Stand Together Part Two

Last week we looked at an Old Testament example of the importance of having fellow believers around us to help our walk with Jesus Christ. This week, I want to take a look at a New Testament example to show how this is a trait that needs to be continued even today.

“When Jesus came back to Capernaum a few days later, it was heard that He was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer space, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. 3 And some people *came, bringing to Him a man who was paralyzed, carried by four men. 4 And when they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and after digging an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralyzed man was lying. 5 And Jesus, seeing their faith, *said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Mark 2:1-5

Here we see another example of believers in Jesus Christ helping each other out. In last week’s example, we saw that with the help of Aaron and Hur, Moses was able to keep his arms up to allow the Israelites to defeat Amalek. The similarities between that situation and the passage we are looking at today, is that a man of faith is able to accomplish God’s will with the help of fellow believers of Jesus Christ.

However, when I sat to look over this passage more, I noticed something interesting that needs to be noted for all who claim to follow Jesus Christ. In Mark 2, we see that there is a crowd listening to Jesus’s words, we see four men attempting to bring their friend to Jesus but are denied by the crowd. As believers, we should never stand in the way of those who are seeking to see, acknowledge, and know more about Christ. We should always make room for others to come to Him. It is interesting to note that Jesus states that it is the faith of the paralyzed man and his friends that caused him to be healed, not the faith of the crowd at whole. If someone is genuinely seeking the Lord, we would be foolish to stand in their way.

This is not to say that God’s work won’t be completed either way, after all the faith of the men involved caused them to drag their paralyzed friend on top of the house, remove the roof, dig a hole, and lower him down before Jesus. Imagine the faith that the four men had to carry this out, imagine the faith of the paralyzed friend to allow them to do this. These men had the faith to know that if they could only get before Jesus Christ, the paralyzed individual would be made well. This is just one more example of why we need fellow believers near us, so that when the times are rough, they can help lower us through a roof if need be to get closer to our Heavenly Father Jesus Christ. What an amazing thing God has done, giving us fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ who are able to be there for us and point us to the person we all are connected to. We might not have anything else in common, but in Christ this is the only commonality we need to consider. So my challenge to you is, who do you have in your life that is there to help you seek the Lord? Do you have someone? If you do, do you help push them to Jesus Christ in their walk? If you do not have anyone, ask the Lord to provide someone into your life.

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex