Echoes #10

Echoes of Faith

The house was full. The doorway was blocked. Four friends carried a man who could not move and refused to stop when others might have turned away. They climbed, they dug, they lowered and their determination revealed faith in motion.

When Jesus looked up through the opening in the roof, He saw faith. Not just the faith of the man being carried, but the faith of the ones carrying him. Then Jesus said the words that changed everything: “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

In that moment, Jesus revealed His true mission. He hadn’t come to offer comfort or temporary fixes, He came to address the root of all brokenness: sin. The crowd expected healing of the body; Jesus began with healing of the heart. Forgiveness was the greater miracle because it required divine authority.

But the story didn’t stop there. To prove that He had authority on earth to forgive sins, Jesus gave a visible sign of invisible grace. He turned to the man and said, “Get up, take your mat, and go home.” And the man stood. He picked up his mat and he walked out through the astonished crowd.

Jesus still speaks those same words today. To every heart weighed down by sin, He says, “You are forgiven.” And to every soul set free, He commands, “Rise, and walk.”

Faith climbs when doors close and walks when grace speaks. These are echoes of faith.