"When Jesus saw their faith, he said,

 

『Friend, your sins are forgiven.』

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

１ Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22a*

All the chiefs of Israel

Gathered together and went to Samuel in Ramah. They said to him, “You are already old and your sons are not following your ways. Give us a king to rule over us as in all the other nations.” (….)

So Samuel answered those who were asking him for a king, and he told them all that Yahweh said to him, “Look, these will be the demands of your king: he will take your sons and assign them to his chariot and his horses and have them run before his chariot.

Some he will assign as commanders over a thousand men and commanders over fifty. He will take your daughters as well to prepare perfumes, to cook and to bake for him. He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards and your olive orchards and give them to his officials.

He will take a tenth portion of your grain and of your vineyards, and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your menservants and maidservants, the best of your cattle and your asses for his own work.

He will take the tenth of your flocks and you yourselves will become his slaves. When these things happen, you will cry out because of the king whom you have chosen for yourselves. But by then, Yahweh will not answer you.”(…)

 

Ps 89:16-17, 18-19

For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊   

Mark 2:1-12

 After some days Jesus returned to Capernaum. As the news spread that he was at home,   so many peo­ple gathered that there was no longer room even outside the door. While Jesus was preaching the Word to them,   some people brought a pa­ra­lyzed man to him.

 The four men who carried him couldn’t get near Jesus because of the crowd, so they opened the roof above the room where Jesus was and, through the hole, lowered the man on his mat.  When Jesus saw the faith of these people, he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

Now, some teachers of the Law who were sitting there wondered with­­in them­selves,  “How can he speak like this insulting God? Who can forgive sins except God?”

 At once Jesus knew through his spirit what they were thinking and asked, “Why do you wonder?   Is it easier to say to this paralyzed man: ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say: ‘Rise, take up your mat and walk?’ But now you shall know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

And he said to the paralytic,   “Stand up, take up your mat and go home.”   The man rose and, in the sight of all those people, he took up his mat and went out. All of them were astonished and praised God saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

 

 Holding Faith for the Other

Did the paralyzed man believe in Jesus? Did he want to be healed? Did his friends forcefully carry him on the mat to Jesus, despite his unwillingness? We don’t know the answers. The gospel is silent on these mattes.

What we do know is that those men who carried him had faith, that Jesus saw the faith of those people and healed the paralytic. Sometimes it is enough that we hold the faith for the sake of some unwilling and unbelieving others around us – they could be members of our families, religious communities, or work places – to bring them to God and move God.

the question is, do we have enough faith to carry them all the way through the roof to the feet of Jesus or do we give up too soon and drop them by the mat half-way?