Faith Has Legs
“When [Jesus] had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, ‘Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?’ So they were offended at Him.
“But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.’ Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:54-58 NKJV emphasis mine).
Ideas and reality are connected. The first flows into the second. It’s absurd to say you’re a woman trapped in a man’s body. It’s also absurd to say something is good in theory, but it doesn’t work in reality. If an idea doesn’t match reality, it’s a bad idea.
When you read the end of the passage above, what do you think their unbelief looked like? Were people asking Jesus to miraculously heal them, but Jesus was helpless because of their unbelief? Is Jesus limited?
No, it was their unbelief that prevented them from even asking the question in the first place.
“Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.
“When He saw their faith, He said to him, ‘Man, your sins are forgiven you…I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’
“Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, ‘We have seen strange things today!’” (Luke 5:18-26 NJKV emphasis mine).
Jesus saw their faith, but what did He actually see? Did He see something hidden deep down in their hearts? No, the faith of the paralytic’s friends was evident. It could be seen in their actions. Faith has legs.
What do you think?
Joseph