“And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.”–Luke 5:17–19
We know basically nothing about the four men who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus. We don’t know their professions or their degree of education. We don’t know their hometowns or their family heritage. We don’t even know their names. What we do know is that they had an overwhelming love for their friend and faith in Jesus. They believed that Jesus was able to heal this man who had no other hope, and as a result they were willing to go above and beyond what people would normally do in order to place their friend at Jesus’ feet.
It must have been extremely difficult to get a paralyzed man confined to his bed onto the roof of the house where Jesus was. It could not have been easy to take apart the roof so they could lower him down to Jesus’ feet. Their actions no doubt seemed outrageous to many of those watching. But they didn’t care how difficult it was or what others thought. They wanted to get their friend to Jesus. That is a passion that should fill all of our hearts. We should be consumed with the desire to reach the lost and bring them to Him.(Daily in the Word)
