From an early age, I was told that there are two types of friends in this world. One that would make you a better person and the other that would drag you down.
When I was in junior high, I ran away from home. It was about a comment that my mom made on a Sunday afternoon that made me SO UPSET! As you all know by now from all the stories I share, when I’m upset, all reason, logic goes out the window. I don’t even know what my mother said EXACTLY but it was about my best friend. She gave me her reasons why she doesn’t want me to hang out with this person. I don’t know what reasons she gave me but I must have thought they were stupid, so I left the house, thinking I would never live here ever again. I blame it on my raging teenage hormones. So I leave the house and I’m walking for about 10 mins, my anger subsides and I’m thinking to myself, “what am I doing?” but I was scared to go back so I decide to go to my best friend’s house and spend the night. My mom must have thought that he was a bad influence but he was the only person in this universe (or so I thought) that understood me! I don’t have siblings, he was like my brother!
Two types of friends…1. Good friend (who makes you a better person) 2. Bad friend (who drags you down)
The Bible talks about this in the book of Proverbs.
1. Good friend: Proverbs 27:17 “iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”
2. Bad friend: Proverbs 12:26 “The righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray”
There’s an interesting story in Luke 5:17-26 that talks about good friends and bad friends.
Let’s turn to chapter 5 and read VS 17
So we see Jesus here in Capernaum, he came “home” (we assume that it was Peter’s house, since Jesus healed Peter’s mother in law in the previous chapter and stayed in the area) and his house was soon filled with guests. (more information on Mark 2)
There are 4 groups of people present
- Jesus
- His disciples (not all 12, Matthew was chosen soon after this miracle)
- Pharisees and teachers of the law from every village of Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem
- 4 men carrying a paralytic
Ellen White tells us that the paralytic thought that “if Jesus can heal the leper, he can heal me” but then he remembered that his disease was the result of a life of sin.
Unlike the leper, he was sick because of the choices that he made and he had to live with that guilt. He thought that Jesus would reject him and condemn him if he ever approached Him to be healed.
It wasn’t a physical healing that he desired, this man desired a spiritual healing, he needed a TRUE FORGIVENESS. He wanted Jesus to tell him that his past sins are forgiven so that he could be freed from this massive weight of guilt that he’s been carrying.
So he asks his friends to take him to this man that heals lepers…
As they were getting closer and closer, they notice that the house was PACKED.
People were inside, outside, around the windows, to hear this new teacher. So the friends try to carry this man on a stretcher to Jesus. Because it’s so packed there’s no way this huge stretcher would get anywhere. They tried but failed. Just imagine how disappointing it was for them. It was like the subway at rush hour, people packed against the doors, squeezed in everywhere, faces smooshed against the windows, nobody moving in or out.
It was impossible to get a man on a stretcher carried by four friends into the house. They laid him down for just a minute so that they could think. And one of them got the bright idea that they should crawl up on the roof break it open, and lower the paralytic down.
And imagine as they’re breaking the roof, what people inside the house must have felt?
Once he is lowered into the house, the paralytic says and does nothing. As far as we know, he doesn’t even ask to be healed. Not a word passes his lips. Instead, Mark tells us that when Jesus saw their faith, meaning the faith of the friends, he healed the paralytic.
In the story, we see two types of people.
1. The crowd
2. Friends
You are either the crowd that block others from meeting Jesus
OR
You are one of the friends that carry the paralytic to meet Jesus
Luke 5:17-19
VS 17 “and the power of the Lord was present for Him to heal the sick” Jesus was ready to heal someone that day and yet the crowd prevented him from doing so. 4 friends had to do something drastic.
VS 18, 19 Notice how the crowd was preventing this man from receiving a spiritual and physical healing.
This crowd…
1. They were “spiritual” people. They were respected as spiritual leaders in their villages
2. They were in the presence of Jesus, listening to Him
They were spiritual, they were in the presence of Jesus BUT they prevented others from meeting Jesus.
Is it possible for US, church-goers, professed Christians, to be a roadblock, hindrance, a barrier to others that desire spiritual healing?
This was a scary thought for me. Am I a roadblock to others? I’m a spiritual leader, a father, pastor just like the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
Like I said in the beginning, there are two types of friends…you either bring people up or drag them down. Which one are you?
What do they do? What are some of the characteristics of “the crowd”, people that block others from meeting Jesus?
Characteristics of “the crowd”
Luke 5:20-21
VS 21 “thinking to themselves…”
1. Critical people are the “crowd” In 2016, let’s not be a critical, fault-finding person in the church.
The Pharisees and teachers of the Law were from every village of Galilee… Jesus JUST preached the sermon on the mount and now he’s healing the most incurable disease of his time and the only reason why these spiritual leaders were gathered here was to see if Jesus would make mistakes.
I was thinking to myself, how can these people be so arrogant, so oblivious? Didn’t they read and memorize Isaiah 53, the prophecies of the Messiah? Jesus fit the description PERFECTLY and yet they couldn’t stand this man who claims to be the Son of God.
You know what? I’m no better than them. I’m the same critical, fault-finding person that they were. Because of these critical, fault-finding people, Jesus couldn’t heal more people. Remember verse 17, “the power of the Lord was present for Him to heal the sick…”
Jesus wants to heal us every day but especially on the Sabbath. Let’s not be the crowd that prevents others from receiving a spiritual healing on this day.
Crowd says:
“oh that paralytic is here, do you know what he did x years ago?” “can you believe what he posted on Facebook the other day?” “Do you know he does this and that?”
“Can you believe our pastor got in a fight in a soccer match?”
Friends say:
“we are so happy that you are here.” Let’s be happy that they decided to be in the presence of God. Don’t be like the Pharisees and block sinners away, let’s be like the 4 friends that will do ANYTHING to bring others to Christ.
Characteristics of “the 4 friends”
These friends in the story are amazing. They are determined to get the paralytic help no matter what the cost. And it is their faith that becomes the occasion of the healing of the paralytic, not any faith that the paralytic expresses on his own. I think about the role of friends in our lives, the people in the stands who cheer us on, and how their faith in us brings us healing.
Recently, a group of us did a Spartan race. What I liked about the Spartan race was that we ran AS A TEAM! “No man/woman left behind” was our motto, from the start to finish. We stood out because we were wearing purple shirts and rainbow socks.
Everyone helped each other out and we worked as a team and that’s what made the experience so enjoyable. We weren’t running for the fastest time (I think I placed 190th out of 200 people in my age)…but we all finished together with no injuries.
I think church should work in a similar way. We are all on a spiritual race and we have spiritual buff people and we have spiritually out-of-shape people in the church.
I received help from a lot of people throughout the race. Billy pushed me up the hill, I stepped on Danny’s shoulder to climb a tall wall, Johnny split burpees with me so instead of me doing all 30, I did 15 and he did 15. When someone finished an obstacle first, they would come back and help other people, we carried struggling teammates' buckets of gravel, etc.
When someone at our church is struggling, what is your reaction?
1. Are you “the crowd”? Critical and judgy like the Pharisees?
2. Are you one of the 4 friends that carry struggling person to Jesus?
Spiritual journey is NOT easy. In fact, it’s much more difficult than the Spartan race. It takes more endurance and encouragement along the way. You are going to be stronger than me in some obstacle courses and I may be stronger in some areas that you struggle with.
Let’s be the church that encourages, let’s be the church that helps each other so that we can FINISH the race together and meet in heaven, celebrating, and sharing wonderful experiences we shared in this church.
