crowd, so they opened the roof above the room where Jesus was and, through the hole, lowered the man on his mat. When
Jesus saw the faith of these people, he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” Now, some teachers of the law,
who were sitting there, wondered within themselves, “How can he speak like this, insulting God? Who can forgive sins except God?”
At once, Jesus knew in his spirit what they were thinking, and asked, “Why do you wonder? Is it easier to say to this paralyzed man,
‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your mat and walk?’ But now you shall know, that the Son of Man has authority on
earth to forgive sins.” And he said to the paralytic, “Stand up, take up your mat and go home.” The man rose and, in the sight of all
those people, he took up his mat and went out. All of them were astonished and praised God, saying, “Never have we seen anything
like this!”
Reflection:
Did the paralyzed man believe in Jesus? Did he want to be
healed? Did his friends forcefully carry him on the mat to Jesus,
despite his unwillingness? We don’t know the answers. The
gospel is silent on these matters. What we do know is that those
men who carried him had faith, that Jesus saw the faith of those
people and healed the paralytic. Sometimes it is enough that we
hold the faith for the sake of some unwilling and unbelieving
others around us—they could be members of our families,
religious communities, or work places—to bring them to God
and move God. The question is, do we have enough faith to
carry them all the way through the roof to the feet of Jesus or do
we give up too soon and drop them by the mat half-way?
© Copyright Bible Diary 2022