The faith of the friends of the Paralytic
Mt 9:1-8 Luke 5:17-26
Having faith in a faithless environment is a real challenge to the Christian. How did the Lord able to heal the paralytic through the faith of his friends. Lets see the odds and obstacles they face and discover the way they overcome.
OBSTACLES ON FAITH
1.THE PEOPLE IN THE PLACE- v1 Jesus got into a boat and crossed back over to the town where he lived. Mat 13:57-58 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. There are lot of places were unbelief is strong, In these places doubt is the strong spirit. It is hard to penetrate with the gospel places like this.
2.THE PRIEST or the pharisees - v3 And behold some of the scribes said within themselves: He blasphemeth. Even before Jesus healed the paralytic, They are already thinking evil about Him. Its hard to create faith or even share the gospel to people like Pharisees.Todays modern Pharisees are people who distort the Word of God, used the Word for their advantage and personal gain ,who seems religious but faithless.
3.THE PARALYTIC- The one who need healing doesnt have the faith to get healed. The hardest to convince is the sick who doesn’t like to get well. The hardest person I counseled are people who doesn’t like to help themselves.
Illustration. Urge by conviction to help,I approach a homeless man one day to help him to find a good start .Prior to this I attended for 3 months a church that help them . Homeless people in the church were taught the word of God and guided to start anew by working to help themselves. With excitement I approach the man although I knew my language limits me. But even before I approach him I sensed already the rejection to help, and that’s what I received. This man is still roaming and looking pitifully but refuses to received help. If he had just received my offer, he should have a better life now.
Some people are resigned to life and sometimes it takes a may to convince them that there is still a bright sun below the horizon.
HELPING THE FAITHLESS
1.Their CARE and CONCERN - They saw the paralytic needed help. It was not said if they were friends , they are unknown except these four men (Mark 2:3) were caring for this poor man. The world is still a place of hope because there are people who are concern and still care. Imagine a world without them. Imagine the hurt ,heartache , the helplessness of this man without them. We thank God to those who extended a helping hand to those who cannot help themselves.
2.Their COMBINED EFFORT. It was told in Mark they were four of them. It might have been easy to carry if they are four that carry, the burden became lighter. Not only that when they saw that there is no way to reach Jesus . They easily carried him on the roof since there were four of them. Unity brings strength, unity brings joy, unity lightens the burden, unity gave power. The paralytic must seem to encouraged he never stopped them when they try to look for another way. He could have stopped them but he commend himself to these four men because he believed they care for him and they will find a way. Are you doing all by yourself, do you seek to fellowship with your brethren? Psalms 133 speaks of the blessings of unity.
3.Their COURAGEOUS ACT. These four were courageous men. They could have been beaten , its not their house. They could had been received a rebuke ,many were already inside. There were many possibilities that might happened but we read no objection, no opposition, and no rejection. Their act was accepted. I must have imagined the attention they get while making a hole. They got all the attention. Everyone waited patiently ,even JESUS.
4.Their COMPLETE GOSPEL. Their help was not just to bring him to Jesus but to deliver him right before Him. (Luke5:20). That is the best thing to do since if not before Him , he will need to help himself to go. Whenever we lead someone to Christ lets lead them infront of the Lord not halfway nor indirectly. If we invite them to church lets disciple them, if we share the salvation to them, lets also teach .
Three Result on the Faith of the Four
While the paralytic is lowered, Jesus was looking at them and not on the paralytic. Mark 2:5,Mat9:2,”When Jesus saw how much faith they hadE Their care, combined effort and courageous were all seen by the Lord, and the healing power that was available that day(Luke 5:17) was directed to their faith. It was them He saw not the paralyzed they saw. The man might be a sinner , a man who cant forgive himself we do not know, but we knew because of Jesus word that he was a sinner. He might had done a wicked thing that result in his paralysis. But the love of these four men brought him healing, forgiveness , freedom.
1.The Paralytic was healed and forgiven .He could now carry his own
mat(burden).
2.The Pharisees were silenced . They were there to stopped Jesus but
the miracle put them more in awkward position.
3.The People were evangelized.
