Mark 2:1-12
Several days later he returned to Capernaum, and the news of his arrival spread quickly through the city. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there wasn’t room for a single person more, not even outside the door. And he preached the Word to them. Four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They couldn’t get to Jesus through the crowd, so they dug through the clay roof above his head and lowered the sick man on his stretcher, right down in front of Jesus.
When Jesus saw how strongly they believed that he would help, Jesus said to the sick man, “Son, your sins are forgiven!” But some of the Jewish religious leaders said to themselves as they sat there, “What? This is blasphemy! Does he think he is God? For only God can forgive sins.” Jesus could read their minds and said to them at once, “Why does this bother you? I, the Messiah, have the authority on earth to forgive sins. But talk is cheap—anybody could say that. So I’ll prove it to you by healing this man.” Then, turning to the paralyzed man, he commanded, “Pick up your stretcher and go on home, for you are healed!” The man jumped up, took the stretcher, and pushed his way through the stunned onlookers! Then how they praised God. “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” they all exclaimed.
Food for thought!
Four men wanted to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus, but couldn’t get him there because of the crowds that blocked the door into the house where Jesus was teaching. You already see how egoistic sometimes we get! Imagine: here's is a sick man on a stretcher wanting to get to the divine healer and be healed, and no one lets him do it. It is like the people are saying, we don't mind about you and your sickness as long as we are OK and listening to what Jesus is saying; don't disturb us with your problems. I am imagining the sick man pleading with the people to have mercy on his situation ...!
The sick man was lucky, he had friends (a friend in need is a friend indeed). His friends having gotten fed up with the people's attitude, must have said to their friend, "don't mind them, these people are also sick, may be sicker than you; they may be physically ok, spiritually they are not; they too need Jesus." So the four men took their friend where there were nobody, onto the roof of the house, broke up the roof and lowered their friend down to Jesus through the hole in the roof.
These four men who brought their friend to Jesus were willing to do whatever it took to get their friend to the Lord. They dared to do what was difficult. Whenever you are faced with a choice between doing two things, always choose the most difficult and the most unlikely thing. That's where the blessing is lying disguised. It was not easy to carry that grown up man up on the roof. It was a difficult task. And when they could not get him to a place in front of Jesus because of the throng, they dug through the roof above Him.
The people dared to do the unusual. They were willing to think outside the box! They were innovative! For them, it was not business as usual, it took ingenuity to think of breaking up the rules. Yes, sometimes we must do the extraordinary in order to get the ordinary; we must break the rules and go against everyone's expectations. In the eyes of the people, the four men were breaking the rules and going against the normal thing, against the "good" thing. For Jesus, however, these four men were something else, they were heroes. What Jesus saw in these men was not folly but faith; he saw how strongly they believed that he would help.
It means that Jesus saw their ernest desire. Their desire was not a hope! It was not a wish! It was a keen, pulsating desire, which transcended everything else. The four men succeeded because they chose a definite goal, placed all their energy, all their will power, all their effort, everything back of that goal. You too can achieve what you desire because desire is the starting point of all achievement! Life only brings us what we desire, good or bad.
Several days later he returned to Capernaum, and the news of his arrival spread quickly through the city. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there wasn’t room for a single person more, not even outside the door. And he preached the Word to them. Four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They couldn’t get to Jesus through the crowd, so they dug through the clay roof above his head and lowered the sick man on his stretcher, right down in front of Jesus.
When Jesus saw how strongly they believed that he would help, Jesus said to the sick man, “Son, your sins are forgiven!” But some of the Jewish religious leaders said to themselves as they sat there, “What? This is blasphemy! Does he think he is God? For only God can forgive sins.” Jesus could read their minds and said to them at once, “Why does this bother you? I, the Messiah, have the authority on earth to forgive sins. But talk is cheap—anybody could say that. So I’ll prove it to you by healing this man.” Then, turning to the paralyzed man, he commanded, “Pick up your stretcher and go on home, for you are healed!” The man jumped up, took the stretcher, and pushed his way through the stunned onlookers! Then how they praised God. “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” they all exclaimed.
Food for thought!
Four men wanted to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus, but couldn’t get him there because of the crowds that blocked the door into the house where Jesus was teaching. You already see how egoistic sometimes we get! Imagine: here's is a sick man on a stretcher wanting to get to the divine healer and be healed, and no one lets him do it. It is like the people are saying, we don't mind about you and your sickness as long as we are OK and listening to what Jesus is saying; don't disturb us with your problems. I am imagining the sick man pleading with the people to have mercy on his situation ...!
The sick man was lucky, he had friends (a friend in need is a friend indeed). His friends having gotten fed up with the people's attitude, must have said to their friend, "don't mind them, these people are also sick, may be sicker than you; they may be physically ok, spiritually they are not; they too need Jesus." So the four men took their friend where there were nobody, onto the roof of the house, broke up the roof and lowered their friend down to Jesus through the hole in the roof.
These four men who brought their friend to Jesus were willing to do whatever it took to get their friend to the Lord. They dared to do what was difficult. Whenever you are faced with a choice between doing two things, always choose the most difficult and the most unlikely thing. That's where the blessing is lying disguised. It was not easy to carry that grown up man up on the roof. It was a difficult task. And when they could not get him to a place in front of Jesus because of the throng, they dug through the roof above Him.
The people dared to do the unusual. They were willing to think outside the box! They were innovative! For them, it was not business as usual, it took ingenuity to think of breaking up the rules. Yes, sometimes we must do the extraordinary in order to get the ordinary; we must break the rules and go against everyone's expectations. In the eyes of the people, the four men were breaking the rules and going against the normal thing, against the "good" thing. For Jesus, however, these four men were something else, they were heroes. What Jesus saw in these men was not folly but faith; he saw how strongly they believed that he would help.
It means that Jesus saw their ernest desire. Their desire was not a hope! It was not a wish! It was a keen, pulsating desire, which transcended everything else. The four men succeeded because they chose a definite goal, placed all their energy, all their will power, all their effort, everything back of that goal. You too can achieve what you desire because desire is the starting point of all achievement! Life only brings us what we desire, good or bad.
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