Bringing people to Jesus

Mark 2:1-12

This story of Jesus and the paralytic is one of the more well known stories of Jesus. Part of the reason is that it is such an easy story to visualize.

The home in this story is probably the home of Peter’s family where Jesus had earlier healed Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever. If you remember from our look at the first chapter of Mark, earlier that day Jesus had cast a demon out of a man while he was speaking in the synagogue and that night crowds came to Peter’s house seeking healing from disease and demonic possession.

Now Jesus returned to Capernaum after having spent some time in the wilderness and in Galilee. He was a big attraction and everyone wanted to come to see him and hear what he had to say. So the room where Jesus spoke was packed. There was probably some space around Jesus but every corner of the room was full of people. The rest of the house was also full. If they couldn’t see Jesus, they wanted to hear him. The doorway was jammed with people. People were leaning in through the windows with people looking in through the window over the heads of those in front. Even people who could not see through the people crowded in front of the window stood there because they could hear Jesus speak.

And then four men came down the street carrying a man who was paralyzed. They wanted to bring the paralytic to Jesus but were probably dismayed when they saw the crowd filling the house and spilling out of it. They set the paralytic down and considered what they might do. There was no way they could carry him into the house. And so they took the stairs that led to the roof, a flat roof like those here in Rabat, and began to cut a hole in the roof.

Roofs in this time were made with wood beams, covered with a mixture of mortar, ashes, tar and sand. Some houses, as in this case, also had stone slabs under the mortar mixture. So they cut away the mortar mixture, pried up the tiles and lowered their friend down to Jesus.

Imagine that you are sitting in the room listening to Jesus. You hear some noise on the roof, you hear footsteps. Then the noise changes and you hear scraping and cutting on the roof. A bit of dust falls from the ceiling and you can see it in the ray of sunlight coming in to the room. Then a piece of stone falls and Jesus too looks up to see what is happening. The room is quiet, watching as a crack shows in the ceiling. Jesus steps aside so he will not be hit by the mortar mixture that falls into the room. There is now sunlight coming in from cracks in the ceiling and then one of the stone tiles is lifted up and there is a hole in the roof. It becomes larger and larger and now you can see the men on the roof cutting open this hole.

You look over at the owner of the house and wonder what he thinks about having someone cut a hole in his roof but even he is silent. There is something amazing happening and no one knows what it is.

And then something begins to be lowered into the room. A mat used for sleeping with ropes attached to it fills the hole and as it is lowered you see there is a man lying on it. The mat is slowly lowered to the floor and then Jesus speaks:
“Son, your sins are forgiven.”

The teachers of the law were upset by Jesus’ presumption that he could forgive sins. Only God could do that. Who did Jesus think he was? God?

But then Jesus demonstrated who he was:
He said to the paralytic,  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!”

I think if something similar happened here this morning, we might have the same reaction. “We have never seen anything like this!”

That is essentially the story. Let me take some lessons from this story for us.

1. If you want to bring people you care about to Jesus, you must be determined to do so.

Who were the four men who carried the paralytic? Were they family members? Brothers? Was one of the men his father? Was this man born paralyzed or did he become paralyzed later in life through disease or an accident? Was he married with children when he became paralyzed?

None of this is known but what we do know is that the four men were determined to bring him to Jesus. Perhaps one of these men had been healed himself by Jesus on that day when Jesus cast out a demon while he was teaching in the synagogue. Maybe they had friends who had been healed. At any rate they were determined to get their friend to Jesus because they knew if they did so, he would be made well.

They came late to the house. Perhaps they lived farther away and carrying the man who was paralyzed took more time than they thought. Maybe they didn’t think about the crowds who would be there. Maybe one of the four men saw Jesus come into Capernaum and rushed to get his friends to tell them now was the time to take their friend to Jesus and that was why they were so late.

They came, set their friend down on the ground and walked around the house trying to see what they could do. And finally they decided they would do the only thing that seemed possible and that was to lower him down through the roof.

Most people would have given up and waited for Jesus to come out of the house with the hope that the crowd around him would not prevent them a second time from getting their friend to Jesus.

Most people would have said, “Well we tried our best. There is nothing more we can do.” But people who are determined do not give up when it seems impossible.

There are people you want to bring to Jesus so they can be healed, body and soul. You have tried and tried. You don’t know what else to do and so I ask you. How determined are you to bring your friend to Jesus? Determination perseveres even when it seems impossible.

If you want to bring people you care about to Jesus, you must be determined to do so.

2. If you want to bring your friend to Jesus, use creativity and don’t be afraid to think outside of the box.

When the four friends arrived and saw the situation, they did not give up. They were determined. But their determination could have made them wait outside until Jesus came out. If they were not able to get to him then because of the crowd around him, they could have followed him and eventually they would be able to bring their friend to Jesus. Determination alone would probably have been successful, eventually. But they were more than determined, they were creative.

How do you get into a house? There are doors and windows. Maybe there is a cellar under the house and you can go into the cellar from an outside opening and come up into the house. There is a fireplace and so you could come down the chimney, if you were small enough to fit through the opening. But this house had no cellar and the chimney was too small.

You could tunnel under the ground and come up under Jesus’s feet, but a tunnel takes a lot of time to dig and by then, Jesus would be gone. You could break a hole in the wall but that would not be effective because there would still be a crowd of people between you and Jesus. But then one of the four saw the steps leading up to the roof and got the bright idea they could cut a hole in the roof and lower their friend down to the feet of Jesus.

When you want to bring a friend to Jesus, be creative. Think through possibilities. The Bible is good and tracts are good, but do not be limited to just a tract and a Bible verse.

God speaks to us from the Bible but he also speaks to us from all of his creation, including good literature. Good literature speaks of the human condition which leads to discussions of truth which leads to Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life.

There are many wonderful books. I have enjoyed reading Tolstoy and I recommend Anna Karina and especially Resurrection. This is a great novel about a man who when he is young, seduces his maid who is in love with him and then goes on to his career in the army. He ends up living a life of decadence in Moscow where he is called upon to sit on a jury to judge a prostitute accused of murder. He recognizes her as the maid with whom he was in love as a young man. His conscience is stricken and he experiences a conversion to faith in Christ. For the rest of the book he tries to atone for his sin and restore his relationship with this woman who has now hardened her heart to protect herself. The themes in this book are ripe for discussion. Someone who would never read the Bible would read this and then a discussion of guilt and conscience and repentance and atonement can take place.

Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables carries wonderful pictures of grace and being bound by the law. The Count of Monte Cristo creates room for a discussion of injustice and vengeance.

Since I have talked only thus far of French and Russian authors, let me mention a Canadian, John Irving. He wrote a wonderful book titled A Prayer for Owen Meany. This is a wonderful book that talks about a view of Jesus, that is that he knew from childhood on that he would be crucified when he was 33. Discussing this book can lead to an examination of the humanity and divinity of Jesus.

Read good literature and share with your friends what you learn and you will bring them to Jesus.

But times are changing and unfortunately people don’t read as much as they used to. So movies become more important. Because movies are so popular, they can be a great tool to bring people to Jesus. The Passion of Christ is being used in very interesting ways. We don’t know the outcome of the impact of this film, but it seems to me to be a gift to the world to help bring people to Jesus.

The Jesus film has been used in powerful ways to bring people to Jesus. But I am talking about less obvious films. Woody Allen is not the best role model, but he has produced some very interesting movies. Crimes and Misdemeanors is a film based on Dostoevsky’s book Crime and Punishment. In both the book and film, a man commits the perfect crime. No one suspects him and there is no way the crime can be traced back to him. And yet his conscience pulls him and tugs him until he confesses his crime. Have a friend read the book or watch the film and then ask, “Where does the conscience come from?” What makes someone confess a crime they are not suspected of having committed?

A neo-Nazi in Norway after watching the Passion of Christ confessed to the police that he had been the one ten years earlier who had set off bombs in two attempted assassinations. Is this a clue to where the conscience comes from?

There are a number of films that present a view of God that opens up discussion. Jim Carey has starred in two of them. In The Truman Show Jim Carey plays a man who has been raised in a TV show with all the other people in his life being actors. Jim is the only one who does not know he is in a TV show. The director of the movie is named Christof, a clear indication that the director of this film is making a point about God’s control and direction of our lives. Are we capable of breaking out from under the control of God?

A film like this allows you to begin a discussion of God’s role in our lives and you can share with your friend how your view differs from that of the film.

In Bruce Almighty, Jim Carey plays a man who wants to be God and when God gives him that privilege for a limited part of his city, there is a very interesting look at the way God interacts with his creation.

Leap of Faith, with Steve Martin is about a man who has a faith healing business and cheats people out of their money by deceiving them. But then in one town, he confronts a genuine miracle and the film ends with a question mark as he drives alone out of town, away from this business he has created. And the question that hangs in the air at the end is this: Just because some people cheat and scheme in a healing ministry, does that mean there is not genuine healing that takes place?

I could go on and on. Chocolat with Johnny Depp and Juliet Binoche is a great film for a discussion of the role of the church in society. The Apostle is an interesting look at the life of a man like King David who is capable of great acts of sin and great acts of faith.

Don’t be limited to just books and movies. Be aware of history and current events. Read biographies. Learn about the lives of people. Learn about our history. Does history past or present support the notion that we are all basically good people and that all we need is to be enlightened and then we will live in peace? The more I read and the more I learn, the less plausible this theory becomes.

Just talk to a university community about the wars that take place with tenure tracks and you will see that the most enlightened are not any different than the rest of us. History and current events portray a world filled with sinful human beings in need of a savior. Those who hang on to the illusion that we are all basically good moral people need to learn from history and come to the one who is the source of all goodness.

What I am trying to say is that your faith needs to encompass your whole world. Everything you see or do or hear or experience relates to your faith and you can use all of your life experiences to bring your friends to Jesus.

Allow Jesus to fill your whole world. Learn and explore. Be creative and you will discover ways you can bring your friends to Jesus.

3. Our faith makes a difference in the lives of those we bring to Jesus.

There is no record of the paralytic saying anything as he was being lowered. He was paralyzed, not mute. Was he embarrassed? Fearful?

What was the look in his eyes as he came down and found himself face to face with Jesus? That was a moment I’ll bet he never forgot, the first time he saw Jesus face to face. He continued to be lowered but his eyes never left Jesus as he descended until he was resting on the floor looking up at Jesus.

I’m certain Jesus looked at him but Jesus looked also at the four men lowering the paralytic and when he saw them, he saw their faith.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

What did Jesus see that led him to conclude these four men had faith? It was their actions that revealed their faith. They broke all kinds of social rules in order to get their friend to Jesus and in their determination and creativity, Jesus saw their conviction that all they had to do to help their friend was get him to Jesus. If only Jesus could see their friend, he would be healed. And that faith led to the healing of the paralytic.

This is not the only case of the faith of one person affecting the life of another. The Roman centurion’s faith was seen by Jesus and led to the healing of his servant. Your faith makes a difference in the lives of your friends.

The trick is how to get your friends to Jesus. You come to a house and there is no way in and so you have to be determined and creative and find a way to get your friend to Jesus. You love your friends, care for them, help them when you can, pray for them, talk with them and wait for the day when they are finally able to see Jesus.

Why do you persevere like this? Because you know that once your friend sees Jesus as he is and does not rely just on what others say about Jesus, healing will take place. Your faith that Jesus is the healer of soul and body is what enables you to never give up.

4. Jesus is the one who heals. All you can do is bring your friends to Jesus.

What is it the four friends did? Did they heal their friend? No. All they did was bring him to Jesus and that is all we can do. We cannot heal. We cannot convert. Only God can do those things and God is very good at what he does.

The four friends of the paralytic could not get him in the doorway to see Jesus. That had been impossible. But Jesus healed him so he could walk out through the door.
He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.

What had been impossible became possible because of the work of Jesus.

Notice in the story that Jesus first healed the man’s soul and then his body. When Jesus said, “Son, your sins are forgiven,” the word translated forgiven has a specific meaning. The Greek word means to leave or let go, to give up a debt, to send away from oneself. Jesus restored this man to spiritual health. He brought this man back into a relationship with God by forgiving him his sins. This was accomplished in history a couple years later when Jesus died on the cross, carrying our sins with him. But in this preview of what Jesus would accomplish for us, he restored this man’s spiritual health.

After this, he healed the man’s body and he was able to pick up his mat and walk out of the room. The first miracle was the greatest although what most impressed the crowd was the second miracle. If Jesus had only healed his soul, the man would have been a fortunate man. If Jesus had only healed his body, he would have benefitted from being able to walk, but a healthy body does not produce a healthy mind, a healthy body does not bring peace, happiness and contentment with it. The first miracle of Jesus in this man’s life was clearly the best and greatest.

And this is the thought I want to leave you with at the end of this sermon.

When we bring our friends to Jesus, there is no better place for them to be because they are then in the hands of the one who can do what no one else can do. He can heal them, soul and body and they will be able to do things they had thought were impossible.

All of our efforts, our determination, our creativity, and faith is worth it because of the one to whom we bring our friends.