And... some people brought to him (Jesus) a paralytic, lying on a bed...
-- Matthew 9:2
Three of the Gospel accounts run pretty parallel to each other in style and flow. These - Matthew, Mark and Luke - are known as the Synoptic Gospels. John's gospel is a bit different. Rather than beginning with Jesus' birth from an earthly perspective, it begins with a broader, heavenly view - In the beginning was the Word... - (and frankly, is my favorite).
OK, enough Bible 101. I mention it because the story of a paralytic brought to Jesus by his friends shows up in the three Synoptics - though with varying degree of detail - and it is a powerful one.
We don't know the back-story. Did the man request an audience with Jesus? Did he ask his friends to do the favor? Did he have hope, or was he long past it? Had he been paralyzed in an accident, from a sickness, or from birth? Was he a good man? Was he bitter? Had he given up? We don't know.
We do know this - he had friends. Not shake-your-hand-half-man-hug-you-only kind of friends. He had he-ain't-heavy-he's-my-brother kind of friends. And at least a couple of them had some big faith.
Matthew skips a couple details: Crowds surrounded Jesus as he was teaching. The house was crammed and people spilled out surrounding it, leaning into every doorway and window. They pressed in thick and close like people at baggage claim after a long flight (sorry, a personal pet peeve). And the friends carrying their friend on a stretcher of sorts can't find a way to Jesus. So they make one.
They hike up to the roof and dig a hole through it. Did they think about the cost? Was it a sin to destroy someone else's property? Did one of the group say, "Maybe we should try again tomorrow"? Did the paralytic urge them on, or was he just along for the ride? Again, we don't know.
They are committed to their friend. They are committed to do what it takes. They are committed to get him to Jesus. And they burn the ships; they begin to dig away at roof tiles.
We do know this, Jesus saw THEIR faith - the faith of the friends. There is so much that takes place in that little room with the new skylight in the next moments. Hypocrites are shamed. Crowds are amazed. Disciples look at each other and say, "Yep, that's just like Jesus." A man is healed - carried in and walks (skips) out. Friends high five. And Jesus does more than anyone ever conceived to ask. He healed the mans legs... and he healed the man's soul.
Jesus always did the unexpected. He always did more than what anyone had the guts to ask or think. He still does. I can't help but think of the smile he had - a funny little knowing grin - as the first particles of dirt began to rain down on his head from above. As the roof was torn away and the crowd gasped at the audacity, and I'm sure the home's owner grew red in the face, Jesus smiled. He knew what was happening, and he alone knew what was coming.
All because of the faith of some friends with dirt-caked fingernails.
Two scriptures to finish up:
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow...
-- Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us...
-- Ephesians 3:20
God, I will dig through roofs for my friends. Help me to have strong fingernails.
For now...
D
