While Jesus stayed at Peter's house in Capernaum, a great crowd gathered to hear him speak. Wouldn't it have been fascinating to be there in Peter's living room as Jesus taught! The crowds, however, were oblivious to the need outside. They wanted to hear Jesus, but were inconsiderate of the paralyzed man outside whose friends were trying to get him to Jesus for healing. They were desperate to see their friend made whole. They could have turned back discouraged when they saw the crowd, but they were determined and got creative. Going up the outer staircase to the roof and removing branches, mud, and straw was a messy business as debris fell inside Peter's living room and guests backed away wondering what was going on. The four men had to work together perfectly in tandem with ropes to get the paralyzed man safely to the floor and right in front of Jesus.
Compare this to our own efforts at getting someone to Jesus - do we love our friends enough to bring them this far with such determination? Do we network, working in tandem together to show people the love of Jesus? Do we mind getting our hands dirty and making a mess? (The mess may be in our own house as it was in Peter's!) Or is it that our minds are so crowded, as was Peter's house, that bringing people to Jesus is not a consideration? We need to raise our sense of awareness of people who need Jesus and pray for opportunities to bring them to Jesus for healing and restoration. We learn from the text that it is the faith of the man's friends, not his own, that Jesus notices and becomes the catalyst for the healing to take place (Mark 2:5). I believe we vastly underestimate our role in bringing people to Jesus with determination, effort, prayers, and perseverance.
Jesus dealt with the man's spiritual issue first - he forgave his sin - them told him to get up, take his mat, and go home. Whatever his paralysis was, it was crippling. We can have similar paralysis when we don't let go of old sins and old habits, even after we are forgiven - our joy is not complete until we let God be God and we let go of our guilt and give it to Him. Jesus heals us and we continue to lie on that mat. Whether emotional, physical, or spiritual, Jesus has the answer for our paralysis and the paralysis of our friends and loved ones. Jesus heals with authority, to the irritation of the religious leaders, and forgives the man's sin which only God can do. We hear Jesus refer to himself as "son of man" a reference to a powerful figure from Daniel 7:13,14.
Who are you in this story? Are you the paralyzed man in need of healing? Are you one of the inconsiderate crowd preventing someone from coming to Jesus? Are you one of the disciples, on the sideline, not even mentioned in this story? Are you one of the friends of the paralytic, determined to get him to Jesus? Let us be about the Kingdom work of bringing paralyzed people to Jesus. Remember that dealing with people is messy, and sometimes frustrating, so don't mind the mess! Let us help one another in our own paralysis through friendship, prayer, and being the healing presence of Jesus to one another and to the world.
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