When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you"

 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

- Matthew 9:1-8

Yesterday, we read that after Jesus and the disciples had crossed a stormy Sea of Galilee, and He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.  And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?  Have You come here to torment us before the time?"  Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.  So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."  And He said to them, "Go."  So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine.  And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.  Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.  And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus.  And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.

 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.   Jesus' own city is Capernaum, His ministry "headquarters" and home to several of His disciples.  Peter's family has a house there (Matthew 8:14-15, Mark 1:29-31, Luke 4:38-39).

Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.  This may be a parallel to the story of the paralytic who was lowered through the roof of the house (Mark 2:4-12, Luke 5:19-26).  My study bible says that this story shows that faith is an indispensable condition for salvation.  Faith is also collective as well as personal -- the faith of this paralytic's friends helped in his healing.  It draws us back to ancient Israel, drawn and shaped as community to be a people of God.  My study bible tells us there are three signs shown here of Jesus' divinity:  First, He knows the secrets of hearts (see 1 Samuel 16:7, 2 Chronicles 6:30).  Second, He forgives sins, which is a power belonging to God alone, as the scribes know.  Finally, He heals by the power of His word, as we have already seen in several readings in Matthew.

We really need to ask ourselves, "What is faith?"  Is it just an expressed belief?  I think faith is more than just belief or assent to something.  It means that our actions bear out this faith.  The heart of who we are is made in faith, created and constructed into the shape of something, and reflective of that faith.   That means we act accordingly.  In the Greek, the word for faith is reflective of the word "trust."  It means we trust in something (and in this case, Someone), or we trust that something is so.  Faith is indispensable to Jesus' healing miracles.  (In the story of the healing of the demoniac(s) in yesterday's reading, the Gospels of Mark and Luke tell us he fell at Jesus' feet, in a position of worship.)   Here, faith is of a community, in the body of the friends of the man who was brought to Jesus.  It tells us that faith can be shared.  The paralytic cannot come on his own, but the faith of his friends who bring him is evident here as Jesus remarks upon it.  We can pray for others, we can share faith between us that way.  Ultimately, faith is also about relationship.  Christ comes to the world incarnate in human form.  We worship God as a Person, or Three Persons -- Father, Son, and Spirit.  The faith we know isn't just in principles or morals or even values, it begins with Persons.  Why do we follow Jesus' word?  Why do we trust in it?  Because it is the word of the Person in whom we trust.   It is the connection with the divine Person in which we have our faith, it is Jesus who gives us the word, the Son who is the Word.  We worship, and have faith in, the Person who is truth ("I am the way, the truth, and the life" - John 14:6).  It is within this relationship that we start to really understand the meanings and ramifications of faith.  And we have to look at these stories and ask ourselves why faith creates such a strong bond that there are no miracles or healings without it.  We have to think about why there are places where Jesus can do none of His great works, because of the lack of faith in that place, one of which was His hometown of Nazareth (Matthew 13:58, Mark 6:5-6).  And He condemns places where He finds a lack of faith.  So we begin by understanding faith as relationship, and from there we see how Jesus responds to faith and what faith means exactly.  Faith is something we live, and it is something that forms and shapes our lives, both within the heart and the acts that come from the heart.   This is an active kind of reality, that necessitates prayer as dialogue, an active relationship to God.  It is an internal seeking that always actively desires discernment and direction, in which God's word becomes a "lamp unto my feet" as it says in the Psalms.   Faith goes even deeper within ourselves, creating persona in us, giving us an image of our own capability and even identity, revealing more as we travel deeper into relationship.  It is like a marriage, in which what we become is also reflective of this deep relationship of trust.  Within such faith God operates and lives.  As we're told in today's story, this depth of relationship comes from the One who already knows our hearts; in faith, we participate in that depth of relationship with God.  We come to know Jesus' word that "the kingdom of God is within you" and "in the midst of you"  (the Greek implies both).   This quality of relationship teaches us that faith isn't about a philosophy or a set of values or rules, or merely an intellectual construct.  It's not an abstract.  It's an active reality that shapes who we are and what we do, what we choose.   And, just as the people in today's reading marvel and glorify God, who had given such power to men, it means that we're not just a product of the material life around ourselves.   It isn't something predictable on our terms, like some sort of political platform.  Faith is something we live; it builds, shapes, transforms who we are.  Are we ready for that challenge?