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When God seems inaccessible
And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together,
so that there was no more room,
not even at the door.
And he was preaching the word to them.
And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
And when they could not get near him because of the crowd,
they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.
And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,
“Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:1-5 ESV)
When help seems just beyond our reach
There are times when we hear of people having amazing experiences with God - only to find that when we try to have such an experience the way to God seems blocked and the help we seek is out of our reach. This was the situation of our four friends in this story. They had a friend with such profound needs that they were desperate to see Jesus, believing that if they could just get into His presence their friend would be healed. These four guys are easy to overlook in this passage so I want to take a bit of time to examine their role in this healing and their faith that impressed Jesus so much.
The Persistence of Faith
The first thing that seems clear about these guys is that they truly believed that Jesus not only could but would heal their friend - if they could only get their friend to Jesus. So they did the obvious thing which was to take their friend to Jesus, but there was a problem. The way to Jesus was blocked by the masses of people surrounding Jesus. In this story ironically we see how people are both the means to healing and the obstacle to healing at the same time. But maybe that is another article.
Our friends did not accept this situation, their desperation was every bit as intense as their faith. In fact I believe that it was their faith that drove their desperation. The belief that Jesus would help them was so strong that they did not stop regardless of the difficulties. If you notice carefully in the story it was the faith of the friends that Jesus was responding to, there is no mention of the faith of the paralytic. It was when Jesus saw the faith of his friends that he responded.
A Surprising Response
What is most surprising in this story is the response of Jesus. He did not immediately heal the paralyzed man, which is it seems what everyone expected. Instead, he pronounced the mans sins forgiven! Did Jesus overlook the mans greatest need? Or did He instead heal the greatest need first? I think one of the lessons in this story is that sin is a greater crisis than any physical infirmity. Jesus shows himself to be much more than just a healer of bodies for a time, He is a healer of souls for eternity.
Unbelief raises it’s ugly head
Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,
“Why does this man speak like that?
He is blaspheming!
Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, (Mark 2:6-8 ESV)
The Scribes knew the scriptures and understood the law. These were not inconsequential thoughts they were having. The Scribes knew that the authority to forgive belonged to God alone and no human could simply take this authority on for themselves. If Jesus was just a preacher it did not give him authority to forgive sins. To make such a claim was outrageous and blasphemous.
Technically they were not wrong, but in this case they were not dealing with an ordinary man. They were dealing with the only Son of God. Jesus was not a “son of God” in the normal sense the Jews or even we might use the term. But He was entirely unique in His relationship with God. He was with God and He was God according to John, and in this story we see that unique relationship revealed. Jesus did in fact have the authority to forgive sins because He was God. Ironically the Scribes were right, only God can forgive sins. Jesus did not argue with them on this point, He simply demonstrated His power and authority in front of them and left it to them to decide.
The Reward of Persistent Faith
“Why do you question these things in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,
‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say,
‘Rise, take up your bed 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 say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”
And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all,
so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying,
“We never saw anything like this!” (Mark 2:8-12 ESV)
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
To this point, although I am sure the four friends were gratified to see their paralyzed friend forgiven by God, they still did not receive what they came for, which was healing for their friend. They had gone to extreme lengths to get him into the presence of Jesus. They demonstrated great faith in the ability of Jesus to heal their friend as they broke through the roof of a stranger to get access. Their persistence had put them into the presence of Jesus, but they still had not received the blessing that they came for.
As is often the case, both in this story of Jesus and in our own experiences with God, He never seems to respond exactly the way we think He should to our persistent prayers and faith. This story I think demonstrates why He often responds in such unexpected ways. He has something much bigger than our particular problem in mind.
Jesus could have healed with a word as He did in many other cases, and people would have been very impressed. But instead He announces the forgiveness of God to this man, and only he and this paralytic knew what that forgiveness was for. It is possible that the faith of the friends was praised because the paralytic had none, he may have even been bitter toward God. If you think about this for a minute it is actually quite plausible, since the paralytic never interacts directly with Jesus. In this passage he never speaks either to his faithful friends or to Jesus. Yet Jesus forgives him, and he finds this forgiveness - because of the faithful efforts of his friends.
This is a story of persistent faith, but not faith for our own benefit, faith for the benefit of others. These friends exercised their faith by putting it into pretty extreme action. I mean, after this was over someone had to fix that very hospitable mans roof! I don’t think he was anticipating damage to his house when he let Jesus and his friends in that day. Actually the homeowner in this story is probably another whole story. We often don’t know what we are getting into when we let Jesus into our house. It is always awesome, but very often it is also costly.
But in the end the enacted prayers of these four friends was rewarded and their friend who had suffered so much was healed both body and soul. He was set free from the bondage of the paralysis of his body while being set free in his spirit from the paralysis of sin. Life had truly begun anew for this man. And for those friends that were willing to do whatever it took in faith for their friend, they were changed as well. They came to understand that Jesus was not just a healer and a teacher, but He was so much more. Jesus is Lord! Jesus is The Lord!
So this week let’s not calculate the cost so much that we do not act. Let’s do whatever it takes to bring our friends to Jesus with whatever afflicts them. Let’s be the faithful friend that does not give up when it gets difficult. Let’s persist in our faith both in prayer and action until we find ourselves in the presence of Jesus where His authority and power can truly set us free from the things that paralyze us all!
Have a great week!
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
View all episodes
By Tom PossinAnd when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together,
so that there was no more room,
not even at the door.
And he was preaching the word to them.
And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
And when they could not get near him because of the crowd,
they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.
And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,
“Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:1-5 ESV)
When help seems just beyond our reach
There are times when we hear of people having amazing experiences with God - only to find that when we try to have such an experience the way to God seems blocked and the help we seek is out of our reach. This was the situation of our four friends in this story. They had a friend with such profound needs that they were desperate to see Jesus, believing that if they could just get into His presence their friend would be healed. These four guys are easy to overlook in this passage so I want to take a bit of time to examine their role in this healing and their faith that impressed Jesus so much.
The Persistence of Faith
The first thing that seems clear about these guys is that they truly believed that Jesus not only could but would heal their friend - if they could only get their friend to Jesus. So they did the obvious thing which was to take their friend to Jesus, but there was a problem. The way to Jesus was blocked by the masses of people surrounding Jesus. In this story ironically we see how people are both the means to healing and the obstacle to healing at the same time. But maybe that is another article.
Our friends did not accept this situation, their desperation was every bit as intense as their faith. In fact I believe that it was their faith that drove their desperation. The belief that Jesus would help them was so strong that they did not stop regardless of the difficulties. If you notice carefully in the story it was the faith of the friends that Jesus was responding to, there is no mention of the faith of the paralytic. It was when Jesus saw the faith of his friends that he responded.
A Surprising Response
What is most surprising in this story is the response of Jesus. He did not immediately heal the paralyzed man, which is it seems what everyone expected. Instead, he pronounced the mans sins forgiven! Did Jesus overlook the mans greatest need? Or did He instead heal the greatest need first? I think one of the lessons in this story is that sin is a greater crisis than any physical infirmity. Jesus shows himself to be much more than just a healer of bodies for a time, He is a healer of souls for eternity.
Unbelief raises it’s ugly head
Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,
“Why does this man speak like that?
He is blaspheming!
Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, (Mark 2:6-8 ESV)
The Scribes knew the scriptures and understood the law. These were not inconsequential thoughts they were having. The Scribes knew that the authority to forgive belonged to God alone and no human could simply take this authority on for themselves. If Jesus was just a preacher it did not give him authority to forgive sins. To make such a claim was outrageous and blasphemous.
Technically they were not wrong, but in this case they were not dealing with an ordinary man. They were dealing with the only Son of God. Jesus was not a “son of God” in the normal sense the Jews or even we might use the term. But He was entirely unique in His relationship with God. He was with God and He was God according to John, and in this story we see that unique relationship revealed. Jesus did in fact have the authority to forgive sins because He was God. Ironically the Scribes were right, only God can forgive sins. Jesus did not argue with them on this point, He simply demonstrated His power and authority in front of them and left it to them to decide.
The Reward of Persistent Faith
“Why do you question these things in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,
‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say,
‘Rise, take up your bed 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 say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”
And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all,
so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying,
“We never saw anything like this!” (Mark 2:8-12 ESV)
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
To this point, although I am sure the four friends were gratified to see their paralyzed friend forgiven by God, they still did not receive what they came for, which was healing for their friend. They had gone to extreme lengths to get him into the presence of Jesus. They demonstrated great faith in the ability of Jesus to heal their friend as they broke through the roof of a stranger to get access. Their persistence had put them into the presence of Jesus, but they still had not received the blessing that they came for.
As is often the case, both in this story of Jesus and in our own experiences with God, He never seems to respond exactly the way we think He should to our persistent prayers and faith. This story I think demonstrates why He often responds in such unexpected ways. He has something much bigger than our particular problem in mind.
Jesus could have healed with a word as He did in many other cases, and people would have been very impressed. But instead He announces the forgiveness of God to this man, and only he and this paralytic knew what that forgiveness was for. It is possible that the faith of the friends was praised because the paralytic had none, he may have even been bitter toward God. If you think about this for a minute it is actually quite plausible, since the paralytic never interacts directly with Jesus. In this passage he never speaks either to his faithful friends or to Jesus. Yet Jesus forgives him, and he finds this forgiveness - because of the faithful efforts of his friends.
This is a story of persistent faith, but not faith for our own benefit, faith for the benefit of others. These friends exercised their faith by putting it into pretty extreme action. I mean, after this was over someone had to fix that very hospitable mans roof! I don’t think he was anticipating damage to his house when he let Jesus and his friends in that day. Actually the homeowner in this story is probably another whole story. We often don’t know what we are getting into when we let Jesus into our house. It is always awesome, but very often it is also costly.
But in the end the enacted prayers of these four friends was rewarded and their friend who had suffered so much was healed both body and soul. He was set free from the bondage of the paralysis of his body while being set free in his spirit from the paralysis of sin. Life had truly begun anew for this man. And for those friends that were willing to do whatever it took in faith for their friend, they were changed as well. They came to understand that Jesus was not just a healer and a teacher, but He was so much more. Jesus is Lord! Jesus is The Lord!
So this week let’s not calculate the cost so much that we do not act. Let’s do whatever it takes to bring our friends to Jesus with whatever afflicts them. Let’s be the faithful friend that does not give up when it gets difficult. Let’s persist in our faith both in prayer and action until we find ourselves in the presence of Jesus where His authority and power can truly set us free from the things that paralyze us all!
Have a great week!
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe