Matthew 8, Mark 2–3 and Luke 7 read like a highlight reel of Jesus’s power: He touches a man with leprosy, someone most people kept away from, heals a Roman centurion’s servant from a distance with a word, heals Peter’s mother-in-law, restores a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath, and stops a funeral in Nain to raise a widow’s only son. The manual invites us to ask of each one: what does this show me about Jesus, and what does it show me about faith in Him? One thread to point out to teens: the centurion was a Roman officer, an outsider, and Jesus said He hadn’t found faith that great anywhere in Israel (Matthew 8:10). Faith isn’t about what group you belong to.
The best-known passage in today’s search is Mark 2:1–12. The house in Capernaum was packed past the doorway, so four men carried their paralyzed friend up onto the flat roof, dug through it (Luke 5:19 says they went through the tiling), and lowered him down right in front of Jesus. Mark says Jesus saw “their faith,” so the friends’ faith mattered too. Then He surprised everyone: before healing the man’s body, He forgave his sins. When the scribes silently objected that only God can forgive sins, He healed the man so they would know He has that power. The manual’s introduction invites us to read each physical healing as a reminder of the spiritual healing He offers us too. For youth, the four friends are a picture of ministering: noticing someone who can’t get there on their own, and refusing to give up.
Mark 2:15–17 and Luke 7:36–50 show how Jesus treats people who have sinned. Critics complained He ate with sinners, and He answered that doctors are for the sick. At Simon the Pharisee’s dinner, a woman known as a sinner washed Jesus’s feet with her tears while Simon silently judged her, and Jesus told a short story about two debtors to show that the one forgiven most loves most. He forgave her and said, “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.” The manual asks a searching question: how do people who are weighed down feel when they’re around the Savior, and how do they feel when they’re around us? Elder Ulisses Soares’s talk “The Savior’s Abiding Compassion” (October 2021) is good background. Keep the focus on the Savior’s mercy; don’t speculate about what the woman’s sins were.
Mark 4:35–41 is the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was asleep on a pillow while the boat filled with water, and the terrified disciples woke Him. The manual points out four questions in these verses (verses 38, 40 and 41). Teens know storms: anxiety, family stress, friend drama, grades, feeling alone. He doesn’t always stop the storm on our schedule, but He is never asleep to what we’re going through, and He can bring peace inside us. The hymn “Master, the Tempest Is Raging” is based on this account.
