Day 13: The Paralytic and His Determined Friends (Luke 5: 17-26)
Three of the four Gospels record the story of the faith of a paralyzed man and his friends who were quite determined to see their crippled friend healed of his paralysis. The measures they went to were extreme, and the result of their faith brought blessings untold. Their faith was a witness as well to those who were content to live by the Law of Moses.
“What a blessed day this will be,” the Lord mused to Himself, for he knew power would be going forth from Him today for healing. “The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees will also be present to witness the Father working through Me.” Quietly He began to teach. When He noticed some men making a desperate attempt to enter the room, He continued with His lesson, keeping His eye on the situation.
The room was just too crowded. No one budged. Since they could not gain entrance, the men slipped back out the front door. Moments later there was a commotion over the place where Jesus stood. Looking up, Jesus drew everyone’s attention to the ceiling above Him. A hush fell over the room as one tile after another was removed. Amazement filled their eyes when they saw a man on a stretcher coming through the hole! With great strength, the four men lowered their friend carefully into the presence of the Lord. A collective sigh of relief escaped from the onlookers as the stretcher came to rest in the center of the room, right in front of Jesus.
Jesus knew the faith it had taken for these five men to come before Him, and the great compassion displayed toward their friend also revealed their love. That faith and love resulted in the paralytic’s spiritual healing as well as his physical healing. Because they acted on their faith, Jesus was able to clearly establish His authority over forgiveness and healing.
How determined are we to come into the presence of the Lord? How determined are we to see our lost friends spiritually healed by salvation? To what lengths do we go to be able to grow our relationship with God? Are we willing to go outside of the norm in order to show our faith to God and others? Or do we live in our comfort zones that keep us from intimacy and from receiving all that we need to live victoriously?
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