Friends...

Read Mark 2: 1-12

"...And they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men." (verse 3) "When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic,"Son, your sins are forgiven you." (verse 5)

This was the Chapter and verses at my church today for the sermon.  I have heard and read this story many times before.  You may remember the context.  Jesus was in Capernaum for several days and a crowd was gathered in and around the house where he was staying.  Four men brought a paralytic and because of the crowd they uncovered the roof of the house and let down the paralytic. (I wonder how the homeowner felt with his roof being removed...)  Jesus healed the man and told him to arise, take up his mat and walk.  There were some who questioned this as they said "who can forgive sins but God alone."  In the end, the crowds were amazed and glorified God saying "We have never seen anything like this."

Now, I believe the Bible is a "living" book.  That is, there is always something new to learn, or some perspective you did not see before.  That was the case today.  When I read this before, I have looked at it from the perspective of the Paralytic or from Jesus and the miracle he performed.

Today, we saw it from the perspective of the four men.  These four friends (and maybe 5 since they were carrying a paralytic) came upon this scene and had a choice.  They could have turned to their friend and told him that the crowd is too big and that they made an attempt.  You could imagine the paralytic saying "that's OK, you tried."  However, they pressed on, went up on the roof, removed a section and lowered in their friend.

Verse 5 is where it hit me.  "When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."   Not his faith, but theirs.  These four men believed that Jesus had the answer.  That Jesus could heal their friend.  And because they did not give up, their friend was healed.  This act also gave us an example for Jesus to let us know that He had the power to forgive sins.

I think that these men believed they had a friend in Jesus.  That the knew he had an answer for their friend and they took action.  Our sermon today ended with this thought that I need to meditate on.  I hope it make you think about it too: "What kind of friend am I to Jesus?"

Until next time, God Bless.