Jesus Saw Their Faith? How?

Jesus was able to see the faith of many people. He saw it in a Canaanite Woman. He saw it in a Roman centurion. He saw it in the woman that was constantly bleeding.

How did he see their faith? How does he spot faith? We will answer this in just a moment.

INTRO

How did Jesus see their faith? How does he detect faith in anyone? Let’s answer the question.

We are told about a time when he saw faith. You can read about it in Luke 5:17-26. If you are on TimelessTalks.Net, which is the best place to watch, pause this video and hover over, or touch the scripture link below. You can read about the whole event yourself.

On this day there were many people present. The ordinary people were there, but so were the often hyper-critical self-righteous teachers of the law and Pharisees. Everyone was jam packed into a building. Many may have been listening to the now-famous Jesus for the first time. They would not have been willing to leave the room for any reason.

News about Jesus had come to a group of men. These men all had a friend in common. Their friend was paralyzed. We don’t know if it was a total paralysis or maybe just his legs. But they decided to do something about his situation.

Apparently, they had heard of Jesus’ healing powers and decided to get their friend in front of Jesus so he could do something for him.

They pictured getting their friend in front of Jesus. They just knew Jesus would heal him. There were no doubts in their minds that Jesus was capable.

They got him on a portable bed and took him to where Jesus was. And then they met the crowd.

The crowd was not concerned about them or their friend. They were not going to give up their spot in the building for anyone, regardless of the problem.

Now, let’s think about this situation. How many ways can you get a man on a bed into a house? Ok, there is the door. That’s one way. And then there is…. Well… hmm… Well, he won’t fit through a window. He would not fit down the chimney, if they had one. Well, that means just one way in. Right? And no one is moving to let them in.

This should have thoroughly discouraged this group of men. But no! They knew a different way in.

They first figured out how they would get their friend and the bed on the roof. Did they use ropes? Probably. How many of them did it take to get him up on the roof? I am sure more than four. Was it quick and easy, or convenient? Doubtful! But they did it.

They removed some of the tiles in the roof, and lowered their friend down through this new entrance so that the paralyzed was directly in front of Jesus. These men were not concerned about what was falling on the heads of the stubborn people below. They were in getting their friend in front of Jesus for his sake.

Now, what was Jesus seeing? He saw people crowded into a room. He saw the paralyzed man directly in front of him. And he saw these men, through the whole in the roof. But more than seeing people with their individual interests, and some with developing negative thoughts, he saw the faith of these men.

We are answering the question, “How did Jesus see their faith?” He saw their faith because faith caused them to do something. He recognized they believed in him enough to 1) carry their friend to him; 2) to get him on the roof; 3) to remove the tiles in spite of verbal complaints from below; 4) and let him down before Jesus. It was not what they said, but what they did.

People of faith, who believe, are motivated BY their faith toward accomplishments. God gave Noah a blue-print of a huge boat. And he and his family built that boat where it had never rained. How can you know if he believed or not? By what he did.

God told Abram to leave his family, to leave the idolatrous city of Ur in the Chaldees, and go to a land he would give Abram. How can you know if he believed or now? By what he did

How does Jesus see anyone’s faith? By what they do.

But here is a bonus for you. Belief, in the original Greek language of the New Testament, is a two-part word. One part is mental agreement and the other part is action. For a more in-depth look at Belief, go check out the video “What About Belief?”. You will find the link below.

One part of you can agree that Jesus is God’s son, but for your faith to be noticed by Jesus, for it to be complete, there must be an action. For more about those actions, see the Plan of Salvation series. There is also a link for it below.

But be aware! Jesus also notices when there is mental agreement but not action. Listen to what he said in Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. You can also read what John recorded in John 12:42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;

So, will Jesus see your faith? How will he see it? Because you say you have faith? Because you go to church occasionally? Or because you are doing something because of your faith.

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Thanks for watching. We hope to see you again, tomorrow. Until then, Goodbye for now.