“UNPARALYZED”
Text: Mark 2: 1-12 Esv
1 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 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. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 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. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." 6 Now some of the Scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 "Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, "Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk'? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--he said to the paralytic-- 11 "I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home." 12 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!". †
JESUS CAN FORGIVE OUR SINS
The first and most remarkable revelation of our text is that Jesus has the same authority as God the Father; namely, he has the authority to pronounce God’s forgiveness of sins, which are all offenses against God himself. That is the main point of this text. Even so, there are other points to be made as we see ourselves mirrored in the text, for we too are helpless but for God’s forgiveness and healing touch.
I’m going to appeal to your imaginations and suggest some details to this story which the text does not reveal; even so, we do this respecting both the word and spirit of Mark’s gospel.
PARALYZED
A teenager who loves horseback-riding, hiking, tennis and swimming is out with friends on a sunny day. She takes a dive into the Chesapeake Bay, but misjudges the water’s depth and suffers a fracture between the 4th and 5th cervical levels and becomes a quadriplegic from the neck down. You may have heard the story of this teenager, Joni Eareckson Tada. She, like the paralytic in our text, suffers nearly total paralysis. Even so, she has built a tremendous witness to Christ out of her journey. She is a speaker, painter, and she even released a singing album that did well on the Christian charts.
No feeling in the arms, legs, hands, feet—anywhere beneath the neck. Technically, paralysis is the loss of muscular function throughout the body. It is debilitating and robs its sufferers of liberty and movement.
What strikes me first about this story is what great friends this paralytic has. What did this paralytic do to gain four such loyal and devoted friends? Either he was a truly great guy or else one of the 4 friends was a terrific leader.
Scene A: Guys with iPhones
“Sam! Daniel. Yeah, hang on—I’m gonna conference in Jonah and Asher—hang on. . . Jonah? Yeah, hang on. . . Asher?. . . Yeah, we got everybody. Listen guys, this miracle-worker/Jesus guy is back home—yeah, he just got back today! I know. . . but he’s back! Let’s go get Benjamin and take him over to him—no, right now! Otherwise there’ll be a crowd again. Great. Meet ya there. Wait! Asher, bring that stretcher of yours, wouldja?”
Do you have four friends that would do this for you if you were paralyzed? Four friends who would drop whatever they’re doing to come get you and take you to Jesus? If our paralytic (we’re calling him Benjamin) had not had these four, devoted friends, then we would have no story, and Benjamin would simply spend the rest of his days paralyzed.
Scene B: At Benjamin’s (The Paralytic)
“Okay guys, ready? No of course he not gonna wanna go, but we’re gonna take him, agreed? He doesn’t talk us out of it, agreed? Let’s try to do this quickly—his parents know we’re here, it’s okay.”
(After a short riot of abduction noises, the four have Benjamin on his stretcher and make their way toward the house where Jesus is staying. The four are enjoying this much more than Benjamin, the paralytic, who protests on the surface but deep down is filled with hope and expectation.
The idea kidnapping a beloved friend in order to do him good sounds to me like a lot of fun. Unless, of course, you’re the guy on the stretcher, then you complain about embarrassment, humiliation, and probably just about anything else other than being left alone at home.
Scene C: The Arrival
The group rounds the last corner to see, to their dismay, a crowd surrounding the house. It looks like WalMart late on Thanksgiving night—a crowd is packed around the door.
“Look at the line! We’ll never get in—we’ll be waiting for a week!”
“Sorry Benjamin, but we tried.”
[Daniel is determined]: “Are you kidding? We’re not gonna quit now—there has to be a way.” [the lights go on in Daniel’s face] Listen—I have an idea—Jonah and Asher, go find some rope.”
“How much”
“Forty feet should do it—hurry! Go! Now! Sam, can you get a couple of gardening tools—a couple of hand spades oughta do it.”
Do you have friends who don’t give up easily—friends determined to follow through on your behalf? Friends who don’t give up on you at the first sign of obstacles?
Scene D: Up the Steps
“‘Scuse us! ‘Scuse us! No, we’re not cutting in line, we’re just going up on the roof—please just let us get to the stairs. Thanks.”
Benjamin: “Guys—Stairs—not a good idea!”
Daniel: “Yeah guys, this could be tricky—we gotta keep the stretcher level—up high in the back, let’s go.”
Jonah: “Hey Daniel, what’s the rope for?”
Daniel: [wry smile] “You’ll see.”
How would you feel if you were waiting your turn in line and these guys coming pressing in with their friend on a stretcher?
Good friends are willing to risk a little social embarrassment for the good of their friend.
Scene E: On the Roof
Daniel: “Okay guys, here’s the plan. We’re going to open a hole —about 3 x 6—in the roof big enough to lower Benjamin down on his stretcher so that this Jesus can heal him.”
Benjamin: “No! No! No! No! No! No! No!”
[The first layer of the roof is dried mud. The spades would remove the hardened dirt. After that would be several layers of mud-caked branches—likely palm fronds brought up from Jericho for just this purpose. If they could chip through the mud with their spades and then lift out enough of the palm fronds, they could open a space between the beams large enough for Benjamin and his stretcher to be lowered down.]
This is audacious—crazy—reckless and inefficient, but what the four are doing for their friend is wonderful. They are doing everything it takes to get him to Jesus.
Scene F: Inside the House
Inside, there is new tension as Jesus teaches. Scribes are there—the local elites. When they walked up to the house, the crowds parted like waves to let them through to the best seats inside. The Scribes are there, watching him and thinking critically about everything he says—weighing his words against their career’s study of the Law of Moses. They listen with arms folded, perhaps with fingers that play in their beards. They’re not sure what to thing, but they’re still listening. . .listening for errors—for any opening through which they might discredit or criticize him.
As Jesus is teaching and preaching, suddenly a trail of dried dirt, like sand in an hourglass, falls to the floor in the middle of the room. The room goes utterly silent. Every face is now upturned and watching as the ceiling slowly begins to disintegrate.
The trickle of dirt becomes a stream, and the air of the room grows cloudy with dust. Then the sun breaks through, and beams of sunlight cut through the dusty air.
The four on the roof work frantically. Bits of dried mud are raining on the gathered crowd. Scribes now shrink back and cover their heads as chunks of roof and dirty palm fronds fall all around them.
It’s not that they disrespect Jesus or the Scribes—surely, they don’t—but in their determination to get to Jesus, they may have overlooked one or two small details—such as chunks of dirt falling on everyone below.
Scene G: Lowering Benjamin
“Almost there,” says Daniel, “just a little bigger—another foot should do it. Jonah, make sure those ropes are securely tied to the four corners of the stretcher.”
Benjamin utters something in protest, but the four are too busy to notice.
“Don’t worry, Benny—we won’t drop you—we got you.”
The guys on the roof can now see faces in the room below.Oops! they think The Scribes are scowling; they’re offended by this rude intrusion (nevermind that it’s not their house). Others look on with their mouths hanging open in puzzled amazement. And Jesus—only Jesus—is smiling a warm, authentic smile as he looks above.
Some of us are easily offended. Some of us like things done in the right way as they have always been done before. The Scribes would have cursed the guys on the roof for dropping dirt on them and disgracing their dignity.
I’m just as sure that Jesus saw it for the courageous and outrageous act of love it sincerely was.
Scene H: Scribes that Grumble
The four manage it. With each of them holding a rope—each tied to a corner of the stretcher—they maneuver the paralytic through the hole in the roof. Even as they begin to lower him into the room, he complains: “You know guys, I really do appreciate the effort, but one wrong move and I’m going to slide off this stretcher and fall about 8 feet into someone’s lap.”
Down he goes, and the eyes of everyone inside follow him until his cot floats—swinging slightly—down to the dirt floor. Like a moon landing, his stretcher knocks up puffs of dust as he touches down. He lies there paralyzed, which he would be even if he were not a paralytic.
There’s no reason for us to think that what is truly good for us—what can heal us and make us whole—is going to be either easy or fun. If we are to be made whole, we must simply submit ourselves to Love’s demands.
From the point of view of his four friends, this paralytic has just been delivered to the emergency room of Cedar/Sinai. From the point of view of the Scribes, this is a challenge—an opportunity for this Jesus to prove himself—to show that he truly comes from God.
Everybody is waiting, watching to see what Jesus will do. What he dies is utterly amazing and totally unexpected.
If you have ever seen a professional magician at work, then you know the power of a misdirection or false setup. The magician presents a very easy, cliché trick that appears to fail before the real trick. You pick a card from the magician’s deck. He has you look at the card, remember it, and then put it back—wherever you’d like—into the fanned-out deck. He asks you to name the card. You say, “The three of clubs,” and the magician starts acting nervous and concerned. “What was that? 3 of clubs? Surely you mean the Queen of Diamonds, don’t you? Right?” On the surface, it looks as though the magic fails and you begin to think it’s a dumb trick and the magician is an amateur. Then he asks you to pull out your wallet, and there, tucked into your billfold is your 5-dollar bill with “3 of clubs” sharpied on it. Amazing! How does he do it! We were fools to have doubted him.
Scene I: Going Home
Jesus approaches the paralytic—a man who more clearly than anything else needs to be healed of his paralysis—everyone knows it. Jesus approaches him, raises hands over him and says, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”
The misdirect. Jesus offers him healing beyond all expectation—a miracle only God could do. Now we imagine a pregnant pause—a moment of amazed silence—followed by the reactions:
•The Scribes cross their arms and look angrily at Jesus. They hear this as blasphemy, for only God has the authority to forgive sins. If he presumes to forgive sins, he’s placing himself on God’s level.
•The other folks look like a disappointed audience. Okay, so the man’s sins are forgiven, but what about his paralysis. We wanted a show.
•And the paralytic—our friend Daniel—looks up through the ceiling to his four friends, silhouetted against the sky, and says, “That’s it! Alright guys, pull me back up!”
The crowd watched for a healing, but Jesus gave them an act of divine mercy, speaking in the place of the Father a blessing of forgiveness—something so much more than a physical healing.
SPIRITUAL PARALYSIS
Unlike physical paralysis, spiritual paralysis can set in slowly—so slowly, in fact, that we don’t even notice it until it has completely set in. Symptoms of spiritual paralysis include:
•I Can’t feel: one feels disconnected from God’s presence and power.
•I Can’t move: one feels debilitated in terms of Christian action, especially in terms of giving forgiveness, mercy and love.
•I’m Helpless! one feels reduced to complaints, excuses and blaming of others.
Just as physical paralysis can result in physical inertia, spiritual paralysis can lead to spiritual inertia—self-pity, giving up, and hopelessness.
Spiritual paralysis needs the healing touch of Jesus as much as—if not more than—physical paralysis. Joni Eareckson Tada is a case in point that physical paralysis need not result in spritual paralysis!
The difference between us when we’re spiritually paralyzed and the paralytic in our story is that he had four great friends to care for him when he couldn’t care for himself.
Who are your four friends? Do you have four friends who would do what is reckless, audacious and outrageous in order to bring you to Jesus? Paralysis says:
• But I’ve tried to connect: I just haven’t been able to find four friends who would do anything that good for me!
•I don’t feel like anybody really cares enough.
•I’ve got one friend—not enough to carry me!
•I just want to be left alone! I’m not worth all the bother!
Again, let me appeal to your imagination: we all know someone who fits the definition of spiritual paralytic. Chances are, they are not here (In know this—look at those empty seats in the pews!). They are likely at home, sitting still—paralyzed—and either consumed with distractions or hoping someone, somewhere, would actually care about them enough to come and see them healed.
[Holy Spirit, search our hearts and put into our mind’s eye some of our paralyzed friends. Lead us to teams that will courageously do whatever is necessary to bring them to you]
Here’s a step or two toward healing spiritual paralysis:
- 1.Be one of the four friends to someone else. Be willing to lead or support such a campaign as to bring a fifth friend to Jesus.
- 2.Consider: one-on-one evangelism may not be enough. Your paralyzed friend may require a team of four to get him or her there!
- 3.Seek out a team—make your team of four—and pray for a fifth who is down, feeling lost and disconnected.
- 4.Be audacious—break a few rules, make some trouble—do whatever it takes to bring someone to Christ.
- 5.Let Jesus do the hard work: forgiving sins, restoring feeling and movement. Pray and follow-up with your charge.
UNPARALYZED
In the end of things, the answer to all of our spiritual paralysis may begin with our giving: we are healed as we become the healers. When we give, we receive; and the very thing for which we feel we are lacking we receive when we start giving it away to someone else. It is nothing short of miraculous. It is a gift of Christ. The simplest word for it is love. †