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by Craig Waddell
Mark 2:1-12 (NIV)
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 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. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 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? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 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!”
Triggered to Serve
In this story, four men are sufficiently triggered to go through the roof! However it is not in the negative sense that we usually understand. Rather, they are driven to bring to Jesus someone from their community. I wonder what triggers them. Had they been following Jesus around, listening to his teaching and observing his power to heal? Had they perhaps given up on expecting anything from God, only to be led to that very possibility by their encounter with Jesus? Certainly something about Jesus has made them believe God is doing something new that includes them, something that could change their lives.
What they experienced with Jesus evidently has caused them to see their old community, as well, in a new way. Old circumstances, old relationships, even old afflictions are no longer a hopeless destiny. With hope born of their own experience they think their community could be changed by experiencing Jesus. This realisation does not remain theoretical, however. Their own experience with Jesus triggers them into action and they think of a specific situation, a specific person in their community, and they go to get him.
When the house is packed with people, and they cannot get to Jesus, the four men literally go through the roof! They are so determined to accomplish an encounter with Jesus that they remove enough roofing material to lower their compatriot into the house, down to where he can meet Jesus. They do something out-of-the-box in order to get into-the-box!
Is your experience with Jesus giving you hope in your life? Can you think of someone in your community who needs to encounter Jesus in some way? Get specific – how can you serve them? You might have to change the way you do church in order to make it happen.