Get Up and Walk
Good News - Part 6
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Mark 2:1-12
So many gathered that there was no longer space, not even near the door. Jesus was speaking the word to them. Some people arrived, and four of them were bringing to him a man who was paralyzed. They couldn’t carry him through the crowd, so they tore off part of the roof above where Jesus was. When they had made an opening, they lowered the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven!”
Mark 2:2-5 (CEB)
Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:
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This may be one of my favorite scenes in the gospels partly because it is so absurd, but even more because it shows how far people will go when something matters enough to them. In this case, what mattered most for these four individuals, was their paralyzed friend.
Most of us are probably good friends. We care for those we love in times of need. We will visit them in the hospital and call to check in if someone is alone. I’m guessing these four also were good friends to the paralyzed man. They probably made sure he could get where he needed to go and helped him with food and other basic needs. Without friends like that, someone in his condition would not have lived very long. It is truly a humbling experience to depend on someone that much just to survive.
At a previous church I regularly visited Rex, who at age 18, became a quadriplegic after a tragic diving accident in a pond. Rex spent 38 years in a hospital bed at home, unable to move except for his head. I was privileged to preside over his funeral in 2015. He was strong and always did what he could to help others primarily on the phone, arranging anything his mom needed taken care of in the house even as she struggled to care for his medical needs. He was also a brilliant artist, having taught himself to paint by holding the brush in his mouth. During the final years of his life, he knew his mother’s health was declining and he constantly felt like a burden to her no matter how much she said otherwise. His last words to me expressed his desire to go home to Jesus so she could finally get the rest she so desperately needed. I imagine Jesus’ first words to him in heaven may have been something like, “get up and walk,” just as he said to the man in this passage.
As I saw modeled in Rex’s mom, it takes a tremendous amount of strength to care for someone in that situation. The man’s friends in Mark must also have been like that, even as they carried him on a stretcher for who knows how far, just to see Jesus. But when they got there, it was too crowded. There was no way to get anywhere near this increasingly famous healer. So they raised his stretcher up to the roof, removed a section of thatch, and lowered him down to Jesus. Setting aside the issues of destruction of property and cutting in a very long line, their dedication to him and their faith in Jesus was incredible.
It makes me wonder, as we care for our friends and family and others in need around us, how far would we be willing to go to get them to Jesus? Do we even mention Jesus’ name when we are in their company? Do we share what our faith means to us and how Jesus has strengthened and healed us in our own lives? Do we ask them to share stories of the beautiful things in their lives and celebrate together as we reflect on the amazing ways God keeps showing up?
Who in your life needs you to bring them to Jesus this week?