What’s the craziest thing you ever did for a friend? Or better put, what’s the craziest thing someone else ever did for you?

I once heard the story of a Football Player. When he was much younger, he had a group of friends; they played football together in the streets and attended the same school. It was a rule that if they didn’t pass their exams into the next class, they couldn’t be enrolled into the School’s Prestigious Football Academy. Now, out of the bunch of friends, this guy was the only one who passed the exam and qualified for the academy, all his other friends failed. Guess what he did? Because of his friends, he refused to accept the admission into the academy but chose to repeat the class so he could help his friends pass on their next attempt. Now that’s something, yeah?

There’s this really fascinating story in the Bible that just blesses my heart every time I think upon it. It captures the beauties of Faith, Love & Friendship in no small way. It’s the story of the man with Palsy, who was carried by four of his friends to see Jesus. Jesus had entered into a House in Capernaum and in no time, word went around, and the entire house was filled up with people. When this man and his friends showed up, there was no room left for an extra person to come in, much less a man who was aided by four men.

That was a good time to give up, hold your hands up, and say, “Hey buddy, I tried! But as you can see, there’s no room left. I hear they stream the service on YouTube, maybe we could go back home and catch the rest of the service; that’s about our only option right now.” But that’s not what they did, they looked around the entire house, peeped in to see just how packed full the space was, then they spotted a bit of room right in front of Jesus, who by then was in the middle of His sermon. Then they had one of them check out the type of roof that was on the house. Afterwards, they carried this man with palsy, (I have an idea of what it means to carry a full grown person who cannot help himself, it was tough!) then lifted him up onto the roof, (However they were able to pull that off! Because there’s no external pre-designed path to a roof top).

It’s one thing to spot the space in front of Jesus in a jam-packed room, it’s another thing to device a means to exploit that tiny bit of opportunity. The complexity of the process, the logistics, the tremendous amount of care it would have taken… What if he fell from the roof to the ground during the lift and dies from the fall or gets worse than before? By the way, they would have needed a “control tower-esque” informant at the base of the house, who had a clear sight of both the guys on the roof and Jesus in the house, instructing them on how close they were to the exact spot they needed to let him down from; the angles they needed to move to the left, right, up or down. Incredibly sophisticated operation I would say! All for a sick friend?

Remember, this entire initiative didn’t come from the sick man asking their help: he had palsy and perhaps couldn’t even move his lips to converse; too weak to observe what was going on in his environment; too helpless to help himself. The entire initiative, drive and effort was powered by these four friends.

While motioning up the roof to the spot where Jesus was, the audience listening to the teaching, including Jesus doing the teaching must have been hearing loud creaks from the roof (the roof wasn’t built for pedestrian activities). Then, right in the middle of Jesus’ powerful ministration in Capernaum, the roof all of a sudden was yanked off, then the man sick with palsy, with the aid of the rope tied to his bed, was let down right in front of Jesus. Wow!! What a Crazy Commercial that must have been!!

Jesus had been teaching Faith to the audience, then a practical session showed up right in the middle of His teaching:

And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. — Mark 2:4‭-‬5 KJV

They probably didn’t have the chance to listen to Jesus’ sermon, but they demonstrated the Faith that comes from hearing The Word, right in front of the listeners! The Bible says, Jesus SAW their faith. Faith can be seen! These guys did more justice to the Faith message, than the many who would only hear but never do!

We often hear the story in the light of the incredible Faith shown by these friends but I can’t seem to stop thinking about the kind of man, the sick guy must have been, for four of his friends to have been that willing to risk everything, just for him to get the chance to be in front of Jesus.

Too many lessons to learn from this story, brace up!

1. How Crazy are Your Friends? When a behavior is wild and inconsistent with normalcy, we say that’s something crazy! How crazy are your friends? Their craziness is often an indicator of the depth of your service to them. That they were willing to go that far reflects on how deeply the sick guy must have sacrificed for them as well when he was capable. Remember how the women in Joppa were compelled to restrain Apostle Peter until Dorcas was brought back to life? How do you restrain a Man of God until he raises someone from the dead? Your friends’ craziness shows the depth of your sacrifice to them.

2. What are the things you consider to be limitations? Limitations did not exist for these four friends, and Jesus recognises such an attitude as Faith. You know it’s funny that while the Church folks are doing the listening to the Word, it’s sometimes the guys outside the Church that are demonstrating the Faith that hearing The Word should produce. The “never say die” attitude, the “there must be a way out of this” thinking, the “giving it all it takes” mindset… Those are demonstrations of Faith. Jesus didn’t see the Faith of those He was preaching to, but He saw the Faith of those who, though they missed the sermon, demonstrated the spirit of His teaching. There must be a balance though: The best type of believer is the one whose actions and utterances are coming from a place of understanding gotten from hearing The Word, because then, the cycle of Faith can be repeated. (Before some people will interpret this as permission to miss services 😄)

3. If your Faith isn’t working, have you checked your Love? These guys were not trying to demonstrate Faith, naa… They probably didn’t even know the name for what they were demonstrating. They were only moved by the love they had for their beloved friend. If you will simply Love, your Faith will be activated. Galatians 5:6 makes the connection very clear, it says Faith works by Love! Faith is essentially Love in motion! If you will be moved by Love, you will act by Faith. God so loved, He gave… Jesus so loved, He went… What have you done because you so loved? The lack of productivity in your Faith may be an indicator of the deficiency in your Love walk. Your job is not to measure how high your Faith can fly, your job is to determine how deep your Love can fetch.

Answering these questions honestly will open your eyes to areas you need to improve in your Faith and Love walk.

I hope this blessed your heart.

Have a productive week ahead.

God bless your heart.

Dami Oguntunde