Faithful Friendship
Faithful Friendship
“Friendship is one of the sweetest joys of life. Many might have failed beneath the bitterness of their trial had they not found a friend.”
Charles H. Spurgeon.
Aristotle identified three types of friendships based on what is valued in the other person:
Friends of Utility:
These friendships are based on usefulness and mutual benefit, where each person provides a service or advantage to the other.
Friends of Pleasure:
These friendships are formed for the enjoyment and pleasure that the company of the friend provides.
Friends of Virtue:
These are the most profound friendships, where individuals value each other's good character and noble qualities, leading to mutual growth and well-being.
What Kind of Friend Are You?
A Fair-weather Friend
A friend like the Prodigal’s
A Casual Friend
A Destructive friend
A Ungodly friend
OR A LOYAL, BOLD, CARING, FORGIVING, AND FAITHFUL FRIEND
Luke 5:17-39 NKJV
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic
17 Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present [a]to heal them. 18 Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. 19 And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.
20 When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
25 Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”
Recap
Some men tried to bring their paralytic friend to Jesus, hoping he could make the man walk. There was such a crowd that the friends got up on the roof and tore a hole in it, and then let the man down through the hole so they could get him to Jesus.
When Jesus saw the faith of those men, he said to the paralytic, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
These men were hoping their friend could walk. Yet, Jesus forgave his sins! What’s going on here? Quite a few things –
1st Notice that Jesus saw the faith not of the stricken man but of his friends.
Sometimes in the Gospels, a person’s faith is rewarded but at other times, God blesses the faith of the person asking on behalf of someone else.
That’s why we need to have faith when we pray for others.
2nd We also see that Jesus recognized that these men had faith he would heal, enough faith that they were willing to break through a roof to achieve it.
They were demonstrating it with these actions
3rd But most of all, we see something that people need more than health - or wealth - or prosperity. We need FORGIVENESS.
So Jesus first met the paralyzed man’s most desperate need.
It seems that few people realize today that they need God’s forgiveness all that much.
How often do people repent these days? How rare is it for even a Christian to repent when it's needed?
When Jesus forgave the paralytic before physically healing him, he was using the healing to show he had the authority to forgive sins.
Freedom from sin was always the main priority.
Let’s be clear here: All of us are called to forgive others. But we don’t have the power to actually wash away their sins. Only Jesus can do that.
What we do when we forgive is to release them from our judgment. When Jesus told the man his sins were forgiven, he meant the man was completely absolved of all guilt.
In Luke 5:20, when Jesus saw the faith of the friends bringing the paralytic man, He said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven". The meaning is that Jesus, seeing their persistent faith, offers comfort and peace by forgiving the man's sins, demonstrating His divine authority and the spiritual healing that addresses obstacles to love and the relationship with God.
Key Aspects of the Meaning
Jesus' Authority:
This statement reveals Jesus' power to forgive sins, a prerogative belonging to God alone, which would have been shocking to the religious leaders present.
Spiritual Healing First:
Jesus addresses the man's spiritual distress, indicating that his sins, which may have contributed to his suffering, are forgiven before his physical affliction is healed.
The Power of Faith:
The verse emphasizes the importance of the faith of the friends who brought the paralyzed man to Jesus. Jesus responds directly to this faith by offering forgiveness.
Divine Compassion:
By calling the man "Friend" and offering forgiveness, Jesus shows a personal and compassionate relationship, extending His inclusive ministry to the marginalized.
Reconciliation with God:
Forgiveness of sins is a core aspect of the New Testament, pointing to the reconciliation humans can have with God through Jesus, with this moment prefiguring the ultimate forgiveness offered through the cross.
A Deeper Truth:
The declaration of forgiveness brings deep relief and joy, highlighting that spiritual healing and forgiveness bring a profound sense of healing and freedom that physical healing alone might not
Paralyzed Mindsets & Paralyzed Hearts
And that caused a feeling of outrage among the critics who were present. They thought within themselves that this man was guilty of blasphemy, acting as though he were God.
The critics considered themselves watchdogs, the guardians of the Law. They somehow believed that the authority they exercised came from God. In reality, theirs was a man-made authority. They had taken the perfectly good Law of God and added enormous burdensome regulations. It led them to be judgmental of people who could not keep all those regulations.
Meanwhile, the person who could meet their deepest needs was standing only a few feet away. The text says he knew what they were thinking. And he intended for his ability to forgive a person’s sins to verify his Divinity. He asked them why they were harboring poisonous thoughts (by the way, his ability to know their thoughts further demonstrated his Divinity). Which is easier to say, he asked: get up and walk or your sins are forgiven?
But “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority….” This is a very strong expression. “That you may know” means that you can have total certainty. He then healed the man, told him to take up his pallet and start walking. The man did so, and went home praising God.
One would expect the critics to have a change of heart at this point. Why didn’t they? It’s because Pharisees seek to bring glory to themselves. Jesus brings glory to the Father.
Do we need faithful friends?
Here are 3 reasons why it’s important to have faithful friends (and why you should be one!):
Friends support us.
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
C.S. Lewis talks about the delight one feels when discovering someone who shares our interests and quirks. Friends can be our biggest cheerleaders when we decide to go for that new job or overcome that life-long fear of heights. They even notice things about ourselves that we struggle to see and can encourage us to cultivate a particular talent or skill that we’d written off.
Friends grow us.
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17).
Trusted and respected friends have our best interests at heart, and they can help us grow. Sometimes, growth comes through conversations that humbly and lovingly draw attention to things we’d rather ignore. We can better ourselves through faithful companionship that encourages one another to draw closer to God and to become better friends to each other.
Friends abide with us.
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2).
Faithful friends are with you in all seasons of life.
Through times of rejoicing, they rejoice.
Through times of suffering, they weep.
They praise God alongside you and remind you of his trustworthiness in times when it’s hard to see it yourself.
Are we faithful friends?
Are you wanting to display God’s glory in our friends
Spiritual friends care for each other's souls
As we practice supporting, growing, and abiding with our friends in love, we’re able to practice living more like Jesus… and hopefully able to form friendships like he did, too!
Are you ready to rip the roof off?
Are you ready to boldly put your friends, family, and neighbors before Jesus so that they might be forgiven, and find healing?
