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 paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” -Mark 2: 4-5 (NIV)
This scripture is referencing a time in history when Jesus preached in Capernaum to a crowd of people. Can you picture it? Jesus is in a house or gathering place and is telling them about grace, love and the mercy of God. I imagine the crowd was similar to church on Easter Sunday- you had to get there early to get a seat or even be seated in the overflow. In attendance, there were probably believers who hung on his every word and felt the sweet peace of being in the presence of the Almighty. There were probably people in need of miracles and knew that seeking His face was the only hope they had for recovery. Some were probably curious to see if the rumors they heard were true. Could he really heal the sick and raise the dead? I’m positive there were some who wanted to be in the mix just so they could say they were there. I see people peeking through the windows and spilling out into the street hoping to get a glimpse of or hear from the Messiah.
Four men came to the place carrying a paralyzed man but couldn’t get in to see Jesus due to the crowd. In my head, I imagine that the four men were perhaps relatives or life-long friends of the paralyzed man. Word had spread that Jesus was back in town and they figured this was the best time to get healing for his condition. As they approached the house and saw that it was too crowded to get in, they decided to go through the roof and lower the man down to Jesus.
Think about that.
When they saw that going inside the conventional way was not possible, they decided to go through the roof to get this man healed. Logistically, this had to be a nightmare. They had already carried the man to the house from who knows where. Now, they had to go get tools so they could dig through the roof to create an opening large enough to fit him through it. Once the opening was made, they needed to actually get the man up on the roof. Then, they had to create some type of contraption that would lower him down to Jesus.
The scripture says, “When Jesus saw their faith . . .” (emphasis added). Who is your “their”? Who do you have in your circle that is bold enough, strong enough, innovative enough, wise enough, resilient enough and quite frankly, crazy enough to think, “well, the door won’t work so let’s go through the roof.” Talk about #squadgoals. The verse doesn’t say anything about the paralyzed man calling out to Jesus or one of the four explaining why they were taking such drastic measures. Jesus saw their faith and I believe He saw their hope and heard their prayers.
Again, I ask, who is your “their”? Who you keep around you can be vital to your life. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’ “ Who you allow around you, to speak over you and speak into you can be detrimental to your future. Words have power and if those around you are not building you up with words of positivity, love and joy, you need to re-examine your relationship with those individuals.
A sister in Christ once shared with me that as a single woman, her faith in getting married had waned and she felt discouraged about her future. She wasn’t sure if it was still going to happen and she was losing faith. She surrounded herself by Godly women who held her up in prayer and confessed on her behalf that marriage was still in her future and asked God sustain her while she waited. My sister friend is now a happily married woman who was blessed with a Godly man. Just like the four men, her friends shouldered her burden and took her issue before the Lord on her behalf. I believe their tools to take the roof off consisted of prayer, fasting, worship and tithing- all on behalf of their dear friend. God saw their faith and honored their prayers even when she didn’t have the strength on her own.
If you are waiting on God to move in your life, be it healing, restoration or the fulfillment of dreams, surround yourself with spiritually-minded people who will boldly act on your behalf and have enough faith to take the roof off!
