Can’t get to Jesus? Punch a Hole in the Roof
If the people had made way for the paralytic and his friends to pass they would have had no need for cracking open a hole in the roof!Let our churches be empty because everyone is out there, bringing the broken to the Master.
The house was crowded because Jesus was there. He had just arrived at Capernaum and news of His arrival spread like wildfire. So much so, that there was no space inside the house and the crowd gathered outside nudging and pushing each other to hear the words of the master. Then something unprecedented happened.
“…they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.” Mark 2:3–4
As a Christian I heard this story a hundred times. Extruded lessons such as how important friendship was, the authority that Jesus had to forgive sins, and many others. However, something that lied right there in front of me drastically changed my perspective of life, church and religion
“They could not come near Him because of the crowd”
The paralytic’s friends were determined to get him to Jesus, but there was an obstacle, there was an enormous crowd gathered outside. But they said to themselves “nothing’s gonna stop us.” And this is the part that struck me. Normally we continue on with the narrative unto the part where they opened a hole in the roof and they let his friend down, yet we tend to miss that:
If the people had made way for the paralytic and his friends to pass they would have had no need for cracking open a hole in the roof!
The church should be like the friends his man had. Who would stop at nothing to get him to Jesus, but many times it seems that it works in reverse. We hurry to church and we group ourselves in large numbers but it’s “OK” because we are with Jesus.
We are so worried to be facing Jesus that we forget that there is a world in our backs that is in desperate need of Jesus’ miraculous touch.
Really? No, seriously, do people who are earnestly seeking Christ have to come to the extent of dodging a tumult and tearing a roof to get to Jesus?
Passive listening vs Active Roof-tearing
How different would the story have been if all the people, instead of just standing there listening to Jesus, would have been bringing people to be healed and touched by Jesus. Put the zeal and passion these friends had that lead them to dig up the roof of the house, place it on all of the people who were there, just listening to Jesus, and you will see how the numbers grow exponentially.
The role of the church, nay, the role that each one of us has is to do everything in our power to bring our friends to Christ.
The Mission
Let us be like the friends of the paralytic man, who would stop at nothing to get him at the feet of Jesus. Let our churches be empty because everyone is out there, bringing the broken to the Master. The crowd stood there, listened to Jesus, and then went home. Who knows if they were really changed, who knows if the words that Jesus spoke really resonated within their hearts but one thing is certain, the one that came on a stretcher left walking.
My prayer is that our churches become Oasis amidst all the sadness and desperation of this world. That in the calmness and stillness of them the wounded may find healing.