On this day, Capernaum was thick with moral superiority and pious judgment. Luke tells us that Pharisees, scribes, and the religious elite “from every village” were crammed into one home for one reason: to hear Jesus teach. It wasn’t like they wanted to learn. They listened to Jesus like most watch a politician they don’t like: to mock, disagree, and trap in hypocrisy. Still here they gathered, a target-rich environment of religious influencers, right in front of Jesus. If there was ever a sermon you’d want to go well, wouldn’t it be this one? Jesus stood and began faithfully “preaching the word to them.”
Then the ceiling cracked.
Dust probably covered the front row of guests. A hammer pounded and ripped away roof tiles until sunlight flooded the room. Every eye fixed on this absurd site: a man laying on a mat, carefully lowered by four pairs of arms, “into the midst before Jesus.”
Whenever I hear the story of the Paralytic and his Four Friends, I’m typically challenged to do something like: Love my friends more.
Carry people to Jesus.
Overcome obstacles to share my faith, etc.
All good challenges.
But the real hero of this story isn’t the group who carried a friend, but the one who would carry a cross. Jesus’ reaction to these five needy, interrupting, and shockingly bold intruders is beautiful.
In contrast, my first response to extreme interruptions are usually Pharisee-like. Maybe I would have told the men:
This is teaching time. We are respectful and quiet for the teacher. Put away your tools and wait for him to finish.
or
He was literally healing for hours the other day and you couldn’t come then?!
or
How selfish are you that you would interrupt a crowd of people to bring your own need front and center?
Not only did Jesus not respond like this, he knew these men would crash his lesson. It wasn’t an interruption at all to him, but an extension of his teaching. A real-life illustration literally dropped from the sky.
Jesus also knew the reason the men couldn’t get to him: religious leaders took up most of the seats. Mark 2 says, “there was no more room, not even at the door.” How often do religious people block the way for outsiders to get to Jesus? Sometimes we’re so absorbed in our own world that we become oblivious to the desperate and hurting people just outside.
Jesus responded to these men in four ways.
- He doesn’t send them away: He isn’t offended or embarrassed by the interruption. He acknowledges the men. He knew they were coming. It’s the same way we came to Christ: empty and broken, full of sin and desperate.
- He commends their faith, not their efforts: These men went to extraordinary lengths to bring their friend to Jesus, but Jesus doesn’t mention that. Instead he mentions what their actions prove: their God-given faith. This room of trophy-carrying, Old Testament-scholars are going to hear loud and clear that the Messiah responds to faith.
- He meets the greatest need: The men obviously want their friend to walk. But before Jesus deals with the physical, he performs the Greater Miracle. He says, “Man, your sins are forgiven.” This scandalous declaration made Pharisee blood run cold. What mere man has the audacity to forgive sin? Who does he think he is? Many today think Jesus was just a great moral leader. But this is not the declaration of a mere prophet. An influential teacher. A marginalized man trying to help other marginalized people. Nope. This was the claim of One who thought himself to be God.
Another lie that infects our modern-day culture claims, “the man on the mat doesn’t have sin.” Victims don’t need Saviors. This lie suggests that the more we’ve suffered, the holier we are. It teaches that people covered in their own scars don’t need a Savior to wear scars for them. Nothing is further from the Truth. Jesus defies this lie by looking down at this helpless, hurting man stretched out on a mat and indicating: “You have sin that needs forgiving, and I am the one to forgive it.” Despite the fact that this paralyzed man had suffered for a lifetime on this earth, he would continue to suffer for all eternity were it not for faith in Jesus. Before his legs ever worked, his soul was made clean because Jesus forgave his sin. - He meets the physical need too “so we may know”: Jesus does not say as the hypocrite in James, “Go in peace, be warmed and well-fed,” without actually meeting the need before him. Jesus heals this man, so we may know he is the Son of God with all authority in heaven and on earth. We must bring the gospel to others with real tangible good. Food. Clothing. Friendship. Open homes and open tables. Emotional help. Relational help. Community. Burden-sharing.
Don’t you know the stunned crowd parted like the Red Sea to let this newly healed man walk out. Lowered through broken roof tiles. Raised to walk with weight-bearing legs and a weight-lifted soul.
May we welcome the unexpected interruptions as divinely dropped opportunities. Let’s love enough to meet some physical needs around us while never neglecting their Greater Need of salvation in Jesus alone. And may we continue in our God-given ministries, faithfully bringing others to Jesus each and every time the roof above our platform starts to crack.
