Luke 5:17-26 It is interesting to notice who is making up the audience on this occasion. Usually the Pharisees and the teachers of the law are here, but this time they are the ones that He is teaching. Such an audience would usually exhibit a great deal of unbelief, and that is probably why it was necessary to include the phrase, "the power of the Lord was present for Him to heal the sick." These men were about to witness what real faith was all about. The men with the sick friend could have taken several different approaches. They could have waited until Jesus was finished or at least in a friendlier surrounding. They could have sent someone in to whisper in Jesus' ear so that He could say the word and heal him from a distance. Or they could have just given up the whole idea. Most often it's the last one that we tend to be guilty of. I'm sure they knew that the Pharisees would present a hostile atmosphere; but they had faith that Jesus would not reject them. Notice that Jesus could have said to them, "Wait just a moment until I finish, then I'll help you." But Jesus always had time for those in need. In fact, I believe that Jesus used this very interruption to illustrate a point that He may have been making; the authority to forgive sins. Jesus pronounced forgiveness, waited a moment for the disgust and unbelief to simmer a little; then said to the paralyzed men, "...get up, take up your mat, and go home." The man stood up, picked up his mat and left praising God. We spend too much time worrying about what people are going to think about us that we miss out on having our needs met. People will reject us, put us off, discourage us; but Jesus is our "needs meeter" and He will never reject us. Sometime our sin stands in the way of our needs being met; but Jesus can handle that too. Don't let anything or anyone stand in your way of getting to Jesus and having your needs met. "Never, never, never give up!"

Faith That Risks Rejection