Luke 5:17-20

Luke 5:17-20 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” THE FAITH IT TAKES FOR HEALING IS THE SAME FAITH IT TAKES FOR SALVATION. Jesus reveals this truth by healing and saving the man on the same day. Faith in Jesus gives you not only salvation, which is a miracle, it gives you healing too. Christ is able to do both to the uttermost or completely. The people who were seeking God for healing also received forgiveness of sin. They received God's divine intervention into their lives. The above passage says the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. Otherwise, Jesus was going to heal the sick that day; He was going to fulfill part of himself, THE GREAT HEALER.

But every day, He is our Savior. Every day, He has come to redeem souls. The faith it takes to redeem our souls is the same faith it takes to heal us, a complete and total trust in Jesus Christ that He can perform miracles. The men who brought the paralytic believed Jesus could heal, and that He intended to heal all that were sick, so they were willing to deliver their loved one to Jesus through the roof, in front of the religious leaders of their time. Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. I am sure most of these sophisticated leaders were there to hear a wise man, to see what Jesus had to offer them in terms of spirituality. But the men who were carrying the paralytic were there to see Jesus demonstrate his power to heal.

There is a total difference between these two groups of men. One group was there to investigate Jesus; the other group was there to see God perform miracles. One group observing, the other believing. We want to belong to the believing camp. We want to be in the group of men who believed God performs miracles. Too many of us tarry with the group that says, "Well, maybe. Let's see if He really can do something special. Let's see if He is truly from God. But investigating or observing will never be a substitute for trusting and believing. Mulling over whether or not Jesus is a miracle worker will never be the faith that moves mountains. WE MUST BELIEVE WHO JESUS IS, THAT HE IS THE MOVER OF MOUNTAINS. We must pray in faith believing. We must stand emphatically in the camp that says God can do what He said He can do. If so, we will remove the ceiling and lower the paralytic at Jesus' feet. Then it is up to Jesus. His will is to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. If Jesus is going to heal the sick that day, He will. But if he says, "Your faith will be made perfect in your weakness, then let it be so, but regardless, we must present ourselves to him in faith, for He is the great healer. Most of all, He is the lover of our souls, and we are his dearly beloved.