The Faith of Friends
The faith of the people you surround yourself with matters. In this weeks’ Behind the Scenes, look with us at new art from an upcoming iBIBLE episode highlighting Christ’s healing of a paralyzed man.
At the beginning of Jesus’s earthly ministry, He performed many recorded miracles and taught throughout Galilee. While teaching in a house in Capernaum, five faithful friends came to Jesus:
And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” —Mark 2:3–5
Houses during the time of Christ had stairs or a ladder going up to the roof. Because the room below was full of people listening to Christ’s message, the paralytic’s friends carried him to the roof and cut through it. They would have cut through both the keramos (earthen tile) of the roof and the branches and sticks underneath that supported the plaster roof.
When Jesus perceived the scribes and pharisees questioning His forgiveness of the paralyzed man’s sins, He responded:
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. —Luke 5:23–25
Everyone in the room was amazed, and glorified God!
We are so grateful for your support through prayer and financial gifts as we seek to bring God’s Word to the whole world. Each day, iBIBLE, the first ever visual and interactive presentation of the Biblical narrative, is being written, produced, completed, translated, and shared. Thank you for your partnership as we continue this journey together.
