This is one of the more colourful events in Jesus’ ministry.
• We hear of it in the SS when we are young. We have a picture of four men on top of a house, breaking up a hole in the roof and letting their friend down. We are asked to colour the picture.
• We read here of a man in need, and four men carried him to Jesus. A big crowd has already gathered at the house, even outside the house.
• There is no way for them to get near to Jesus. So they went up the roof, open up a hole and lower him down from there.
Jesus had just entered Capernaum. Why so many flocked to hear Him?
Chapter 1 gave us some clues.
• He had earlier visited Capernaum – Mark 1:21 the people heard Him preached with authority [read 1:21-22, 27). He speaks His very Word.
• He demonstrated that authority, when He commanded evil spirits to leave.
• 1:29-31 He was at Simon and Andrew’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law had a high fever and He healed her.
• 1:32-34 “the whole town gathered at the door…” They brought the sick and demon-possessed.
He re-enters Capernaum in 2:1. No wonder the people flocked to see Him.
• People are hungry for the truth. People are in need of His healing touch.
• There is something that is lacking that only Jesus can fill.
• Nothing has changed today. We may be >2000 years after the events of Mark 1-2, but nothing has changed.
• People are still lost without the truth of God’s Word. People are still struggling in sickness and in bondage.
Can a miracle take place in their lives? Yes, if only they know Jesus is here.
We thank God this paralysed man got to Jesus. We thank God he did.
• Not only was his body healed, his life was transformed.
• He could very well be left on the street, or still lying motionless at home.
• But today he is walking, probably for the first time in his life.
Thanks to the four men who carried him. We need the stretcher bearers!
• Without Jesus, the healing will be impossible. But without them, the healing will never be possible.
• The sick, the demon-possessed, the paralytics will never get to see Jesus if not for the stretcher bearers.
• We saw that in chapter 1 (the people BROUGHT the sick and demon-possessed) and now the four men BROUGHT the paralytic to Jesus in chapter 2.
They BROUGHT those who cannot get to Jesus.
• They become the bridge that connects them to Jesus.
You want to see a miracle? Introduce them to Jesus. Be a stretcher bearer!
• This man’s life is forever changed because of four willing souls.
• That is the little they can do for this poor man. They cannot heal him; they cannot change his condition, not even the doctors.
• But they did what they can do, carry him. And given the opportunity [Jesus is in town], and this is what they did.
Don’t undermine the impact of your small act.
We must DO WHAT WE CAN HUMANLY DO. That’s the spirit of these four men.
• They may not necessarily be his friends. They could well be strangers who happened to notice a paralysed man in their midst. They saw this man’s needs.
• So they decided to take on a journey together, and that journey changed a man’s life forever. They saw a miracle!
In fact, this town has been see miracle after miracles, because the people have been doing their part – bringing the sick, the paralysed, and the demon-possessed to Jesus.
• Have you seen a miracle lately? Could it be that nothing has been happening because we have be disconnected from Jesus?
• Could it be that no miracle is taking place, because no one has been brought to Jesus?
• We have not been praying for anyone, not for the sick, not for the hurting…
• There aren’t any answers because there aren’t any requests.
The four men aren’t going to let that chance slip by.
• They wanted desperately to get this man to Jesus. And they were very determined to succeed.
• Their selfless act is admirable, considering the fact that everyone wanted to get to the house to listen to Jesus. They could have gone to the house themselves. It would be so much quicker than to carry an extra burden with you.
• They might have beaten the crowd to the house. They could have gotten into the house and sitting up front before Jesus, listening to Him right now, in the house and not up on the roof. And they missed the first part of His sermon!
But that was not their concern. They saw someone who needed Jesus more.
They saw someone who needed Jesus more. Did we, ever?
In an affluent society like ours, can we? Are we too caught up by what we want for ourselves? Get to worship Him and hear Him, all for ourselves?
The four men did what they can humanly do. And the Lord did the rest.
• Do what you can do. And trust God for miracles.
• Don’t undermine the small act you do – like saying a prayer for a friend, encouraging someone with a Bible verse, for spending time chatting with someone who is hurt.
• Our part is to do what we can humanly do. God will do the rest.
• Do what you can do. Don’t think about what you cannot do.
Have you ever saved someone’s life? Or you did something at the nick of time and saved someone from a serious injury?
• Then you will understand the value of a simple act.
• You are grateful that you did the right thing at the right time. It was significant.
• And the person saved will forever be grateful to you.
Billy Graham, in his book, The Secret of Happiness (pp.103-04) said this:
“Satan does not care how much you theorize about Christianity or how much you profess to know Christ. What he opposes vigorously is the way you live Christ - the way you become an instrument of mercy, compassion, and love through which He manifests Himself to the world. If Satan can take the heart, motive, and mercy out of Christianity, he has killed its effectiveness. If he can succeed in getting us to talk a good case of religion but to live a poor one, he has sheared us of our power.”
What gives these four men so much energy? Why didn’t they quit when they saw the crowd? Why are they so determined to get to Jesus?
• Their faith motivated them. They did not stop because they have not stopped believing that Jesus can do something for this man.
• There is no hope for this man apart from Jesus. But bring him to Jesus and he stands a chance.
Why do people pay high sum and travel the long distance to Singapore to seek medical treatment? They believe the doctors here are good.
Why are people willing to pay for good lawyers to fight their case? They believe they can help them win it.
Have you stopped believing that Jesus can do something for you?
Have you already stopped believing that things can change for the better?
• If you have, then you will have no energy to go on.
• You will have no motivation to move on, because faith motivates.
• You do not give up because you believe.
• Heb 11 says without faith, we cannot please God.
Do you believe that Jesus can help you?
Failure sets in, not because of the obstacle or problem. We fail because we give up.
• It is in our lack of faith. We believe in our mind that it cannot be done.
• The obstacle did not stop these four men. In fact, it set their mind to work.
• How did they get onto the roof? Simple. They were thinking…
• The obstacle got them to think of ways to BEAT around the problem.
The only other response, which is the easy way out, is to rationalise with your mind, and quit.
• There is no way we can get in. We are too late. It’s fated that we won’t see Jesus today. Let’s go back.
• To get to the roof, they need to think and they need to try.
• “The true test of your character is seeing what it takes to stop you!”
Study the lives of every Bible hero and you’ll discover two things:
(1) they all struggled with problems. (Look at Moses, David, Paul...)But
(2) they refused to give up. They trusted God and finished the job.
Faith in God is never discouraged by the problem. God will deal with the problem.
• That explains why the four men did not give up.
• The difficult journey did not discourage them. The crowd did not deter them. The roof did not prevent them.
• They really wanted to get this man to Jesus, because they believe Jesus can do something.
The Lord saw them. He wasn’t really looking at them.
• Verse 5 “…Jesus saw their faith.” That was His first reaction.
• Not about the roof, not about the sickness, not about their intelligent idea, but about their faith.
• That was what motivated them, and that was what Jesus saw.
Can the Lord see that in us today?
• The Lord rewarded them for their faith, not their works.
The four has become a blessing for this paralytic.
• If they are not his friends, then they will be after this.
• The Christian life is never a self-centred life. We touch lives with the love of Christ that is there in our heart.
• Believe it today. You and I can bless someone else, if you believe it.
Do what you can do, and leave the rest to God.
• God’s work is accomplished, not because you are talented, intelligent or strong, but because you have faith.
• Hebrew 11 tells us that. History testifies to that. God’s work has been accomplished by people who have faith, who believe in the power of God.
• It does not matter if you are a fisherman, a tax-collector, or a shepherd boy.
• God is looking for people with faith, people who can trust Him.
Go and be a stretcher bearer!
