Remember the old 70’s song, “I get by with a little help from my friends.” A friend walks in when the world walks out. Last week the best man at our wedding stopped through town. While I was immersed in graduate school, he singlehandedly kept our friendship alive. Every time he called, before he hung up the phone he would ask, “What can I do for you today?” So whenever he stops through town, we meet at Starbucks and give thanks for the God who allowed us to meet as teenaged pastors in Falls County, Texas.
Mark tells us about four friends who cared enough about their paralyzed friend to dig a hole in a roof and lower him down to get him in contact with Jesus. Are you intrigued by Jesus’ first words to the man, “Your sins are forgiven.” Jesus knew the man’s deepest need was not just to walk but to walk with God. Our greatest maladies are ultimately spiritual. These words offended the teachers of the law. “Blasphemy,” they cried. “Only God can forgive sins.” To prove his authority Jesus healed the man.
So who is your best friend? I grew up singing, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.” I am grateful that God bears our grief. How else would we survive sorrow like we feel in these difficult days? But even more I am grateful for Christ bearing our sins on the cross. Jesus defined friendship once and for all on another occasion in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this: that he lays down his life for his friends.” Jesus could not do anything more for us than he has already done at Calvary. What can we do for him today?
