Mark 2:1-12
1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 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. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
This is one my favorite stories in the Bible. This story is often used in sermons and messages and the speaker normally focuses on the paralyzed man and the crowd, which is a great thing to focus on. But think about the friends of the man. How they loved their friend enough to carry him to Jesus. They then saw that they could not get in the door but yet they did not give up. They went up on a roof and dug a hole in it and lowered their friend down! That is insane, but they loved their friend so much and just wanted him to be in front of Jesus, they did not care about what people thought. And I often wonder what impact seeing Jesus heal their friend and forgive his sins, had on their lives. I can only imagine it had a profound impact.
This verse is one that the ministry of YL Capernaum, a ministry that works with kids with disabilities, looks to a lot. We see that Jesus loves the paralyzed man but we see what his friends did as well. We see how this could impact their lives. When I begin to really do YL Capernaum I am not only trying to share Christ with the kids with special needs but also their friends and families. And I am sure they themselves will share Christ more than I could ever. Non-disabled teens will come along side of their friends with disabilities, and they may not know Christ at all. But seeing their friends hear about Jesus and sharing in that experience will hopefully open their hearts to Jesus as well
Man, I cannot express how excite I am to be apart of that!! As a word of encouragement: I urge you as my brothers and sisters in Christ pick up your friend's mat, climb the roof, and dig the hole! Never under estimate what the smallest of things can do in peoples' lives and in yours!
Love ya all,
Opher
