Jesus is God and fully human. Today’s Gospel reminds me of that so strongly. Becoming fully human means he laughed, he cried, he worried, he rejoiced. Because he was fully human, he died for our sins. It can never have been easy to be God and man; as human, he must have been annoyed or frustrated. Yet he mostly was patient and kind. But that didn’t mean he avoided asking his followers and those who doubted him tough questions.

His followers had the faith and the belief that this man who called himself the Son of God was just that. They couldn’t really understand, but they had faith in Jesus. When the followers brought the paralytic man to Jesus, the reading says he “saw their faith” and forgave the sins of the man. Jesus told him to “Rise, pick up your stretcher and go home.” I love the simplicity of that.

Being God and human, he must have always had an idea of what the scribes were thinking.  In this case, he calls them out for what they were muttering to themselves and reminds them of his authority. I need to be reminded of that authority of the Son of God. Jesus can forgive my sins and allow me to walk in the light. In the first part of the Gospel, Jesus tells the paralyzed man: “Courage.” It takes courage to believe as Jesus’s followers did. It takes courage to take that leap of faith. Let the miracle in my life be the faith of his followers. I ask for the grace to believe and ask for the forgiveness of sins. I ask for the grace to glorify God and to show gratitude for God’s presence in my life. I pray for the courage to continue to take the leap of faith and live out that faith every day.