FIRST GLIMPSE: Jackie & Pee Wee

In his first seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play in the Major Leagues, faced venom everywhere he traveled—fastballs at his head, spikes on the base paths, brutal curses and racial slurs from opposing dugouts and stands.

In his autobiography, I Never Had It Made, Robinson recalls a game when the taunts reached a fever pitch. Another Dodger, a southerner named Pee Wee Reese, left his position at shortstop, walked over to Robinson at second base, put his arm around his shoulder, and simply stood there while the insults rained down. His gesture spoke more eloquently than any words: this man is my friend and teammate. In 2005, Robinson’s wife Rachel recalled Robinson’s reaction to that moment: “It came as such a relief to him [Jackie] that a teammate and the captain of the team would go out of his way, in such a public fashion, to express friendship.”

We find another public expression of friendship in Mark 2, when four men brought their paralytic friend to Jesus. These fellows were compassionate, that is, they were deeply concerned about their friend’s condition. Many physically handicapped people of that day were forgotten, left to beg by the roadside or in doorways. These friends were unwilling to let their friend suffer that fate.

Their compassion led them to caring. Today, when we say we “care” about someone, we act as though care is an emotion, a feeling. But the word care is a verb. When we care, we act; we do something about the situation. We step in to say “let me help you” rather than murmuring “let me know if I can do anything.”

These compassionate, caring friends were also committed. While many of us might have taken the first step to bring a paralyzed friend to Jesus, how many of us would have chalked it up to a nice attempt when we saw the teeming crowd? These men literally “took it to the next level.” Picture them struggling up the narrow stairway to the roof, tearing off thatch, mud, and perhaps stone with bleeding hands, and straining with all their might to lower their friend one tenuous handhold at a time to the feet of Jesus.

What was the result of this compassionate, caring, and committed friendship? In verse 5, Jesus saw the collective faith of these men and their friend and offered healing both physically and spiritually. When I read this account,

I am humbled, and I can’t help but ask: “When was the last time I risked rejection, embarrassment, and my own comfort for a friend.”

May God help us all be compassionate, caring friends committed to meeting the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of others by bringing them to Jesus.

About the Columnist: Eric K. Thomsen is managing editor of ONE Magazine and president of the Evangelical Press Association. Email: eric@nafwb.org.