Who are your four best friends? Are their faces in your mind right now? Bet you’re smiling at the thought of their friendship and even loyalty to you. Do you trust them? What if they came to you and told you they were eager to help you with one of your long-standing struggles? “There’s a guy over here and we think He might heal you.” But to follow their plan opens you up to possible embarrassment and, worse, disappointment. Take the walk with the paralytic and his four friends.
About this Message
In this scene from Luke 5, Jesus sets Himself up in a room filled with people from at least three different spiritual perspectives. Can you identify them? Read in Acts 17:32-34 to see how the apostle Paul might have described them.
All five men committed to this adventure are rewarded by Jesus. List the blessings they receive and read Hebrews 11:6 for the underlying spiritual truth.
Go Deeper Questions
Why might our stretcher man NOT be excited about this trip?
Let’s do a “before-and-after Jesus” comparison to get a bigger picture of these events. See if you can identify what life might have been like for the healed paralytic in these various categories:
Physically
Emotionally
Spiritually
Vocationally
BEFORE AFTER