“Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ ” (Mark 2:3-5).
If someone tore a hole in my roof I would describe it with one word: vandalism. It would seem that destroying someone’s house would be going beyond the boundaries of acceptable ministry. Yet, when the four men lowered their friend into the presence of Jesus He didn’t exclaim, “Vandals!” He saw their faith.
It took time, effort, and persistence for these men to get their friend to Jesus. They refused to give up in spite of a crowded room, stairs to the rooftop and the physical challenge of a roof in their way. They violated every principle of property rights and did serious damage to someone’s house to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus. Jesus didn’t rebuke them, instead, He commended their faith.
They weren’t able to heal the paralyzed man, but they knew Jesus could do it and they did what they could. They got him into the presence of Jesus. That is what each of us is called to do. We, too, know where to take the hurting. A reality of life is that people all around us are hurting physically, emotionally and spiritually. Their lives aren’t working out the way they wanted. Jesus is their answer just as He was our answer. Most of them will never come to Jesus unless someone else carries them. So that’s our mission!
These four men participated in two miracles that day. The paralyzed man walked out of the room carrying his mat. More important, his sins were forgiven. Jesus cares about people and God uses us to bring people to Him. After all, He is everything all of us need.
