This past Sunday my friend Pastor Dave Falconer from Jamaica Link Ministries spoke at Bethany. His message, The Rescue Mission, focused on the four men who carried their paralyzed friend and lowered him through the roof to Jesus. Dave highlighted their faith, determination, and the way the healing hinged on friends who wouldn’t quit.

Then yesterday morning I was enjoying a rare quiet minute in my office when my door flew open and in burst Miki Clouser. Miki and I go way back. She was in my youth group years ago. We love to give each other a hard time. (And apparently after all these years, she still hasn’t mastered the art of knocking. Kids these days….)

“Wait till you hear this,” Miki announced as she plopped down in an armchair.

Assured there was no crisis at hand, I sat back in my chair and replied, “Do tell.”

“Pastor Dave’s sermon on the paralytic got me thinking,” she explained. “So during my quiet time this week I studied the healings of Jesus. Did you know that Jesus did 26 specific healing miracles when you take into account the overlap between the Gospels?”

“OK,” I answered warily, not sure where this was going, but sensing a trap.

She leaned forward with a gleam in her eye that said, I’m about to stump the pastor.

“So guess,” she said, “how many of those 26 miracles happened because the sick person directly asked Jesus to heal them?”

I did what any self-respecting pastor would do. I stalled. I hmmed and hawed. I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, doing some mental calculus. I was thinking somewhere in the mid to high teens, maybe 18. But I didn’t want to commit.

After suitable contemplation, I said, “Don’t know.”

She grinned and said, “Five.”

“What? Now she had my attention. “You’re kidding me!”

“Nope,” she said.

“That’s crazy. Out of 26 recorded healings only 5 were a result of a direct request.” I repeated. “So what about the other 21?”

“Well,” she said, “they were either initiated by Jesus Himself, or someone else brought the sick person to Jesus and/or asked on their behalf.”

“No way,” I exclaimed.

“Yup,” she confirmed. “The majority of Jesus’ healings weren’t because a sick person asked. It was because someone else asked for them or brought them.”

“That’s fascinating,” I said. We talked a few more minutes about the implications and then she left to get on with her day.

But it stuck with me. That can’t be right, I thought. In recorded Scripture, Jesus healed only five people who asked?

All afternoon the conversation gnawed at me. So last night in my easy chair, I opened my Bible and—confession time—used ChatGPT to help me sort through the list. And wouldn’t you know, Miki’s right!

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The Data

And here’s the pie chart for the visual learners among us.

What Does This Mean?

Think about it: only five times (19%) did the sick themselves cry out to Jesus for healing. In the vast majority of cases, it was Jesus’ compassion (35%) and the faith of others (46%) that led to a miracle.

That truth stopped me in my tracks. When Jesus was on earth, He more often acted at the request of others than at the request of the person in need. Healing came not because the sick pleaded, but because others prayed, carried, and persisted. Sometimes Jesus stepped in uninvited, but more often the miracle came because of someone else’s faith.

That means we have a crucial role in the salvation and healing of others. God’s primary means of bringing people to His Son is through the mediation of others.

Bringing It Home

We often believe the enemy’s lie that what we do doesn’t matter. And in our individualistic culture we’re tempted to think spiritual growth is just “me and Jesus.” But the Gospels show otherwise: relationship and community are often the very channels God uses to bring people to Him. So, as the body of Christ, God calls us to be…

• A community of intercession. Healing and salvation come when believers carry each others’ needs to Christ. Intercession isn’t a courtesy—it’s one of God’s primary ways of working. When you pray or act for someone else, you become an instrument God uses to open the door to His power.

• A community of persistence. The friends in Mark 2 didn’t stop at the crowd blocking the doorway. They climbed the roof, tore it open, and lowered their friend down. That’s what it looks like to refuse to give up. Real love finds a way to bring people to Jesus.

• A community of compassion. Again and again, Jesus’ healings began when someone noticed a need and acted on it. Parents, friends, strangers—moved by compassion—brought someone to Christ, and He responded.

So the question is: what kind of person will you be? Will you notice, pray, carry, and bring someone else to Jesus?

Who has God placed in your life right now?

• A friend weighed down by grief?

• A son or daughter far from God?

• A neighbor battling illness or addiction?

They may not be asking. They may not have the strength. But you can. You can intercede. You can show up. You can carry them in ways they cannot carry themselves.

At the end of the day, the Great Commission, loving our neighbor, and advancing God’s kingdom can all be distilled down to one activity: bringing others to Jesus.

So let’s pick up a corner of the mat and bring someone to Him this week.