Faithful Pursuit
Matthew 9:1-4 Jesus
stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought
to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the
paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 At this, some of the
teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” 4 Knowing
their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?”
MARK’S gospel adds this detail to this salvation story: “They made an opening in the roof above
Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was
lying on.” (Mark 2:4)
Both writers tell
us that Jesus “saw their faith”. How different this was than when Jesus saved
his disciple amid the storm on the sea, referring to them as “you of little faith”. (Matt 8:26). And what
a contrast from when the Gentiles sent Jesus home after he saved two men from
demonic possession! No wonder Jesus was eager to heal the paralytic. Finally he
had found some people of faith who believed,
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because
he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
The paralyzed man
burdened with infirmity and sin believed his only hope was in the power pouring
forth from Jesus. His friends believed the same. Jesus rewarded their faith
with the impossible—“Your sins are forgiven.”
As these men, we of
Jesus’ church must “break in” through the obstacle of doubt to faithfully
pursue Jesus’ salvation. Passionately, eagerly, we must go before the Lord faithfully
knowing he is our only hope “who forgives
all your sins and heals all your diseases”. (Ps 103:3)
LIFE Link: For it is
by grace you have been saved, through faith (Ephesians 2:8)
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