Jesus went to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Near the Sheep gate was a pool known as Bethesda. It was surrounded by five covered colonnades. Disabled people–the blind, the lame and paralyzed–laid there. Jesus saw an invalid man who had suffered thirty-eight years and asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
“Sir,” he said, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Jesus said, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” (John 5:1-8).
At a different time, Jesus entered Capernaum. The people heard that he had come home and gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door. He preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through the mud and reeds, and they lowered the mat the man laid on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” The teachers of the law asked why He talked like that. They said only God could forgive sins.
Jesus knew what they thought and asked them, “Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” So He said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home” (Mark 2:1-11).
The striking difference between these two stories, is that the first man had no one to help him, but the second man did. Jesus saw the faith of the friends in Capernaum and healed their friend spiritually and physically. Many of us have memories of when a friend made a big difference during a tragedy in our lives.
“If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:10)
Prayer: Thank you, Heavenly Father, for friends who help us in times of need. Help us to be more cognizant of those we don’t even know who need a helping hand. Help us to show compassion as you showed both men in today’s lesson from Scripture. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
A Closer Walk with God 