How will you understand Bert's story on "Belief"?

Dear all,

I'm still reading Love's Hidden Symmetry and I didn't understand a story in it. On p.217, Bert told a story on "Belief". It is:

Belief

A man told how he had overheard two people discussing how Jesus would have reacted if, after he told the sick man, "Rise up, take your bed and go home," the sick man had answered, "But I don't want to."
One of the two then said, "Jesus probably would have been silent a while, then he would have turned to his disciples and said to them, 'He does God a greater honor than I do.'"

How will you understand this story? This story was responded to someone whom Bert commented as "stuck in your self-importance". Please let me know your view on this?

Thanks!

Iris