Okay, this is one of the WILDEST things that ever happened while I was teaching. And trust me — I've seen a lot.
I was in a house in Capernaum. Word got out that I was there, and people came FLOODING in. The house was jammed. Standing room only. People packed the doorway, spilled into the street — there was literally no way to get in. And I was right in the middle of it all, teaching the Word.
Now, somewhere outside, four friends had a problem. Their buddy was paralyzed — completely unable to walk — and they were carrying him on a mat to get to me. But when they arrived? Forget it. The crowd was a wall. No gap. No opening. No chance.
Most people would have given up. But not THESE four. They looked at each other and said, "If we can't go THROUGH the crowd... we'll go OVER it."
They carried their friend up the outside stairs onto the flat roof. Then they started DIGGING through it. Pulling apart tiles, breaking through mud and straw, creating a hole right above where I was teaching. Dust and chunks of ceiling raining down on everyone!
And then — THERE HE WAS. Slowly being lowered down on his mat, right through the roof, right in front of me. The whole room went silent.
I looked up at those four faces peering through the hole they'd just made, and I saw something beautiful. I saw FAITH. Not just the paralyzed man's faith — his FRIENDS' faith.
I looked at the man on the mat and said, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
The religious leaders in the room almost lost their minds. They were thinking, "Who does he think he is?! Only GOD can forgive sins!" And they were right about one thing — only God CAN forgive sins. They just hadn't figured out who they were looking at yet.
So I said, "What's easier — to say 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say 'Get up, take your mat, and walk'?" And then I said BOTH.
"Get up. Take your mat. Go home."
And he DID. That man stood up — for the first time in who knows how long — picked up the mat that had carried HIM, and walked straight out the door. The crowd went absolutely wild.
Here's your takeaway: sometimes you need friends who will literally break through a roof for you. Friends who don't quit when it gets hard. Friends who carry you when you can't move on your own. Be THAT friend. And find friends like that. Because faith isn't just personal — it's something we carry together.
