Jesus brought to the people a miracle working power that had not existed in Israel for over 400 years. In Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies taught about the coming of the Messiah. This had to be the Christ, the Son of God, they marveled. No other could perform the mighty works that follow Him. No other voice could expound the Scriptures other than the One spoken of in so many places in God’s Word. The common people were willing to believe that this is Christ indeed.

However, because His primary energies were not spent in freeing them from the Romans, the religious elite decided this could not be He. This Jesus must be an imposter, and from then on, they worked tirelessly to discredit everything He did.

Because Jesus failed them politically, they envied all of His successes, and tried to convince the people to reject Him. Their efforts were highly effective, sadly. However, there were some who believed in spite of their best efforts. It was the faith of those who chose to believe in Jesus because of what they saw in Him, ignoring the detracting voices of the religious leaders, that became the powerful catalyst for the establishment of the New Testament church.

When one’s faith stood the challenge of controversy or criticism, it became a powerful force of influence to others. It is to that kind of faith that we are dared to aspire; the kind of faith that is visible and unshakable. It is the kind of faith demonstrated by the friends of a man with a physical weakness who could not walk.

A man ‘sick of the palsy’ had friends who learned that Jesus the Healer would be within walking distance. They were so convinced Jesus could help their friend; they carried him in a bed of sorts to where Jesus was. When they arrived, Jesus was thronged by people, making it impossible to get near Him. Instead of being discouraged, the men carried their friend to the roof, opened a hole in the roof, and let the man down to where Jesus was.

Jesus’ response is given in…

Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

Jesus not only forgave the man’s sins, but later completely healed him, with the lame man walking out whole. Notice, the passage clearly states that it was when Jesus saw their faith that He forgave and healed him. Powerful things happen when faith can be seen.

Believing the truths of God’s Word in our hearts is vital to our spiritual walk, however, if we want to see God’s power, our faith must be visible. We must take outward steps of faith, actually taking God at His Word.

Let’s let Jesus and the world around us SEE our faith.