In the story of the paralysed man, the friends climb onto the roof to lower the man in order to reach Jesus through the crowds. It is worth us considering how much faith do we think each of the different types of people had: the teachers of the law, the crowd, the friends, and the paralysed man himself.
Actually that is a trick question - the story as recorded doesn't tell us how much faith the paralysed man had! We can then think on what sort of things were getting in the way of faith, and were getting in the way of the man receiving ministry in the first place? It is then a useful exercise to turn that question back on ourselves ... to think what barriers we might put up that get in the way of our faith, or receiving from Jesus?
In the story the man was prevented by the crowd, and the fact that Jesus was inside a building. The friends had to penetrate the building structure to get him anywhere near Jesus. What we see today is a number of people who don't necessarily need to be taken in to a building to be near Jesus, but have somehow built a hard structure around themselves that seems to be a barrier to letting Jesus in. Perhaps holding on tightly to 'something', they are 'closed in' on themselves making it hard for them to simply receive.
This is where we need to discern carefully and act in order to be a potential help. It might simply be us coming alongside to be there for them, being a good friend, a listening ear or wise counsel. Of course pray for the person, and as best you can point them to Jesus. When praying have faith yourself, even if the person concerned has none.
Ultimately we don't want people to be stuck, with barricades around them, holding on to something so tightly that they cannot look to Jesus for themselves. Our job as followers of Jesus is to help point people to Jesus, in the hope that bit by bit the barriers are removed ... so that one day they might simply 'let go' and be fully open to receive the ministry of Jesus, receiving His forgiveness and healing.
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