Last week, we talked about the paralytic, and how he was helped by his friends. And how he was healed by Jesus.
Today, let’s talk about how this man chose to say
NO
to being the same………………..Let’s also see what we can learn from his faith.
—This man obviously exercised a different kind of faith than his friends.
—His faith may not have been as evident but it was no less real and essential.
—His faith may have appeared weak compared to his friends’ “strong” faith, but I would argue that the paralyzed man’s faith was much stronger and he was defined as the strong one.
The paralyzed man had to be vulnerable and weak to relinquish control and let his friends lower him through the roof to access Jesus.
The man allowed his friends to somewhat make that spectacle of lowering him into Jesus’ room.
What did that man physically do that entire time? Nothing.
Absolutely nothing!
Talk about unmerited favor.
He rested in the confidence of his friends’ strength and that Jesus would heal him.
He allowed himself to be weak so that he might be made strong.
A paralytic is weak whether they want to be or not; but this paralytic man had to learn to accept his vulnerability.
When he did—and maybe he’d done that long before this momentous event—he experienced intimacy with his friends, and his friends experienced purpose in helping their friend get closer to God.
By allowing himself to be lowered, the man experienced Jesus’ power.
He was forgiven his sins, then he was physically healed—all because, in humility, he trusted his friends and his God with his weakened state
His weak became his new strong.
The man who was once only known as “that paralyzed guy” is now forever immortalized as “that guy Jesus healed.”
Even better for him, he met Jesus as a result of accepting his frailty and allowing his friends to help him.
Friends let’s learn something from this pattern.
We don’t have to remain weak; we can become stronger with the help of others as we all make our way to Jesus. Goodbye weaknesses!!
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