Anyone can say they can do something spectacular. But can they deliver? Jesus can.
This is Scripture for Students. I’m Steve Whitacre, president of Trinity College and a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. I want to help students build a daily habit for life-long Bible reading. Today is January 30, 2025 and this episode of Scripture for Students is called Seeing is Believing. Grab your Bible and let’s get started.
Our readings for today are Genesis 31, Mark 2, and Esther 7.
Please open your Bibles to Mark 2.
I had a friend in middle school named Gretchen who told me she could put her fist inside her mouth. I know that’s a kind of weird thing to tell your friends, but sometimes you end up with friends like that in middle school. Her hands were not very big, but it still seemed a little crazy to me, so I said to her what any skeptic would say in a moment like that: “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Anyone can make a crazy claim like that, but sometimes you have to see it to believe it. That’s why we have that phrase: “seeing is believing.”
Well, I did see it. Gretchen put her whole fist in her mouth. It was as weird as it sounds. But seeing was believing. In today’s Scripture for Students, we’re going to see a situation where “seeing is believing.” At least, it should have been.
Please follow along with me as I read Mark 2:1–12:
1 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.
2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them.
3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.
5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,
7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts?
9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?
10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—
11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”
12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
May the Lord bless the reading and the hearing and the keeping of his Word.
There’s a lot of great stuff in this story. First, you gotta love this story for the persistence of these guys. There are four of them, and their friend is paralyzed. They hear about this miracle worker, Jesus, so they take their friend to see him. They carried him. It doesn’t say how far. It could have been a long way. But when they got to the place where Jesus was, it turned out that lots of other people had the same idea and beat them to it. They can’t even get in the house. But they are good friends, so they climb up on the roof, dig a hole in the roof, and let down their friend right in front of Jesus.
Jesus immediately recognizes the faith that is involved here. He sees that if they would go to this much trouble to bring their friend to be healed, they must really believe that Jesus can heal their friend.
But here is the catch: Jesus doesn’t heal him. He forgives his sins. Maybe he planned to heal the guy all along, but he starts by making the most of the moment. He probably knew what would happen next.
The Pharisees are incredulous. They have a moment of real profound insight when they ask in their hearts, “Who can forgive sins except God alone?” This should have been the moment when they got on their knees and worshiped Jesus as the fully human fully divine savior of the world. But instead, they were skeptical and suspicious.
So Jesus answers them. You oughta be nervous when Jesus starts replying to things you have only thought in your head. Jesus basically says, “Ok, if seeing is believing, then let me show you something.” And in verses 9–11, he says, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—‘I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.’”
So much drama! The man stood up, rolled up his mat, and went home, and they were all amazed. I would have been, too!
So, you follow the point here, right? Jesus says, look if you don’t believe that I can forgive sins, I’ll do something way harder. Anyone can say your sins are forgiven, but how will you know until you get to heaven? So here is a much harder thing: I’ll give you something you can see so that you will believe something you cannot see. Seeing is believing, right?
Well, apparently not in this case. The story moves on quickly without ever saying whether the scribes believed in Jesus. But I am sure that if there had been revival among the scribes, we would read about it here. And as we keep following the story, we learn that the scribes are as much a part of crucifying Jesus as anyone else. So for them, no, seeing was not believing.
I am focusing on this story so that we can ask: are there parts of the gospel story that you find hard to believe? Is it hard for you to believe that your sins are forgiven? Or that God is real and near and cares about you? Or that the Bible is true and is the authority for all of your life? We have stories like this, where great things happen, so that we can believe that even greater things are true: that God loves us and gave his Son for us, that Jesus lived and never sinned, that he died and didn’t stay dead, that he rose from the dead and then rose up to heaven, and that he will one day return and make all things right again. And that in the meantime, he wants us to believe in him, live for him, and trust that these things are all true.
If you are a Christian, seeing is believing. Even though we weren’t there to see this, we believe. Do you remember what Jesus told Thomas in John 20:29, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Your seeing is believing, your believing will be blessed.
That’s all for today. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with a friend and follow us on Apple Podcasts.
This content is sponsored by Trinity College of Louisville. We shape young men and young women for Christ and for the church. Learn more at TrinityCollegeLou.com. Until next time, keep growing!