JESUS HEALS A PARALYTIC

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One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?
Well, which is easier to say? Naturally, the easiest thing to say is “Your sins are forgiven”, since you can’t see it when a person’s sins are forgiven. Jesus then does the more difficult of the two options, so that they might believe that He can forgive sins.

But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."

There are 3 observations that strike me here:
1. The devotion of the men who carried their friend to Jesus. You can actually carry those who are interested in Jesus, but are damaged in some way.
2. Sometimes you may need to call others to carry you to Jesus. This was an amazing help to the paralytic man.
3. Jesus was moved by the faith of the men who brought the paralytic man to Him. It was their faith that moved Jesus to forgive the paralytic’s sins.

We desperately need more men who are willing to rip out roofs in order to introduce people to Jesus. We need people who will actually believe for others. Let me ask you, would you be willing to carry your friends to Jesus? Are you doing that right now? Also, are you willing for others to carry you to Jesus? We need a greater sense of relationship that goes both ways. We need more roof-rippers and stretcher riders! Jesus will do the rest.