Digging Deeper: Whatever It Takes
2 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!”
Mark 2:1-12 (ESV)
WHATEVER IT TAKES
As we bring this week to a close… Let me ask you, who are you in the story? There are four people we can consider (excluding Jesus); the scribes, the homeowner, the friends, and the paralyzed man.
The Scribes. They loved to follow all the rules of religion. They loved to keep a close eye to make sure everyone stayed in line. They loved to question others’ actions and intentions. They were in the wrong here, but most likely it started from a place of love and concern. They wanted to keep the Law as perfectly as possible out of their love for God and they wanted others to do the same.
In our lives it is easy to fall into this same category. We have seen how good the Lord is and we want others to experience that, but there is a fine line between loving submission and legalistic obedience. If you have found yourself in this place recently, ask God to soften your heart to him, his word, and his working around you.
The Homeowner. Though they are not mentioned in the story, somebody owned this home. Whether they were in the room watching the scene play out or out of the house for ten minutes for a quick Publix run, their house was ruined. Was this a hot season and the sun was beating down through the gaping hole? Was rain on the horizon? We don’t know how they reacted, but there had to be some type of reaction.
This is the same for our lives. If the Lord is moving around us, we can control how we react. Are we filled with awe with what God has done, or filled with anger due to inconvenience? As NorthStar enters a new season, how will you react when confronted with inconvenience? Begin praying today that you will see the inconveniences as tangible evidence for the Lord moving.
The Friends. It’s interesting, we assume that these men are friends with the paralytic, but the text just calls them men. Imagine how burdened they must have been for this man to be willing to do all these things. They believed in the power of Jesus that much! Jesus even says so himself.
The real question we must wrestle with is do we have this much faith? Do you believe that Jesus can do for your friends, family members, and co-workers the same that he can do for the paralytic? I pray that these characters are where you find yourself today. If so, would you begin to create a prayer list for those around you who don’t know Jesus, and as you do, pray that God would do a miracle in their life in forgiving their sins?
The Paralyzed Man. We come to the final person in this story: the man who reaped all the benefits. He had very little to offer in this story. He didn’t bring himself to Jesus, the men did. His faith didn’t heal him, theirs did. We don’t even have any of his words recorded. All we see is his obedience to Jesus.
Friends, this is us. Before Christ, we were paralyzed by our sin without hope. Luckily, Jesus came so that we could be healed spiritually and all we must do is get up and walk. If you have trusted in Jesus before, remember this was you and that outside of the good news of Jesus you would still be there. If you have not trusted in Jesus before, today you choose to get up and walk. Follow the man who can do what we could not do: take our spiritual death and in turn give us spiritual life.
Honestly, we can go through different seasons as different characters, but we should always be reminded that we once were the paralyzed man. And because of that we should be the friends who are willing to do Whatever It Takes to get others to Jesus.
Sellers Hickman serves as College Pastor at NorthStar Church and loves cheering on his Ole Miss Rebels. He and his wife, Hannah, live in Dallas, Ga. with their one year old, Emery. He also serves as the chaplain for the KSU Men’s Basketball team.