Mark 2:3-5 Then some people came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’
This is an old favorite Bible story from Sunday School days. I remember building a diorama of the scene with a cut-out in the roof. I love this story of one so desperate for healing that home demolition becomes involved. And Jesus heals so simply and so powerfully.
But it's only recently I've noticed something that has begun to shake my world. Notice what it says after the man's friends lowered his mat down: Jesus saw THEIR faith... not Jesus saw HIS faith. Jesus noticed the faith of the group. Jesus often provided healing with the words "your faith had made you well." Here the faith of the entire group comes into the question. What does this mean? I'm still living through it, but I think it means that WE matters more than ME. The group matters. The community matters. How the community responds to the needs of the most vulnerable in their midst matters. We wrap one another in care and love, and Jesus is there. Thank you for being my community.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
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