He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)
Faith that Moves Mountains is a “A Digging-Through-The-Roof Kind of Faith”
And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:4-5)
Mark 2:1-17 give us a real life example of how four friends displayed a kind of faith that moves mountains on behalf of their paralyzed friend. These four men desperately wanted their friend to be healed. Hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was in town, they took their friend on a mat in hopes that Jesus would show mercy and heal him. Upon arriving at the house where Jesus was lodging for the night, it was soon clear that they had no chance of getting near to Jesus. The crowd was just too big, and the mat that held their friend was too bulky to push through the crowd.
Going to the Extreme for Your Friends
Not willing to give up with Jesus this nearby, they decided to go to the extreme. Climbing up onto the roof of the home with their paralyzed friend in tow, they maneuvered to the section of the roof that would be right above Jesus teaching below.
Then they took the lid off. They started digging like there was no tomorrow. Jesus was teaching the crowds below when all of a sudden a dirt clod and a ticker tape parade of straw dusted his hair and covered the floor around him. The mess mattered little to these four desperate friends as they began lowering their friend down through the hole in the roof. As the paralytic hovered on his mat in front of Jesus, seeing their faith, he said, “Son your sins are forgiven.”
Mesmerized by His Words but Unmistakable their Meaning
Mesmerized by his choice of words, the four on-looking roof dwellers thought to themselves, “Huh?” They had lowered the man to be healed by his touch, and now he was forgiving his sin? Baffling the crowd with his unabashed claim to Deity, Jesus revealed an even deeper disease in the man. His paralysis was unfortunate, but his sin was horrendous. The deeper problem that Jesus addressed was the man’s sin. Paralysis, although deeply effecting this man’s life, was not the deepest problem… his position before God was Jesus’ priority.
Take Action
- Do you have a friend who needs to know Jesus? What is stopping you from introducing your friend to Him (download resource here)?
- How might you go to the extreme for your friends so that they can meet Jesus Christ?
- Start a prayer list of friends you have who do not know Christ. Prayerfully look for opportunities to introduce them to Jesus.
