In the gospel of Luke 5:17-20, we read: 17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” When we read these verses, we learn or are encouraged that other people's faith can and will brings miracles into our lives. The faith of the friends of this paralytic man has always impressed me. In those times, the roofs were made of branches and straw with a good thickness of mud through the rafters (equivalent to 2 x 4’s) to hold all these materials together. Those rafters were supported by rows of pillars along and in the middle of the room. Jesus had become very popular. Everywhere He went crowds followed Him. The power of God was always present, and every day many miracles were happening. Therefore, it was absolutely normal to see a crowd gathered inside and at the door of this house. The paralytic's friends wanted Jesus to heal their friend, but not only was there no room in the house, but also there was no room outside the house. But these men were determined. In desperation, they carried the paralyzed man to the roof. They began removing branches, straw, and mud to make an opening large enough to lower their friend to the feet of Jesus. We can only imagine how that scenario must have surprised the crowd gathered inside the house. Much of this debris must have fallen on the people inside. But nowhere in these verses do we read negatives comments from the crowd. Nor does it mention that the pharisees and doctors of the law, sitting inside listening to Jesus teach, were unhappy that this situation had disturbed their teaching time or had disturbed their schedule. For Jesus, certainly, this situation did not surprise Him. What He saw was the determined faith of the friends of the paralytic man. In verse 20 Jesus seeing their faith, He said: “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” Which meant your faith has saved you. In verse 24 Jesus says:“But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. So, He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” With these words Jesus confirmed that He was the son of God and that He had the power of the Holy Spirit to heal this paralytic. At times, desperation makes us do things that under normal circumstances we would not do. In this situation, the paralytic's friends found cables and tied their friend to his bed. Then, they mounted the bed on the roof. I’ve always wondered how the paralytic felt during this time. I believe this man was so desperate to receive a miracle, that he agreed with the actions his friends were taking on his behalf. Nevertheless, he must have wondered if once lowered into this house and at the feet of Jesus if he would be accepted or if the crowd would throw him out. He had certainly completely altered the plans the people the house already inside had for that day. But faith took priority. Faith removed despair, doubt and the fear of the crowd. Other people's faith brought a miracle into the life of this paralytic man. For each of us, faith must always take priority in our lives. If faith takes priority, despair, fear and doubt will disappear and miracles small and big will be our reward. Today, I shared these thoughts with you to encourage you to never give up, never despair. Never think that God will not do for you what He did for this paralytic. Because of Jesus, faith overcomes despair, and the faith of other people does brings miracles in our life.
Take care,
Denise
