Faith is central to both readings: the author of Hebrews points out that it is possible to listen to God's word and not give the response of faith. It is the faith of the people who go to the trouble of stripping the tiles off the roof above Jesus that leads to the forgiveness and healing of the paralytic. The faith in question is not so much an assent to some truth as an active trust in God's love. In the context of the first reading it means trusting His Word enough to live by it and follow it, and this in the face of discouragement and opposition.

In the Gospel it means trusting in the power of Jesus to heal. Some have suggested that the physical healing could only take place after the man's sins had been forgiven; in which case faith in the power to heal included everything necessary for that healing, that is, the forgiveness of sins. The physical paralysis of the man would seem to have been symbolic of a deeper spiritual paralysis that had first to be unbound. Jesus is the great liberator who sets us free from all our bonds; but He Himself is bound if we have no faith.