True Faith Can Be Seen
Faith is a big deal for us as Christians since we base our entire premise for life on fully believing and trusting in God who we have never seen with our physical eyes.
Hebrews 11:1 says, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.
Biblical Definition Of Faith
I have always considered Hebrews 11:1 to be the biblical definition of faith. Looking at the original Greek language of the term for faith is transliterated as pistis. That term is used 228 times in the New Testament. Pistis means conviction of the truth or belief. And in the New Testament it specifically speaks of that conviction as related to God and our trust in God.
Faith is the essence of who we are, who we will become, and it is a required ingredient for true healing. The biblical definition of faith found in Hebrews 11:1 is very interesting to me because it says there is substance to our faith. Substance is matter, something tangible that we can touch, see, or feel. The Greek definition for substance basically means something that has a foundation.
Not only does faith have substance, i.e. matter that has a foundation, but it also is evidence of the unseen. Evidence is proof, or a thing that is proved or tested.
So basically, while we can’t see God, our faith can be seen. And our faith is seen because we act on what we truly believe to be true.
Jesus Saw Their Faith
Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the synoptic gospels because those 3 gospels are synonymous with one another. These three each record the story of Jesus seeing faith in action.
Matthew 9:2, Mark 2:5, and Luke 5:20 all record the same words, Jesus saw their faith.
What did Jesus see?
Mark and Luke give us a few extra details that Matthew left out. Mark and Luke record that Jesus is in a house cram packed with people listening to him preach. Not only was the house full, Mark 2:2 tells us that the crowd was so big that they were even crowded outside the door. Mark and Luke illustrate the fact that there was no getting to Jesus. There was no room for another person to get to him under normal circumstances. The way to Jesus was blocked. Impassable. But not impossible!
Because someone with the kind of faith seen in this story, will do, and did do whatever it took to get there.
They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Mark 2:2-5
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Think About Their Obstacles
The crowd was first and foremost.
Then think about the fact that they weren’t trying to get one person in to see Jesus but five. Four men carried one paralyzed man. Now think about the fact that they were carrying dead weight. The paralyzed man couldn’t help. He simply laid on the mat that they carried.
Then think about the fact that they had to not only carry him to where Jesus was, but Since they couldn’t get to Jesus, they had to get creative and come up with another way than the normal way, through the door. So they carried the man up to the roof top.
Still facing another obstacle, a roof was between them and Jesus. So, they diligently go to work taking the roof off the house. The four men remove a big enough section that they lower the mat and the man through the roof.
There was such a drive and determination to get to Jesus that it appeared that nothing stood in their way, not a crowd, not the heavy burden they carried, not the normal way to Jesus being blocked, not the permanent physical barrier of the roof.
I just wonder if Jesus wasn’t smiling from ear to ear when they lowered the man down in front of Him. Remember what Hebrews 11:6.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6
Faith Pleases God
Their faith pleased God. Their actions displayed what they believed. They believed that He was the healer and that He rewarded those who diligently sought Him.
Think About These Words – “When Jesus Saw Their Faith”
Now push the pause button and go with me to two of my treasured Bible passages found in Luke 11 and Luke 18.
I have looked to these passages as a source of strength and encouragement for my faith throughout the years. Of course, we look for strength and encouragement when we run low on strength and battle discouragement. So normally when I am focusing on these verses, I’m not always in the best season of life.
Jesus told parables in Luke 11 and Luke 18 that emphasize the value and necessity of determination and shameless persistence in our faith. Determination and shameless persistence, I believe is what Jesus saw, when He saw the faith of these five men. That determination and shameless persistence got them what they wanted.
I want to wrap up with a question posed by Jesus at the end of one of His parables that elevated the determination and shameless persistence. This question stuck with me and cause me to ponder the question for my own life. It also caused me to pray, Lord help me live a life of determined and shamelessly persistent faith that You find when You return!
I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes,
will He really find faith on the earth?”
Luke 18:8
