W ELL, IN OUR STORY TODAY, A CROWD GATHERS, expecting something holy to happen. They don’t know who he is, but they had heard some things:

■ “Fine preacher! Lovely voice. Speaks with authority!”
■ “They say he spoke one time, and a man was healed.”

That’s what they heard. And a crowd gathers around, listening, expecting. Jesus speaks to them, probably on his major theme: The kingdom of God has come near. Repent! And believe the good news (1:15).

But something happens. As the words flow from his mouth, flecks of dust fall from the ceiling. Then some splinters of wood and big dried mud clods — until, finally, a gaping hole. Part of the roof crumbles onto the floor in front of Jesus.

When people look up, they see four folks clawing away at the roof. Then the roof people lower a man who can’t walk — slowly, slowly, slowly — right into the middle of the room for all to see.

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IT’S INTERESTING THE WAY Jesus responds. Jesus must have had a gift for improvisation. Robin Williams was great at comedic improvisation. Sports announcers are required to improvise. Some better than others. Jesus could easily move from script, from planned sermon, to address the conditions in front of him. That’s what happens here. Jesus turns this dusty disturbance into part of the teaching.

When Jesus sees the friends’ faith, he says to the paralyzed man, “your sins are forgiven.” The religious folks there that day were concerned about Jesus claiming to have power to forgive sins. We’re not going to worry about that. The five friends come for physical healing of one. They all want their friend to walk. Jesus offers more than just movable legs. Jesus offers and gives wholeness. Completeness.

From this day on, this man’s life is turned around. From this day on this man’s life is changed, all because of one simple meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ.

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YOU SEE IT. HIS FRIENDS — and maybe you have friends like this — they love him; they care for him. This man’s friends are so concerned about him; they are at the end of their rope as to what to do about this man’s illness. They have heard about this teacher from Nazareth and what He can do. Out of compassion, out of love, they take their friend and they bring him on the chance that they can get near this great Healer, and maybe he will reach out and touch him and heal this man so he can walk.

These friends of this man bring him to Jesus. They bring him to Christ. There are people — in Foley and Elberta, in your school and your home — who do not know what the gospel of Jesus Christ is.... They need to be brought to Jesus. There are people in your life who are broken and need to be brought to the feet of Jesus. There are people who are hurting. You can help bring them into the presence of the great healer. There are people who are hungry and thirsty that you, and others, can bring to Jesus. It is the faith of friends that bring about cleansing of heart and healing of body.

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HOW DO WE DO THAT?

■ Identify those who need Christ. Ask God to help you have His eyes and His heart for those who need forgiveness and healing. Who in your circle of friends, relationships, sports teams need Christ’s healing? Write their names on a card and place it where you can see it every day. Pray for them every day. Pray that God will show them their need for Christ. Pray for opportunities to talk about his grace and life-changing power.

■ Live Christ for them. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you live in such a way that people see the difference Christ is making in your life. As the old hymn offers, “Let others see Jesus in you.”

■ Build bridges of friendship. If they are not already close friends, spend time with them. Have them over for dinner, play golf, go for coffee, listen to their problems. In other words, be a friend.

■ Share the Gospel. As you listen and befriend, God will open a door for you to talk about your relationship with Jesus Christ. The opportunity may come for you to invite them to a Bible study, a Christian concert or to church. All of these can be used by God to prepare your friend to accept Christ. And don’t just invite — bring them. Pick them up. Let them ride with you. Take them home afterward.

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HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED about the relationship of these five friends after the encounter with Jesus? Surely they didn’t just walk home with him, never to mention this amazing event again. Neither can we invite and welcome people to a new life in Christ only to abandon them afterward.

Help them grow in their new relationship with God. Help them connect with a church and grow in Christ. A new believer is like a spiritual infant and needs someone to be a spiritual guide and mentor.

Oh, one final comment: If your friend does not receive Christ, don’t be discouraged. Our faithfulness is to bring people to the feet of Jesus. Jesus is the one who forgives, heals, and offers new life — not us.

Mark 2:1–12
Holy Bible, New International Version

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ² They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³ Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man,carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶ Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷ “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

⁸ Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? ⁹ Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, ¹¹ “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ¹² He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

— This is the Word of the LORD.