The Faith of Friends

I love the stories of Jesus found in the Gospels. They show His passion for people and His attention to small details, His values and what the Kingdom of God looks like. But these stories also show the craziness that is humanity.

Obviously, Jesus was known for miraculous healings. Early in His ministry, people came from everywhere to see Jesus perform miracles. The Gospels depict many instances when Jesus was swarmed people fangirling (fanboying?) over Him. Most of these people only wanted front seats to a glorified magic show, but it's not surprising that wherever Jesus traveled people were desperate to be there, too.

The Gospel of Mark tells one of my favorite stories about these acts of desperation (Mark 2:1-12). To set the scene, Jesus has settled down in Capernaum earlier on in His earthly ministry. Since so many people wanted to listen to this supposed Messiah, it’s no surprise that the house was packed while Jesus taught.

We don’t know what is going on outside of the house while Jesus is talking. All we know is that Jesus is inside someone’s home, which held around 50 people, and there was no extra room for anyone else to enter. I assume the usually entourage was there. The disciples were nearby, I’m sure, but it's specifically pointed out that the Pharisees and other Jewish religious leaders were there (Mark 2:6; Luke 5:17). If you’ve spent any time reading the gospels, you know that once these guys make an appearance, someone is about to get told. And it’s not going to be Jesus.

At some point during Jesus’ teaching, four guys come in carrying their paralytic friend. The house was so full that the only way these men were able to get to Jesus was to put in a DIY skylight and lower themselves through the roof. Jesus was so moved by the faith of these men that He told the paralytic his sins are forgiven.

Right on cue, the Pharisees are not having any of this. They never actually voice their opinions, but accusations about Jesus’ credibility and authority start forming. Since the Pharisees believed that God was on the only One who could forgive sins, yet rejected Jesus’ claims of being God’s Son, the only solution was that Jesus was preaching heresy - or He was working with the devil, which they would later accuse Him of. Jesus knows the accusations they are making in their hearts, so He calls them out by telling the man to get up and walk. The paralyzed man does what Jesus says and walks out, completely healed.

We can spend a lot of time looking into the attributes of Jesus shown in this passage. There's a lot about His omniscience and His deity we can dig into. But what jumps out at me the is the sacrificial picture of friendship.

Worth the Risk

I don’t think we understand the risk these men exposed themselves to by aligning themselves with a paralytic. In choosing to associate themselves with this man, the four friends were choosing to come alongside someone who had no hope for a future. Because of his disability, the man would have been unemployed. His survival was at the mercy of those who took pity on him as he begged from his mat.

Not only would his disability force him to be one of society’s outcasts, his reputation would have been trash. In the Judaism culture of Jesus’ day, someone’s suffering was the result of sin, whether that was their own sin or the sin of a family member. We don’t know the paralytic man’s story; he could’ve been born paralyzed or maybe he was involved in an accident. Regardless, the religious people would have seen his disability as a direct result of sin. Despite where he came from, this man would have been seen as someone so sinful that the only justified punishment was paralysis.

Can you imagine the criticism these men would have faced by supporting their friend? Take a look at Facebook, and you’ll have a pretty decent idea of the slurs they had thrown at them. It breaks my heart to see the hatred shown towards those who choose to align themselves with refugees and immigrants. Imagine the cruel words the men would have faced from a religious community who believed suffering was because of sin. And yet, they loved their friend enough to sit with him through the pain and stop at nothing to bring him to Jesus.

Something to Hold

The most moving part of this story is not when the healing takes place; it’s why the healing happens. We’re told Jesus healed the man because of their faith. We’re not told if that includes the man himself, but both Mark and Luke make it clear in their writings that the man’s healing was not a result of his faith alone.

Honestly, the guy probably didn’t have much faith of his own. I'm sure he heard tales of Jesus’ healings, but even if he believed in what Jesus could do, he had no way of getting near the Messiah to see. That is until his friends take matters into their own hands.

I like to imagine these four guys showed up one morning determined that their friend is going to see Jesus. He probably rolled his eyes and tried to argue. There were a lot of excuses he could have made: he couldn't risk the money he’d lose; he had a prime begging location. But his arguments did not convince his friends. They each grabbed a corner of his mat and carried him. He continued to protest, of course, but they wouldn't listen. Since he couldn't move anyway, he let this hostage situation happen.

We have no idea how far these men walked, but we do know that once they found the house where Jesus was staying, it was so packed people were spilling out of the doorways. Instead of throwing in the towel, these guys decide to get creative. They’ve already made it this far - why not go through the roof?

These friends knew they had to get this guy to Jesus, no matter what the cost. He couldn’t get there by himself, so they took the responsibility upon themselves to get him there.

I don’t know about you, but there have been countless times when I’ve identified with the paralyzed man. I know I need to get to Jesus. I’ve heard the stories; I know them very well. I know only He offers healing and comfort for the weary. But there are days when I don’t have the hope to get there, days when I don’t know the words to pray or have the desire to try.

It’s during these times that I cling to the faith of my friends.

The Christian journey was never meant to for us to travel alone.

There’s a reason mountaineers climb mountains in teams. Mountains are just too difficult to climb without a team. The harshness of the elements along with the mental and physical exertion is too much to battle solo.

Not only do mountaineers climb in teams, they literally tie themselves to one another. Whoever is leading has the responsibility to drive a stake into the ground, which serves as an anchor. If one of the following teammates fall, they grab the attached rope to keep themselves from plummeting down the mountain.

We need to be willing to set the stake for one another. Climbing out of our doubts and weaknesses is hard. It’s exhausting and, at times, debilitating. What a comfort it is to know that someone has set a rope for you to grab onto when you slip.

Just like the paralytic man leaned into the faith of his friends, there will be times when you will need to lean into your friends’ faith, too. And they’ll need to lean into yours. While it’s frustrating for us to admit we need help, we cannot survive this life alone.

An African proverb reads, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” We can try to face our demons quickly and quietly, but I guarantee you that won’t work. There’s a reason Alcoholics Anonymous stresses the importance of sponsorship and accountability. There’s a reason God is serious about quality relationships. We can’t stand against temptation and doubt and sin on our own.

Find your tribe. Love them hard. Hold the rope for them. Stop at nothing to bring them to Jesus when they can’t do it on their own.

I mean, maybe don’t bash a hole in someone’s roof. Just a thought.