Some people came bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. When they were not able to bring him in because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Jesus. Then, after tearing it out, they lowered the stretcher the paralytic was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the experts in the law were sitting there, turning these things over in their minds: “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Now immediately, when Jesus realized in his spirit that they were contemplating such thoughts, he said to them, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, take your stretcher, and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—he said to the paralytic—“I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” And immediately the man stood up, took his stretcher, and went out in front of them all. They were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.” (Mark 2:3-12 — NET)
These four men were determined to get help for their friend. They knew Jesus could help him if they could only get near Him. Since they couldn't get in through the door of the house He was in, they tore a hole in the roof! …and lowered down their friend right in front of Him. What rude people they were, damaging a stranger’s house and cutting in line ahead of people who had been there before them. If that happened today a lot of people would jump on their cases and accuse them of being bad Christians. But Jesus saw faith in their actions and quickly healed and forgave their friend. Clearly He was pleased with their bold, “rude” attitude.
I wonder… are you too nice and proper? Have you ever torn a hole in a roof and insisted on God changing your life? Being a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ is not always synonymous with patience, love, and kindness. Genuine faith is rough and determined—even stubbornly insistent on what it wants. Real faith that is sure of what God has promised, places its hands over its ears and ignores people saying the opposite. When David decided to kill Goliath, his brothers called him arrogant, and when we are operating in true faith, people will accuse us of the same thing—not because we are arrogant, but because they don’t understand the single-mindedness of real, raw, genuine faith.
Jesus did not rebuke these men for doing what they did most likely because their attitude was like a breath of fresh air to Him. He must have seen Himself in them, and gotten excited. Many Christians are so correct and proper that they are boring. They are too afraid to make a mistake and so they never set their faith lose to create the miracle that they need. Peter, Jesus’ disciple, had more faith than the other disciples, but also made the most mistake, and yet he was one of three that Jesus valued more than the rest.
Another truth we see in this passage is that before healing the paralytic Jesus forgave his sins. This seems to point to the fact that his sickness entered through some type of sin. If He had not forgiven him and healed the man’s heart, the sickness might have come right back. In the same way, lots of people today are sick because of sinful thoughts, habits, and behavior. They can pray until they are blue in the face and never be healed. What they need is to cleanse their hearts, repent, and ask for forgiveness, and then their healing will appear.
When are you finally going to tear a hole in a roof?
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