Digging Deeper – Put Up a Fight

So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
Luke 5:19 (NLT)
PUT UP A FIGHT
Consider the lobster: a red, strange-looking crustacean with pinchers and antennae. It is an expensive menu option, but sure is yummy with some drawn butter. Okay, my stomach might be growling as I write this.
Here is an interesting fact about lobsters: if placed in a cage with the lid removed, one lobster can escape. But if two or more lobsters are in the cage, escape becomes nearly impossible. Instinctively, lobsters will often grab and pull down the one trying to climb upward.
Spiritually lost humans can be a lot like lobsters. They do not want someone else to escape the darkness and find the light. As the saying goes, misery loves company. This is just one of many reasons you may feel resistance when you are trying to climb your way out of sin. The enemy, and sometimes even your “close friends,” may want to keep you right where you are.
With this in mind, the story unfolding in Luke becomes even more remarkable. We find a group of men determined to get their friend, who is paralyzed, in front of Jesus. They first try the front door, but the crowd is so massive they cannot get inside. Undeterred, they climb to the roof, remove the tiles, and lower their friend down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus (Luke 5:19).
While the paralyzed man is a major part of the scene, he is really a supporting character. The friends are the heroes. In fact, Jesus tells the man, before he is ever healed, that his sins are forgiven because of his friends’ faith. Wow.
My good friend Steve Roach once talked about the importance of living in Christian community, having people who love you enough to keep you close to Jesus. Steve said, “To know whether or not you are in community with believers, ask yourself, ‘Who would I have to fight through to walk away from the Lord?’”
We all need those people in our lives, people like the paralytic’s friends who will bring us to Jesus and who will fight to help keep us there.
If you are fighting to get in front of Jesus, perhaps you are surrounded by lobsters. Do not let them pull you back into the cage. Instead, look for someone you can trust, someone who will help you find an audience with the King.
Pray: Jesus, help me become the kind of person who points others to You and, when necessary, fights to help them get in front of You. Amen.

C.A. Phillips serves as Communications Pastor and Director of Men’s Groups at NorthStar Church. He is a graduate of the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia, and he loves the Dawgs and the Atlanta Braves. He has two (grown) boys and lives in Kennesaw with his wife, Amy.

