I am now in Mark 2, where it says, “Then some people came, bringing to [Jesus] a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down that mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” (2: 3-5)
For years when I read this scripture I always thought it was remarkable that Jesus healed the man’s sins and that he ended up healing his paralysis. Jesus the forgiver. Jesus the healer.
It wasn’t until looking at this story for many years that a phrase just jumped off the page for me: “… when Jesus saw their faith,” that is, the faith of the four friends who brought the man, he then spoke and acted.
This phrase caused me to wonder how our faith may have caused, or not, Jesus to act in someone else’s life. I find this just remarkable, and just very daunting at that same time.
This paralyzed man had four incredible friends. They wanted to bring their friend to Jesus for healing. When they discovered that they couldn’t get near enough to Jesus, they dismantled the roof of the building where Jesus was speaking. That is real love for their friend. That is real faith in Jesus.
Now, how about us? Are we willing to bring any of our infirm friends (and who among us is not in some way?) to Jesus? I don’t think we need to worry about taking off the roof of Palmer (and I am not suggesting that this is the only place we can bring someone to Jesus, but it is, without a doubt, one very good place to do so), but are we willing to invite one of our friends, drive with them, open the front door for them, sit with them, and help them through our liturgy?
Just imagine where that poor paralyzed man would have been without his four friends, and their faith. Just imagine what a difference we could make to our friends if we acted and believed like they did.
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