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“A
few days later, when Jesus again entered
Capernaum, the people
heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left,
not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came,
bringing to him a paralytic, 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 and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man
was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son,
your sins are forgiven.”
Now some teachers
of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow
talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Immediately 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?
Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to
say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of
Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . .” He said to the
paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He 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!””
I’ve always loved the text about the paralytic. It is full of insight about
so many things with the varied messages throughout the text. There are so
many people in the story to look at. How did they feel, what did they do and
how did Jesus react to them? I feel privileged to have been given the
opportunity to study this text in detail.
This text begins a transition in the Gospel of Mark. This passage is the
beginning of Jesus’ conflict with the authorities, which continues into
chapter three. It is in this conflict with the authorities that we are able
to see more deeply what Jesus means in His actions and His words. Jesus
gives us a better understanding of who He is and why He is here as He deals
with the authorities.
Jesus had finally returned home. It was a long, tiring journey and He was
exhausted. He was looking for a place to rest, but the crowds had something
else in mind. A crowd gathered at the house He was in. However, Jesus didn’t
run them off like most of us would. He allowed them in and took the
opportunity to teach them. He took advantage of a wonderful opportunity to
teach. Those of you who are teachers know that people are much easier to
teach when they choose to be taught. These people sought Jesus out and He
embraced their need to learn. He invited them in their curiosity and
preached the Word.
There were four men with a friend that was paralyzed. They had heard about
Jesus and carried this paralytic to see Jesus. When they arrived at the
house there was a huge crowd. They couldn’t even get to the front
door. There were people everywhere, trying to see and hear this Jesus of
Nazareth.
These four men had amazing faith in Jesus. They knew that their friend
needed to see Jesus and they were persistent. Suddenly they get this crazy
idea. If they can’t get through the crowd, then they’ll have to find another
way in. Would you have taken this next step, could you have taken this
next step? Suddenly they get this crazy idea, the only way in was
through the roof, an amazingly extreme measure.
So, they managed to find a way up onto the roof and they struggled to get
their friend up on the roof as well. Imagine how difficult it must have been
to lift a fully-grown man onto a roof. They didn’t have a ladder; they would
have worked very hard. But, they accomplished it. Now they had to accomplish
the next part of the task. In order to get their friend to Jesus they needed
to find a way through the roof. They couldn’t know where Jesus was in the
house, but they had faith. The men began digging through the roof and their
faith paid off, as Jesus was directly below. What we know of how homes were
built back then tells us that the roof would have been made of sticks and
mud. So, these four men didn’t simply pick up part of this roof and set it
aside. They destroyed this roof! They dug, they ripped, they chipped and
they scratched at this roof with their hands and whatever tools they could
improvise until the hole was big enough to lower their friend through.
While they were destroying this roof, debris was falling inside the house.
Imagine how terrified everyone inside must have been. Then they lowered
their friend into the room and just happened to lower him right by
Jesus. The debris stopped falling and suddenly there is a man being lowered
in their midst. Not just any man, but a beggar. Someone considered unclean
lying near a Rabbi and the Scribes.
Jesus doesn’t seem surprised by what has taken place. Jesus, seeing their
faith, declares the man’s sins are forgiven. Whose faith? Not the faith of
the paralytic, but the faith of the four men. Jesus saw their faith
and forgave the sins of the paralytic because of what his friends believed
about Jesus. Is this a new thought about faith for you? This man was not
saved by his faith, but through the faith of his friends. We don’t even know
anything about the paralytic and apparently that didn’t matter to Jesus. All
that mattered is the faith of this man’s friends and what they went through
to bring him to Jesus. They lived their faith in Jesus Christ and brought
forgiveness to their friend in doing so.
Have you had any experiences like this in your life? How often have friends
carried you to Jesus? Have you carried your friends to Jesus?
But the story doesn’t end here.
Everyone that was
there saw what happened and heard what Jesus did. The Scribes were
there. They heard Jesus forgive this man’s sins.
Different
translations of the Bible have varied ways to render this part of the
text. Some of them make it appear as though the Scribes were talking among
themselves and others make it appear as though the Scribes were having these
thoughts internally. Well, this prompted me to look to the most reliable
Greek manuscripts we have available. In doing so, I see that the Greek leads
to the sense that each of the Scribes was thinking these thoughts in their
own minds and truly believed these thoughts in their own hearts.
They didn’t believe Jesus could forgive sins. They didn’t even have
to say anything. Jesus knew what was in their hearts. Jesus knew what they
were thinking.
Jesus confronted them and felt it necessary to give them a physical sign to
prove that he had the power to forgive sins. Jesus gave them a powerful
sign. He had already forgiven the man’s sins and now he commanded him to get
up and walk.
The house was crowded. Imagine the scene. The man stood up and picked up his
pallet, bumping into people along the way, people were stumbling over each
other to get out of his way. They couldn’t help but see what happened here.
The very product of this miracle was bumping into them on his way out the
door.
Wow, wouldn’t it be fabulous for Jesus to give us a sign that we could
touch and feel like this!
The last part of this passage says that the people in the house praised God
for what had just happened and claimed that they had never seen anything
like this before.
What makes this story amazing is the fact that throughout Mark’s Gospel
Jesus constantly works to hide His identity as the Son of God, the
Messiah. Here, Jesus seems to be trying to prove who He is. But the people
never really understand throughout the entire Gospel. Even the Disciples
that will be chosen in coming chapters don’t fully understand until it’s all
over.
I wonder what we are to
see in this story?
Jesus points out how important faith can be, even to those that might not be
faithful. The forgiveness of the man for the faith of his friends is a
wonderful teaching in itself. We can see their faith in their actions, but
Jesus must have known what they felt in their hearts. They lived out what
they already knew in their hearts.
Then we add the way the Scribes reacted. They didn’t even say anything to
Jesus. Jesus saw what was in their hearts and it was what was in their
hearts that truly mattered. Jesus wished to change their hearts. It didn’t
matter what the Scribes were doing, it only mattered what they truly
believed. Deep in their hearts they saw Jesus as a fraud and they were
unfaithful. To them, Jesus was a blasphemer. Because of their lack of faith,
Jesus did not just forgive the man of his sins, but he healed him of his
disease. Jesus healed to prove that He did have the power to forgive sins.
The people were amazed at what they saw. They had never seen anything like
this before. This shows us how awesome this event was.
This story is not complete without these three parts. We must first
experience the excruciating pain of the man’s friends and what their faith
pushed them to do. They risked their lives to take this man to
Jesus. Imagine how angry the person who owned this house was. Jesus forgives
the man’s sins because of the faithful actions of his friends. Well, he
wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for them, but was it the action or
the true faith in their hearts that Jesus saw?
Moving on to the Scribes, we see that their actions don’t matter. The
Scribes see the physical aspects of faith and they see nothing in the
forgiveness Jesus offered. But, Jesus saw their hearts. They needed to see
something physical to believe. So, Jesus showed them something physical to
go along with the intangible forgiveness He offered. This was a teaching
meant to change the Scribes and to challenge their thinking. The Scribes
knew the Scriptures and the Laws, but Jesus was telling them it’s not about
knowing everything. Jesus was teaching them that having faith in the One God
sent is more important than knowing the Scriptures and the Law.
Jesus came for our salvation and Jesus came as the perfect human example of
what God had hoped we would be. We look to the birth, life, death and
resurrection of Jesus as a sign of our salvation and the reality of the
length God will go to in order to bring us back to Him.
In this story, we are reminded that we are not saved by our actions. Nor
does knowing everything there is to be known save us. It can be a
complicated argument, but Jesus is telling us that it is what is in our
hearts that truly matters. What is in our heart can change people’s lives
and it is the hearts of the Scribes Jesus was seeking to change. It was the
faith in the friend’s hearts that prompted Jesus to forgive the
paralytic. It was the lack of faith and the reliance on the knowledge of the
law that moved Jesus to show the Scribes that they were wrong.
Can you see the message
that is there for us? What
seems to matter in this story is that actions come from faith in Jesus
Christ. Those that acted out that faith in love helped to bring forgiveness
to a friend when Jesus responded to their blind faith in His power. Those
that acted out of law found that Jesus was frustrated and Jesus sought to
change their very souls’ by proving who He was with power.
Most of us know where the story goes. The Scribes didn’t understand, but
many others did. It is this same faith that brings us here to worship. It is
this faith that makes us respond to the love and grace that Jesus brings
back into our lives. Jesus brings our focus back to our relationship with
each other and with God.
Look what can come of extreme measures guided by faith. I choose to respond
in faith even when my head says it doesn’t make sense. There
is nothing better than faith in the One that died for our sins so we might
live a new life. Amen. |
