Faith in Things Great and Small

The first one is the healing of the paralysed man in Mark 2:1-12. It’s the story of the man carried an unrecorded distance by his four friends to where Jesus was preaching, in the hope that Jesus could help him. When they reached the house, however, they couldn’t get in because of the crowd. Not to be defeated, they lug their friend, on his mat, up the outside stairs of the house onto the roof, and then with their bare hands, rip away the roofing material until they have a hole big enough to lower him down to floor level. Jesus sees the faith of the friends and heals the paralysed man.

In this story, I can see links with the parable of the mustard seed—the tiny seed that grows into a large tree. I’ve never grown mustard, so I’m happy to take Jesus’ word that this happens and I can relate the description of tiny-to-massive to the faith of the four friends. They set out from their homes, carrying their sick friend. They see the crowd but that only makes them more determined to get him to Jesus, and they use some pretty imaginative problem-solving to achieve that goal. No doubt this was followed by some discussion with the home-owner about roof repairs! The more difficult their mission becomes, the more their faith and determination grow.

Sometimes we forget the ‘mustard seeds’ in life. We see the great trees doing great works for God. We can forget that these grew from tiny seeds and that there are still many more ‘mustard seeds’, growing quietly away in the background, doing what they can to help others. We can be encouraged by how Jesus blessed the ‘mustard seeds’ who carried their friend to Him for healing and give thanks that even the smallest and most insignificant of us can serve our God.