Faith in Action Together

God's word has an incredible power to impact our minds and hearts.  Even narratives are instructive to provide examples good and bad that challenge our attitudes and approaches to life and ministry.  The passage in Mark 2 when the paralytic was lowered to Jesus as He preached the word is a passage God has recently impressed upon me.

Mark 2:1-5 says of Jesus, "And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. ² Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. ³ Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. ⁴ 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. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  When Jesus arrived in Capernaum, word spread quickly through the city and region.  People dropped what they were doing and headed to see and hear Jesus for themselves.  It could have been people saw a group gathering and came to see out of curiosity.

Mark tells us there were four men who heard Jesus had come and carried their paralysed friend to Jesus to be healed by Him.  The problem was, there was no way to move through the dense crowd.  Even if those on the outside of the group made way, the house itself was completely full and there was no way for them to disperse.  So these men hatched a plan:  they scrabbled up on the roof of the house, lugged their friend on his bed up there, broke through the roof material and let him down to Jesus.  One thing which struck me was the united faith and efforts of these men:  their breakthrough to Jesus came together as they got their hands dirty to bring a friend to Jesus.  There was a desperation, a spontaneity as they communicated to overcome obstacles as a united team which would have turned others away disappointed who said, "Oh well, I guess we can't bring our friend to Jesus today after all."

These men sourced ropes and perhaps tools; they made it work.  Their faith in Jesus moved them to break through the roof together and lower their paralysed friend to the LORD Jesus.  When He saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  He said this knowing full well there were bystanders who imagined Jesus was a blasphemer to claim to have ability to forgive sins, since only God can forgive sins.  To demonstrate Jesus has the power to forgive sins--and thus is God--He healed the man physically as well as forgiving his sins.  Jesus did the healing and forgiving, yet there was also an important role fulfilled by those four men who were united in faith and ministry to bring him to Jesus.  I view this as an example of how the church can operate, many people working together as one united by faith in Christ to bring people to Him.

It occurred to me that I was brought to Jesus by others, and we can even bring a paralysed church or ministry to Jesus to set us right.  If we are not bringing people to Jesus, we need look no further than ourselves:  does my faith in Jesus prompt me to bring people to Him?  Do I allow different interpretations or doctrinal emphasis to divide me from serving with brothers and sisters?  Have I been doing my own thing without consulting and joining together with fellow believers in united effort?  Am I afraid or unwilling to embrace new roles or challenges, waiting for a path to miraculously clear when there is a way to break through the roof right now?  The fear of heights, a longstanding back problem, fatigue from a long day in the fields or the inherent danger of the work did not hinder those men with faith in Jesus from teaming up, discussing, communicating with one another, sourcing what was needed and working together to bring one person to Jesus.

Even as the bodies of those four men worked together to lower the paralysed man to Jesus, the paralysed man was willing to be lowered.  He demonstrated faith in obedience to Jesus when at His command he rose, took up his bed and walked.  This is how the body of Christ the church is to operate as led by the Holy Spirit together:  not one person doing what they have prayed about and doing what is right in their own eyes, but all the members joined together by faith in Jesus to bring people to Him.  We are all individual members of the body of Christ, yet we are also all joined together with one another and Jesus Christ who is our Head.  This passage illustrates how breakthroughs are not just for individuals but for groups of people who unite to seek Jesus together.