The Importance of Friends (Mark 2:1-5)

Richard just posted on his Facebook status "friends... u really can't do without them."

I can't help but agree. And the very next day, I was reading through the Gospel of Mark for the second time, and I found something very interesting in Mark 2:1-5.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Those of us from Sunday School, we know the story pretty well. But look carefully at verse 5. "When Jesus saw THEIR faith, he said to THE PARALYTIC..."

Notice something strange here. Apparently, the faith of the paralytic's friends led to the paralytic's sins being forgiven! Contemporary Christianity has all too often emphasized the importance of confession and repentance for the forgiveness of sins, but enclosed it in a box called "personal faith". For God to forgive one's sins, he or she has to personally want this forgiveness and claim it in the name of Jesus Christ.

Then is this story not unusual? Mark apparently did not see the need to emphasize the desire of the paralytic to be forgiven of his sins. This story could most certainly continue to be true even if the paralytic was a terribly cynical or skeptical person. After all, Mark saw it fit to attribute the forgiving of one's sins TO THE FAITH OF HIS FRIENDS.


Now, I am not here to discard the mainstream teachings of personal repentance and salvation. That teaching is very much Biblical, with sturdy foundations in the Word. Neither am I here to say that salvation is attainable without having faith in Jesus Christ. What I want to emphasize here is this: if you have a friend or family member who has not yet come to know Christ, continue to have faith! One friend was not enough for the paralytic, neither was two, nor three. It took four friends to convince him to come to know Jesus, and imagine their joy when Jesus forgave his sins and healed him of his paralysis! Even at his most skeptical, the paralytic would have at least paid a visit to the Son of God simply because of the faith of his four friends.

So for those of you out there with loved ones, keep holding on to that flickering flame of faith. Don't ever stop talking about Jesus and His power to save! Bring your loved ones into the company of people who share this faith in God to do miracles, and one day, your faith and the faith of your friends may see through to his salvation and the very healing of the timeless wound embedded deep within each human soul.


When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." -Luke 5:20

Words are easy, like the wind; faithful friends are hard to find. -William Shakespeare