When we are weak, we may not be able to get the help we need. That’s why we need the type of relationships that carry us when we can’t go any further.
When four friends heard that Jesus was in town, they couldn’t resist attempting to help their paralyzed friend one more time.
Sure, they had tried everything. They had watched hope come and go for their immobile friend so many times. But maybe, if what they had heard about Jesus was true, something might be different this time. Perhaps he would be carried in lame but walk out healed.
Maintaining a friendship with a paralyzed person brings challenges at any time, but during the period of Jesus’ life, it brought extreme difficulties. A relationship with a paralyzed person could only exist if the mobile, active, walking parties prioritized it. And that’s precisely what they did.
They guaranteed to visit him.
They didn’t forget about him.
They went out of their way to continue to check on him.
And one day, they decided to take him on a journey with the potential to change everything.
19Â Since they could not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the roof tiles into the middle of the crowd before Jesus.
20 Seeing their faith he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
Luke 5:19-20
It was so packed that they couldn’t find a way past the door’s threshold when they got to the house. There wasn’t a seat in the back row or even the front row! While many people would have given up, these friends had gotten too close to turn back now. Desperation led to ingenuity with a trace of craziness, and they decided to abandon caution to the wind and do what was necessary to get their friend to Jesus.
- How desperate are you to get your friend to Jesus?
- How desperate are your friends to do the same?
When reading this story, I am reminded that I need these types of friends, and I need to be this type of friend. I need friendships that ensure someone will help the other when one of us can’t get up.
If the distance is too long for me to continue, I need someone willing to go above and beyond. If there’s a closed door, I need someone willing to cut out a section of the roof.
We need roof-cutting friendships. We need those people who will see us in our need and make sure to get us to the only One who can truly help — Jesus.
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.
