Mark 2:1-12
¹A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ²So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. ⁴Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. ⁵When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
⁶Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷"Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
⁸Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? ⁹Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? ¹⁰But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, ¹¹"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." ¹²He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

There are so many things that can be explored in this passage of the paralytic man coming to Jesus. The first thing that strikes me is the faith of his friends and their love for him, including the determination they had to get him to see Jesus. It must have made quite a scene for the crowd, standing in this home, and, as they listened to Jesus teach, they watched above him as the roof/ceiling slowly but steadily opened up. Perhaps bits of dirt and clay fell upon the crowd--maybe they moved back to make way as they witnessed the incredible sight of a man being lowered through the roof.

I can envision Jesus calmly preaching, not surprised by what was going on about him.

Are we these kind of friends--willing to go the extra mile to bring our friends to Jesus? Would we be willing to cut a hole in the roof, perhaps willing to pay for repairs to the roof and sheetrock so that a friend could get to Jesus for his healing?

Tomorrow we'll come back to this passage to look at how Jesus forgave this man's sins because of his friends's faith, and how he also healed him.

- posted by Suzi @ 8:16 AM