Everyone knows how important friendship is but how far would you go for your friends? Would you do everything in your power to help them? This Bible story tells of one man’s friends who demonstrated their friendship to get him to Jesus.
Crowds of people were gathered to hear Jesus speak in Capernaum. They were hungry for the truth.
Four men were particularly keen to find Jesus. They were carrying their friend, who was lying on a mat. They wanted Jesus to heal him because he could not walk.
When they reached the house where Jesus was speaking, they found it was too crowded; people were packed all around him and spilling out of the doorway.
Outside the house, steps led up to the roof. The men climbed up, desperate for Jesus to help their friend. They dug through the mud and teh branches that made up the roof until there was a hole large enough to lower the man and his mat down in front of Jesus and the amazed crowd.
Jesus saw how certain the friends were that he could help them. He spoke to the paralysed man.
“Go,” he said, “your sins are forgiven.”
The Pharisees and other religious experts were shocked. Surely only God could forgive sins? Jesus may have interesting things to say – but thus was too much! But Jesus knew what they were thinking.
“Which is easier,” Jesus asked, “to forgive this man’s sins or make him walk? Nothing is impossible for God.” Then he looked again at the paralysed man and spoke. “Stand up, take your mat, and go home.”
The man stood up. His friends were overjoyed. Everyone else was amazed! They praised God for the miracle they had seen.
True friends stick together in good times and in bad. The Bible tells us to “Encourage one another and build each other up.” (1 Thessalonians 5 verse 11)