This week, we concluded our series on "SQUAD GOALS" by reviewing our talks from previous weeks, and then looking at one more amazing picture of friendship in the Bible found in Mark 2 and Luke 5.
It tells us about four guys who carried their friend (who was paralyzed) to meet Jesus, believing that Jesus could do the impossible! At the time, Jesus was super popular. He was known for doing incredible miracles (like healing people from incurable diseases) and teaching people about how to get right with God. When the friends arrived where Jesus was teaching at the time, they were really disappointed. There were insanely huge crowds and they couldn't even catch a glimpse of him.
That's when these friends did something a little crazy. They actually hoisted their friend onto the roof of the house Jesus was teaching in, and then THEY STARTED TO TEAR A HOLE IN THE ROOF so that they could lower their friend down right in front of Jesus. This tells us that these guys REALLY believed that Jesus could do impossible things. Imagine how brave and bold you would have to be to climb onto someone’s roof and bust a hole in it just to meet somebody inside!
When the hole was big enough, they lowered their buddy right in front of Jesus. Luke 5:20 says, “Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”
Now this is where the situation gets a bit weird. This guy was lowered down to Jesus BECAUSE HE WAS PARALYZED! It was kind of obvious to everybody that he needed to be healed. But instead of doing the obvious, Jesus FORGAVE THE MAN’S SINS? Isn’t that kinda shocking? This lets us know something REALLY important- we all need to experience God’s love and forgiveness! Without it, our sin separates us from God and we can’t be a part of heaven one day. It’s even a more serious problem then being paralyzed! Sin is a word that describes all of our choices and inclinations to go our own way instead of God’s way—to say and do things that are the opposite of what he wants for us- and the Bible says that our sin separates us from God—that if we don’t have this sin problem dealt with, we won’t be able to have a friendship with God and we can’t be a part of heaven!
When Jesus said this man’s sins were forgiven, there were some religious leaders there who went NUTS! They told Jesus that only God had the power and authority to forgive someone sins- and they were ready to kill him right then and there!
Luke 5:22-26 says...
“Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking and said, “Why all this gossipy whispering? Which is simpler: to say ‘I forgive your sins,’ or to say ‘Get up and start walking’? Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both. . . .” He now spoke directly to the paraplegic: “Get up. Take your bedroll and go home.” Without a moment’s hesitation, he did it—got up, took his blanket, and left for home, giving glory to God all the way. The people rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then also gave glory to God. Awestruck, they said, “We’ve never seen anything like that!”
Here, Jesus proved that he was the Son of God—and that he has the power to forgive our sins and give us a brand new start--- he proved it by healing this guy right in front of a huge crowd of eyewitnesses!
The four friends of this guy did something pretty simple, but super important—they introduced their friend to Jesus! Because they brought him to Jesus, not only did he experience forgiveness and his heart was made right with God, but he was miraculously healed, picking up his mat and walking home! By doing simple things like inviting a friend out to CATALYST or offering to pray for a friend who’s in trouble or sick, you’re pointing them in the direction of Jesus—someone who can not only help them in life, but can FORGIVE THEM and give them a brand new start, just like he did for the paralyzed man!
DISCUSSION FOR HOME:
1. In the account of Jesus healing the paralyzed man, what did you find most shocking or surprising?
2. Jesus was more concerned with where this man was spiritually than the fact that he was paralyzed! What does that tell us about our greatest need?
3. Why did Jesus end up healing the man, almost as an afterthought? What did it tell the crowd of onlookers?
4. This might open up an opportunity to talk to your teen about where they're at spiritually.
5. Take the opportunity to pray with your teen. Pray for their friends who are far away from God and making bad choices in life. Pray that they would come to know the God who loves them and who wants the best for them.
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