“Some men came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.” (Mark 2:3–4)
I love this story. This is one of the first glimpses in the Gospels of Jesus’ miraculous power. First, Jesus forgives the man of his sins. As usual, this makes the scribes angry. They were thinking, “What makes you think you can forgive sins?”
So Jesus says (paraphrased), “If you think that’s hard, watch this. Get up, pick up your mat and walk!” Boom! Mic drop.
But when I read the gospels, I expect Jesus to forgive sins and heal sickness. He does it all the time. So that’s not the shocking part of this story. The most amazing part of this story is the selflessness of the four men who brought their friend to Jesus.
They know their buddy’s only hope is Jesus, so they carry him to the Lord. When they discover it is impossible for them to get to the Lord because of the crowd, they make a way. They wouldn’t take no for an answer. Their friendship was crazy…irrational!
After they dig a hole in the roof, we read that Jesus looked up. What did the Lord see? You and I would have seen four dirty faces looking down. But Jesus looks past the physical. Mark tells us, “When Jesus saw their faith…” (Mark 2:5)
Do you have friends like that? When your faith lags, theirs kicks in? Are you a friend like that? “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)
Let’s talk about what it means to be that type of friend this Sunday in my message “Roofcrashers,” as we continue our series on relationships, “Nobody’s Perfekt.”
Hope to see you there!
