In the ninth chapter of Matthew and again in Luke’s gospel, the fifth chapter, we have the story of a man, a beloved friend, who was paralyzed and lying upon a pallet, who was brought to Jesus by four of his very best friends. They had heard that Jesus was in the area and were not about to let that time pass without taking their friend to Jesus to be healed. I say that these four friends were four of his best friends because normally, in those days, if a person was sick and not able to get about, he or she was virtually left to fend for themselves. Oh, they might be carried to a part of the city where a lot of people gathered so that the paralyzed one could beg for alms, but as a whole, their life was whatever they could make out of it, and they were left in pretty bad shape. But not this man. He had four friends, friends who probably grew up together and, as a young boy who was able to move about, they played the games that boys played. However, now that he was a man, paralysis had moved in and he, like many, was left to do the best that he could. Yet, he still had four very good friends who cared about him.
Now that Jesus had come to town, his friends wanted to carry him before Jesus in hopes that Jesus would heal him. Those are good friends to have, aren’t they? Luke tells us that Jesus was in this house, preaching and teaching God’s word, when suddenly, from above, clay and dust and probably thatch began to fall right over where Jesus was speaking. He, nor the people in the house, which included some Jewish religious teachers, could deny that something unusual was happening. It only caused them to look up towards the ceiling. You see, houses in those days were made of clay and stone and thatch, and usually had a flat roof where stuff was stored and where the family could sleep when the nights were particularly warm. And, of course, there was a wall all around the rooftop to keep someone from falling off.
But as Jesus was speaking, this roof began to fall in, and when the hole was large enough, these four friends tied ropes to the corner of the mat, and let their friend down right in Jesus’s presence. Both Matthew and Luke tell us that when this man was lowered before Him, Jesus, “seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, ‘Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.’” And then He healed the man and upon receiving his healing, he got up off the mat and walked home!
