When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”
But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” – Mark 2:1-12
In the movie Braveheart, there’s an iconic scene just before the Scots take to the battlefield against the soldiers of England in the epic fight for their independence. William Wallace, Scotland’s own native son, is gathered around his trusted leaders. One of his men asks him, “Well, what do we do now?” Wallace replies, “Just be yourselves.” Then, just before Wallace turns to go meet with the opposing commanders to give them his terms, they ask him, “Where are you going?” Wallace replies, “I’m going to pick a fight.”
Sometimes, we don’t have the luxury of waiting for the battle to come to us; we must go to the battle. And that’s precisely what the paralyzed man’s friends did. They didn’t wait for Jesus to come find them, they went to him. And on this day, he was teaching at Simon Peter’s house.
Once they finally arrived, what a disheartening scene it must’ve been for them. The house was packed, people scrunched together shoulder to shoulder inside, and an entire village of people gathered outside the house trying to listen to Jesus’ teaching.
Using their friend’s sleeping mat as a gurney, they had carried him all the way there in hopes of begging Jesus to heal him. Who knows how far they had to travel, perhaps it may have been several miles. But these friends refused to become disheartened and give up.
Even if it meant damaging the roof of a stranger’s home.
I don’t know about you, but this story challenges my perception of what it means to love and care for a friend. It causes me to think of the number of times that I’ve inwardly groaned when someone has asked me for a ride to a recovery meeting. Or the few times when I’ve begrudgingly handed over a few dollars to someone who has no money. Or the number of times I’ve driven by a homeless person holding a sign and refused to even make eye contact.
Jesus never turned away from anyone who needed help. Not once. But I sure have. And I needed to read this today to be reminded that to be like Jesus, I too must be willing to sacrifice just like these friends did.
Former Blackout Artist 