A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers 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 paralysed 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 paralysed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:1–5, NIV).
After travelling throughout Galilee, Jesus returns to Capernaum, and the people are excited to hear that he has come back. It looks like Jesus is in for a busy time again.
This was a dramatic event. This paralysed man had nothing else in this world, but he still had friends. And when they couldn’t get through the crowd into the house where Jesus was teaching, they climbed up onto the roof, made a hole, and lowered their friends with ropes, onto the ground before the Lord.
Jesus was impressed by the faith of these men, but what happened next amazed everyone. Until now, Jesus had been doing miracles, but hadn’t yet forgiven sin. But now Jesus was going to teach them the next lesson, about what the Kingdom of God was all about.
Everyone probably thought that Jesus would say, “Son, get up and walk.” But Jesus knew what was most important, and what came first, so instead, he said to him, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
This man’s friends weren’t about to let any barriers stand between their friend and Jesus. So, if these men couldn’t get in through the doorway, they were prepared to demolish the roof!
Take a moment to think about the barriers that stand in the way of your friends meeting Jesus. How can you help demolish those barriers? What are your own barriers for a deeper connection with Jesus? Is your faith similar to the friends in this story?
Article supplied with thanks to Dr Eliezer Gonzalez.
About the Author: Dr Eli Gonzalez is the Senior Pastor of Good News Unlimited and the presenter of the Unlimited radio spots, and The Big Question.
Feature image: Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
