When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Forgive me, the sinner. God forgives, and I forgive.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“How then, someone will say, are we to escape the fire? And how [are we] to enter into the Kingdom? ‘I was hungry,’ He says, ‘and you gave Me meat.’ Learn hence the way; there is here no need of allegory, but [only] to fulfill what is said. ‘I was hungry, and you gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came unto Me.’ If you do these things, then you will reign together with Him; but if you do not, then you will be condemned. At once then begin to do these works, and abide in the faith; lest, like the foolish virgins, tarrying to buy oil, you be shut out. Do not be confident because you merely possess the lamp [of faith], but constantly keep it burning” (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 15.26).
“What good is it, my brethren, if someone claims to have faith but has no works? Can such a faith save them? … [F]aith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (Jas 2:14, 17-18).
“For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Gal 5:5-6, emphasis mine).
It is most fortunate for me, brethren, that while preparing today’s sermon I was simultaneously preparing a catechesis lesson on James, chapter 2. They are wonderfully complementary. In today’s Gospel, we heard of the paralytic who was let down by his four friends through a hole in the roof so that he could meet Jesus. It is a remarkable story, absurd even. The hole through which the paralytic was let down was not part of the structural design of the home. Who puts a hole in their roof? In biblical Palestine, home roofs were not constructed as they are now. Then, home roofs consisted of large timber beams covered in overlapping cane mats, covered in a mud plaster—a mixture of earth, straw, and lime. The plaster was applied wet, and when it was nearly dry a finishing layer of earth, ash, and chalk was applied and smoothed. A finished roof in 1st century Israel was more similar to a cement patio than to a modern, conventional covering.
All of this helps to further highlight the determination and reckless, audacious faith of the paralytic’s friends. First, they would have had to scale the building—with paralytic in tow. Roofs were accessible from the outside by a ladder. Remember, these four friends were carrying their friend on a stretcher-like bed. So, they had to get the paralytic and his bed up onto the roof—by ladder. Once on the roof, they then had to dig through the hardened plaster and the cane mats; they had to dig out an opening wide enough to lower their friend down. To see this dramatized would really be a spectacle. Jesus is inside the house speaking and is being interrupted by the **thud, thud, thud** of shovels. He is being interrupted by the **scrape, snip, rip, scrape, snip, rip** of the cane coming off. And then, he is interrupted by a paralytic on his bed, being lowered down by ropes, right into the midst of the crowd. Can you imagine the discontentment of the crowd, the disruption, the eye-rolling and scoffing? “Who are these wild men? These lunatics? They are destroying this poor house! They are interrupting the Rabbi’s lesson!” But… what does St. Mark say? How does St. Mark describe our Lord’s reaction to this ridiculous spectacle? “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you’” (Mark 2:5, italics mine)—when Jesus saw their faith.
The text does not say, “When Jesus saw their theatrics.” It does not even say, “When Jesus saw their good works.” It says, encapsulating the extreme actions taken by four friends to see their friend healed by the one some were calling the Christ, the “Anointed One,” the Son of David, the Son of God, [it says], “When Jesus saw their faith.”
“What good is it, my brethren, if someone claims to have faith but has no works? Can such a faith save them? … [F]aith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (Jas 2:14, 17-18).
Today’s Gospel, brethren, is just one of a multitude of biblical examples which—beyond mere “association”—identify faith with works. Between these concepts of faith and works there is no opposition to be found in Scripture! Oh yes, there are many instances of self-righteous works—works done in pride, works done for vainglory, out of self-ambition. But nowhere in Scripture do we find the verse “faith without works [saves]” as a prooftext for the Reformed doctrine of sola fide. Only in St. James’ Epistle do we read “… [F]aith without works… is dead” (Jas 2:26). Indeed, our works will always substantiate a faith of sorts, either a robust Christian spirituality—true belief—or a total lack thereof. In St. Matthew’s Gospel, even in the same chapter (chapter 8), we see just such a juxtaposition: true faith substantiated by faithful action, and an utter lack of faith substantiated by faithless, fearful action.
“When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘My servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Shall I come and heal him?’ The centurion replied, ‘Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. … When Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those following him, ‘Truly, I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith’” (Matt 8:5-8, 10).
[And just 13 vv. later…] “Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’ He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm” (Matt 8:23-26).
And what do we make of the entire chapter of Hebrews 11, the commonly called, “Hall of Faith”? It recounts the history of the Hebrew faithful. Does it recount a series of… “dogmatic professions”? A series of… “faith propositions”? No! It recounts a series of faithful actions.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. … By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did… . By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. … By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. … By faith Abraham, when God tested him, [was willing to offer] Isaac as a sacrifice. … By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God… . He left Egypt, not fearing the King’s anger… . And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, … shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of flames… . They were put to death by stoning; they were sawn asunder; they were killed by the sword” (Heb 11:1-2, 4a, 7a, 8, 17a, 24-25a, 27a, 32-34a, 37).
Brethren, in every instance, in every prophet, every saint, the substance of faith is by no means opposed to work! Rather, it is work! The substance of our faith is the fruit of good works (cf. Matt 7:16, “… by their fruits you will know them”), done in love for Christ and for our neighbor!
During this season of Grent and Holy Lent, a season of reflection, repentance, and confession, it is most necessary to ask ourselves—what is the substance of my faith? Well, what do you believe? “I believe that God exists.” Do you think that is enough, brother, sister? It is not enough to believe that God exists, “for even the demons believe and tremble!” (Jas 2:19) says St. James. Anyone can say anything! Talk is cheap. Every week, it is easy enough to recite the Creed. But do we live the Creed?
“I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.” Good! And do you attend to the divine services?
“And I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Good! And do you serve his people?
“And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father.” Good! And do you give alms? Do you pray? Do you fast? Do you confess? Are you slow to speak, slow to anger (cf. Jas 1:19)? Do you give thanks in all circumstances (cf. 1 Thess 5:18)?
Brethren, God does desire the “orthodoxy of our minds.” He desires for us to remain faithful to the deposit of apostolic faith received and guarded by the Church, as St. Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter” (2 Thess 2:15). But, in conjunction with this right belief, God desires the “orthodoxy of our hearts and hands.” He desires for us to live faithfully.
“Some men came, bringing to [Jesus] a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’” (Mark 2:3-5).
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord, Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!