Taking Our Friends to Jesus

And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, He said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you." The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts? "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins have been forgiven you,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? "But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,"--He said to the paralytic--"I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home." Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.   Luke 5:18-25

We should all have a friend or two that bear   resemblance to the men in this story.

These four men (numbered in the gospel of Mark) heard of the famous one called Jesus, and believed He could heal their paralyzed friend.

They carried the man on his mat,  battling obstacles and crowds, all in anticipation of placing their friend before Jesus.

When they found that they would not succeed in fighting the masses of people for an audience with Jesus, they climbed atop the roof, somehow managing to take their crippled friend along.   

Once they reached the roof, the men dug an opening in it, and lowered the paralytic man to the great healer they had heard so much about.

We know their confidence in Jesus was great, for scripture says that when Jesus saw the faith of the four friends, He looked at the man and said “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”  And a few moments later he commanded “Get up, pick up your stretcher and go home”.

These men were those willing to sacrifice their time and energy in order to take their friend to Jesus.

We too should be willing to sacrifice our time and energy to take our friends to Jesus in prayer.  

This life can be hard.  We may not be physically paralyzed, but heartache and sickness, sorrow and grief can abound here on earth.  

Everyone needs individuals in their life who will steadfastly battle to bring them (and their needs) before Jesus.

We need friends like these men for those hours when we are too sick, too discouraged, or too weak to bring ourselves before the throne of God.  

This story reminds me of how important it is to faithfully battle in prayer for those I love. 

It also reminds me to be grateful for those in my life that faithfully carry me in prayer when I cannot take another step.

…and pray for one another so that you may be healed.  The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.  James 5:16

Sleep Walking

And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. When He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, and said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Luke 22:39-46

Immediately preceding the Lord’s arrest and crucifixion, He led his disciples into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.  

This wouldn’t have been the first time Jesus led the men to this place.  The gospels say that praying here was customary for Jesus.  

The disciples followed him there in those hours, and Jesus gave them instructions to watch and pray lest they fall into temptation.  

The men didn’t have a problem with following Jesus, but they didn’t seem capable of staying awake to pray.  

Jesus returned more than once to find them sleeping.  They had an excuse.  Scripture says they slept from sorrow, but that didn’t change the fact that they were not doing what Jesus had asked of them.

The instructions he gave were for their own good.  He wanted them to be careful not to fall into temptation.  He didn’t want the enemy to trip them up or cause them to stumble.

Still the disciples slept.  

As I read this, I thought of times when we as believers sleep walk after the Lord.   

Maybe we become apathetic or lazy in our walks with Him.  We follow Him to our normal places of devotions and prayer.  We follow him in our ministries or relationships, but we aren’t truly listening.  We aren't really serving Him with a whole heart..  

We are just sleep walking; going through the motions so to speak.

That night the Lord’s words to the disciples were “Why are you sleeping?  Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Luke 22:46).

The Lord has similar words for us.  Romans 13:11 says:  "And this do, knowing the time; that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.”

The time is short.  May we be found redeeming the time, giving all that we have to our Savior and God.