Luke 5:20
The context
Luke's version of the same Capernaum scene, set after the call of Peter and the cleansing of a leper. A crowd blocks the door, so the men carrying a paralytic go up the roof and lower him through it. Luke notes that Jesus saw their faith, without saying whose faith he means, though the carriers are the obvious referent. Then he speaks to the man on the mat.
What it establishes
It establishes that Jesus responded to faith he saw in other people, and that the first word he gave the paralytic concerned his sins rather than his body. Forgiveness is presented as the deeper need and the prior gift.
What it does not establish
It does not promise healing in response to a friend's faith. The verse records what happened once, in a crowded house. It states no rule, and Luke goes on to show Jesus healing on other grounds entirely, with no mention of anyone else's faith.
Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.
Cited in these answers
Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.