Faithful Friends

Luke 5:18-20

Just then some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus. When he saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”

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I'll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I'll be there for you
Like I've been there before
I'll be there for you
'Cuz you're there for me too...

"I'll Be There for You" written by Phil Solem and Danny Wilde, recorded by The Rembrandts. This song served as the theme to the NBC television series "Friends."

Jesus was in town healing the people. The scene could be described as a melodrama-there's the good guy-Jesus, the bad guys-the Scribes and Pharisees who will describe Jesus as blasphemous, and even the femme fatale-the sick and injured who needed healing. Melodrama also has one more important character, the crowd. The audience provides dramatic punctuation to the proceedings--and this crowd fulfilled that qualification.

So a group of men bring their friend to be healed. They rip a hole in the roof to lower their paralyzed friend into Jesus' lap. Jesus was so impressed with the friend's faith that he had to do something. When the rain starts to pour, when the roof begins to crash in, when stricken with paralysis-good friends are hard to find, but they were there for him.

So he forgave the man's sins. He didn't heal him, he forgave him his sins. Suddenly the crowd is in shock. They've seen healings before, but never did it turn into absolution of sin! Is that even possible?

Jesus calls the man "friend." What a friend we have in Jesus. A friend who will be there when the world crashes all around us. When the rain starts to pour, when the roof begins to crash in, when stricken with paralysis-a friend who is able to forgive our sins. Thanks be to God Jesus is there for us.

Jesus is there for us, let us be there for Jesus too.