Jump Start # 1372

Luke 5:20 “And seeing their faith, He said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven you.’”

  I love this story. It shows the value of friendship. It illustrates courage and faith. It is a wonderful place to show determination and the spirit that simply will not give up.

Jesus is teaching in a house. This was not unusual. Remember the story of Mary and Martha? Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to Him teach, as Martha was busy in the kitchen cooking. Pharisees and lawyers, not attorneys, but experts in the Law of Moses, filled the house. They came, Luke tells us, from every village and as far as Jerusalem. Word must have spread rapidly that Jesus was in the house teaching.

Four faithful companions carried a friend on a stretcher. He was crippled. We are not told how long, nor how he was crippled. So often we are interested in those things, while overlooking the obvious. He could not do what others were doing. His life was limited to laying on the cot and looking at the ceiling. He was dependent upon others. This was in a time before wheelchairs, rehab, therapy, and disability pay. His life was bothering others to take care of him. He would have to beg for the pity of someone who might drop a few coins in a cup. Misery, discouraged and hopeless, this man was a prisoner in his own body. But on this day, Jesus has come to the village. His friends must have heard about Jesus. The compassionate one who cleansed lepers, cast out demons, made the blind to see. No one has done what Jesus has. On top of that, He didn’t charge.

Hope has come to the village. These four friends carry their crippled friend to where Jesus is. Surely, Jesus will see this man and have mercy on him. Surely, Jesus will heal him. I expect these four were walking lively this day. They carry their friend through the streets and to the house. What they find is a crowd, a huge crowd. It’s standing room only. Homes in those villages were small. It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that some were standing outside, hovering around the door, trying to catch every word that Jesus spoke. Packed solid, these four friends have come to an obstacle. No one is willing to move to let them in. No one wants to give up their position. Even if they could get past the first line of people, there were so many more. Hope now begins to vanish. Many, including myself, would tell our crippled friend, ‘We tried. It’s just too crowded. Maybe, we can reach Jesus tomorrow.’ Tomorrow, the song of second place. Tomorrow, the consolation prize for those who didn’t get what they wanted. These four friends were not coming back tomorrow.

These friends do not bring up tomorrow. They are not finished. To the roof they go, carrying their crippled friend. There they begin tearing apart the tiles and the thatch that make up the roof. As they are busy working on the upside, on the downside, stuff starts falling on the crowd. Faces look upward, wandering what was going on. Soon a hole appears. The hole gets larger. Four faces peer downward. They see Jesus. The hole becomes huge. The cot is lowered by these four friends. I expect everyone now has their attention on what is going on. Jesus probably stopped teaching. The crippled man is lowered down, down and down, right before Jesus.

Jesus speaks first. They do not ask Jesus for a miracle. They don’t apologize for interrupting Him. Jesus speaks. This is our verse today. Seeing their faith, He said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’ Remarkable.

Four thoughts:

First, Jesus calls the crippled man “Friend.” I expect that was the first time they laid eyes upon one another. Friend, a term of love and endearment. Jesus wasn’t bothered by what they did. Jesus didn’t say, let me finish my lesson first. Jesus didn’t say, ‘Make an appointment.’ He said, ‘Friend.’  In the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, the worker who had labored all day, complained at payday. He thought he ought to get more than the others. The Master referred to the worker as ‘Friend.’ Most masters would not consider common laborers to be their friend. They were instruments, tools, much like a shovel. Not with Jesus. It’s friend. I somehow expect when we get to Heaven, the Lord will call us by name, smile and tell us, “Friend, I’ve been waiting for you.” Friend.

Second, the text tells us that Jesus saw their faith. What a helpful lesson that is for us. Faith isn’t a thought, but a conviction that moves us. They believed that Jesus could heal and they were not stopping at anything. Faith is demonstrated. Hebrews 11, the hall of fame chapter, states that by faith Noah built, Abraham journey, Joshua marched. Faith is a doing thing. Faith is action. If one believes, it will show. He will behave as God wants him to. He will worship with God’s people. He will shine the light as God expects. Jesus saw their faith. He saw them tearing up a roof and lowering a friend. That was faith. What does Jesus see when He looks at you?

Third, Jesus told the crippled man, “your sins are forgiven.” Some have thought, common to the day, such as in John 9 and the blind man, or Job’s friends, that physical ailments and diseases were connected to sin. Remove the sin and the body gets better. The book of Job teaches otherwise. Jesus said, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Jesus knew that the crippled man had sins. His handicap didn’t override his sins. That doesn’t happen. A hard life doesn’t change our relationship with the Lord. Living miserably doesn’t excuse nor remove sins. Only Jesus can remove sins. This also tells us that Jesus saw what the crowd didn’t. They saw a crippled man. Jesus saw a crippled soul. Had Jesus made his legs well and that was all that He did, the man would have walked out of that house still crippled on the inside. A person can live with crippled legs. A crippled heart will keep us from Heaven. Jesus shows us what is most important. So often we pray in our congregations about folks who are sick and in the hospital. We ought to do that and we need to do that. However, have you noticed how few prayers are offered for spiritual sickness. It can appear that we are more interested in living longer here than we are with having a right heart with the Lord. Jesus forgave his sins.

Fourth, the text doesn’t tell us what happened after the man left the house, carrying his cot, working his way through that massive crowd. I expect as he got outside, there were four friends who had just come down from the roof. I would think that together they embraced, smiled and praised the Lord. Prayers were ascending as their hearts were rejoicing. Those that were looking on might have thought, I too have a friend that is crippled. I should have brought him. I didn’t think about that. I didn’t think Jesus could or would.

The heroes of this story? First and always, Jesus. But without those four friends, Jesus and the crippled would have never intersected. That’s the remarkable part. Carried by four friends. Do you have someone that you would carry? Do you have someone that you would allow to carry you? Their love for each other is a tribute to fellowship.

Four friends…four friends and Jesus. There are those that we need to take to Jesus. They may not be crippled in body, but they may be crippled in attitudes or in their soul. What they need is Jesus. Maybe they are waiting for someone to carry them there. That could be you.

Roger