“And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking 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 midst before Jesus.” (Luke 5:18–19, ESV)
A series of devotions written in 1624 by John Donne included a poem titled, “No Man Is an Island.” The verse begins with these words. “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”The point of the poem is that people are not self-sufficient, that we need others to negotiate life. In short, we need a caring community of people.
On one occasion when Jesus was ministering in Capernaum of Galilee, great crowds had gathered. He was in a house and some men brought a paralyzed man on a bed in an attempt to have Jesus heal the man. However, it was so crowded that they could not get to the door of the house. Yet they would not be dismayed. They persisted where others probably would have quit. They considered the options and came up with a plan. Look at Luke’s record of what they did.
“And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking 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 midst before Jesus.” (Luke 5:18–19, ESV)
So, they disassembled a portion of the roof and lowered the man down on his bed through the roof of the house where Jesus was.
When Jesus saw the man, He commended the faith of those who had taken the effort to lower the man down. Why did He commend their faith? It was because they realized that Jesus was the healer and the only one who would make their friend well. Moreover, their faith was demonstrated by their persistence. Their ingenuity was rewarded as Jesus forgave the man’s sins and healed him.
This is a beautiful picture of a caring community that would go above and beyond to help a brother in need. In the area of total wellness, we need this kind of caring community, a people joined as one in Christ and who have that great faith, that is trusting in Jesus.
You might say, “Yes but they physically lowered their companion in front of Jesus,” and you would be correct. Yet every true believer can still lower their brothers and sisters who are hurting in front of Jesus. No, it is not physically, it is through the supernatural work of intercessory prayer.
I can testify to this work of intercession personally. When I was diagnosed with stage -4 bladder cancer, we let people know about the situation. I estimate that over 300 people prayed for my healing and peace. This group included people from churches from all over the United States. This is what true biblical community does.
However, I am afraid that many in Christendom do not understand the power and importance of corporate prayer. It is my contention that prayer is the measure of one’s faith. I believe that if you think about it, you would conclude that prayerlessness is paramount to faithlessness. If we truly believe that the Lord is the Great Physician and He is the one who ultimately heals, and we truly care about those who are hurting, why would we not pray? There can only be one of two reasons. We either do not care or we do not believe.
You know, when Jesus commended their faith, it seems He was referring to the men who lowered the paralyzed man down. It took persistent effort by those men. Prayer is a mighty work that is empowered by the Spirit. It is a difficult work from one standpoint as we must fight competing priorities and do something that does not shine the light on ourselves. We also have a tendency to grow weary and quit.
The men that lowered their friend the through the roof exerted great effort and demonstrated persistence. We, the biblical community of believers should learn something from their example. We need to be persistent in the exercise of prayer. We need to be persistent in interceding for others who are hurting.
Renewing the Heart 