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And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher.
It is the case that no one comes to Jesus entirely on their own apart from the assistance of others. Even the most seemingly isolated conversions still manage to make their way to him through those others who wrote, prayed, and struggled to make the Gospel message known. And this is good to realize, that it does not all come down to our strength, cleverness, or ingenuity. Rather, Jesus knows the sin has in some measure paralyzed all people. It has pleased him that we should draw near together, the strength of one making up for the weakness of another, all of us together interdependent parts of a whole.
When Jesus saw their faith
If the faith of others can bring a paralytic to Jesus then who might our faith bring before him? We may have second thoughts about whoever comes to mind. They might seem almost impossible to move and there may seem to be barriers that make Jesus appear unreachable. But for this paralytic, his friends loved him enough to stand out and to be awkward for his sake. Perhaps the barriers that keep us from bringing our friends to Jesus are not so much insurmountable obstacles as tests of our sincerity. Are we willing to love others more than our own comfort? Because ultimately, if we set our course toward Jesus himself he won't let any apparent obstacle get in our way.
he said to the paralytic,
"Courage, child, your sins are forgiven."
It is probably the case that what we want for our friends is something somewhat less than what Jesus wants for them. Part of bringing them to him is a willingness to accept what he wants to give. The inner healing that only God can accomplish is much greater than the external work of healing which we always think to be so pressing. This, of course, should not make us dismissive of the physical condition and very real suffering of others. Such things are sometimes allowed in providence precisely to bring us to Jesus. His compassion is not limited to the interior and spiritual. It is simply that the priority of the soul must be established first before the freedom of the body can be safely restored without the risk of abuse. It isn't necessarily that the paralytic was a particularly great sinner. It is rather that we all tend to prioritize lesser things over greater ones, the temporary over that which truly lasts. And Jesus is always on the watch for any crack of faith in the armor of our selfishness so that he can begin his healing work.
"Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home."
He rose and went home.
Few if any people have demonstrated their commitment to God and his will for them as completely as did Abraham. His greatest prize in the world, Isaac, already the result of the miraculous providence of God was asked of him in spite of the fact that the entire future God planned for him seemed to depend on this child of his. But Abraham trusted in God even when he himself could not understand, because he "considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back" (see Hebrews 11:9).
In a way, Abraham's offering of Isaac was a more extreme version of bringing the paralytic to Jesus. The complete trust and surrender beyond his ability to comprehend was obviously more evident with Abraham. But in both cases it was faith that was the defining factor, faith that was the conduit of salvation.
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