A friend of mine wrote a book about those he called “the silent witnesses in the gospel.” One chapter was on the four friends who brought the paralyzed man to Jesus. A close reading of the passage contains a surprise: When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” “Their faith,” the faith of the four friends, is what brought about forgiveness, is what produced a healing. We know nothing of the faith of the paralyzed man but the faith of his friends was enough. What a consolation for those of us who have loved ones who are not, by traditional definitions at least, people of faith. Apparently if we love them enough to care about them, to act with compassion toward them, to work for their betterment God will look on the faith that caused us to do such things and bestow grace, forgiveness and healing on those we love. After all, the Lord will not be outdone in generosity.
