The scene must have been somewhat frightening at first and then somewhat comical as it unfolded. Several determined men wanted to bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus. They learned he was at a house on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, so they picked up their friend on the bed on which he was lying and took him to the house. When they arrived, the place was packed. There was no room for four men carrying a paralyzed man on a bed to squeeze through the crowd. But they were not deterred. They took the steps up to the roof, began removing the tiles, and lowered their friend right in front of Jesus.
The whole scene points to the seemingly hopeless situation of the man. Luke depicts the paralyzed man as a dead man. His body is lifeless, laying on a bed which might as well been a bier. His friends are digging through the earth—clay tiles—in order to lower this man down. There is a symbolic burial occurring. But they are lowering this man into the grave where Jesus is. As Luke makes clear at the end of his Gospel, Jesus turns the grave into a place of life; a place through which we are healed in resurrection.
The scene is even more intriguing as we hear why Jesus healed the paralytic. “When [Jesus] saw their faith, he said to [the paralytic], ‘Man, your sins are forgiven you.'” Surely Luke is mistaken, right? Maybe there is a scribal error. Shouldn’t this be, “When he saw his faith?…” No. Jesus saw their faith and healed him.
This faith may have been the faith of all of the men, including the paralytic. But it seems more likely that the faith is the faith of the friends who brought the man to Jesus. It was through the faith of others that this man was forgiven of his sins and healed; indeed, raised from the dead!
While personal faith is a gift of God given to each of us, that faith is not granted in isolation from others. Faith is conceived and nurtured in community. God is the ultimate Giver, but he gives his gift of faith through others. Like Timothy, sometimes our faith is first in our grandmother and mother and now resides in us (2Tm 1.5). Sincere faith is given through faithful parents. Maybe it is a friend who proclaims the gospel in word and deed. Maybe it is someone who writes something that you read. No matter the particular method God uses to deliver the faith, genuine faith is gifted through others.
As the paralytic should have been and probably was thankful, not only to Jesus but to his friends, so we should give thanks to God for those people in our lives God has used to bring us to the faith. If you have lived any time in the Christian faith at all, you have had numerous people involved in the nurturing of your faith. Give God thanks for his gifts to you.
Having received this gift, we need to be like the faith-filled friends and bring others to Jesus. Although that may mean a direct confrontation with the gospel, that is not the only way we bring friends, family members, and neighbors to Jesus. We can carry our friends before the face of Jesus in prayer, being as diligent and determined as these men were. Don’t stop. Who knows if Jesus will see your faith and raise someone else from the dead.
