who seem like they are ready… those who seem to have an activated curiosity toward faith. Of course, there is clearly a time, strategy, and biblical precedent to seek out the person of peace or the primed and ready. But it’s also not every day that we meet an Ethiopian eunuch, a Cornelius, or a Lydia.
There’s nothing wrong with looking for the ready. Except when I do so in a way that cuts others off; except when I stop listening to who God wants me to include in my definition of “all people.”
Who have we, out of convenience, excluded from “all people”?
This past weekend in the microchurch that my wife Melinda and I host, we read together from Mark 2, the story of the friends who lowered their paralyzed buddy down to Jesus through the roof.
Melinda commented on how Jesus responded to the faith of the paralytic’s friends, not necessarily to the man himself who was being lowered through the roof to Jesus. Wait, what?! Ya, in the Spanish translation that we read from, that’s what it says!
“Jesus, seeing the faith of those who carried him, said to the paralytic: ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’”
Jesus saw the faith of the friends and so he forgave and healed this man who could not otherwise come to Jesus. Wow!
OK, so clearly, we cannot say from this passage alone that our faith on behalf of another can bring healing and salvation. We don't know what the state of this man's heart was. But we can unequivocally observe that Jesus responded to their collective faith (also in Matthew and Luke's accounts). And so we can also say that to one degree or another, the faith of the bed-ridden man's friends played a key role in his physical and spiritual rebirth.
The truth is, we really do not know the state of anyone's heart. This passage inspires me to hold on to faith for those who have significant barriers to getting to Jesus. Jesus, would you give me a faith like these friends on behalf of others, a faith that tears away ceilings to give others a chance to lay at your feet?
Who are those folks you know who won’t or can't get to Jesus? Maybe they don't fit in or aren't welcome or are just difficult people. Perhaps they are stuck in their hurt. “Won’t” is usually just a “can’t” because of fear or pain.
Reflect:
Prayerfully ask who God might want to re-introduce to your definition of “all people” that you have excluded. Perhaps one way we can exercise our faith for those people is to pray Numbers 6:24–27 over them today: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matthew Talley lives in Málaga, Spain (since June 2015) where he and his wife Melinda create safe spaces for Spaniards to encounter Jesus to find healing and new life. They have three boys (7,11,12) and enjoy getting out into the gorgeous naturaleza of Andalucia.