Our Greatest Need, Mark 2:2-5
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. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 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. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."
What a scene this must have been! Crowds of people pushing and shoving to get to Jesus-- a house full of hot, sweaty, smelly people who all have the same goal in mind: get in and see Jesus. Jesus was becoming famous as a miracle worker. People from all over rushed to catch a glimpse of His power, His ability to heal infirmities and cast out demons. This was the man who could solve all their problems! Jesus!
And so it happened that the friends of a paralytic man heard of this Jesus, and conspired together to bring the man, tormented by a disease which left him utterly immobilized, to this Jesus who was reported to be able to conquer all manner of ailment. Or perhaps it was the man himself who heard of Jesus, and had the four men carry him to Jesus to be healed. Either way, Jesus took note of it.
These four men, who could not get into the house to see Jesus because of the tumultuous crowd, frantically sought a way to get their friend to Jesus. An idea: go to the roof and break through, and lower the man to Jesus. They could bypass the crowds and have first dibs on healings. And they did so. They, eager and anxious to deliver their friend from his torment, broke through the roof of the house and lowered their friend to Jesus. Jesus saw the man, and He saw their faith, and He spoke to the man... "Son, your sins are forgiven."
What?? Your sins are forgiven? No, Jesus, You've got it all wrong. This man doesn't need his sins forgiven, he needs to be healed. No doubt they were a little disappointed. But the paralytic man must have felt such peace and relief-- he could live at peace with his disease now, because what was causing his pain was his guilty conscience. He had sinned. He had blown it. He had rebelled against God. But he had now looked into the eyes of God in the flesh, and heard not condemnation, not accusation, but comforting love-- "Son," He called him, "your sins are forgiven."
Jesus saw their faith. He saw that they would go to any length to get this man to Jesus, that they knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Jesus was the answer to all this man's problems. They were so sure of this that they climbed up on the roof and broke through the roof to get this man to Jesus. They wouldn't wait. They couldn't push or shove hard enough. They had to get this man to Jesus, and now.
How often is our faith like the faith of these four men? How often do we have this sense of urgency, this drive that causes us to seek Jesus at any and all costs? When do we have the passion to see Him that we just can't wait, that we can't push through others, that we must jump all the hurdles in front of us and get to Jesus, and Jesus alone?
All too often we are lackadaisical in our attempts to get to Jesus, waiting until it's convenient for us, letting people or things stand in our way, or just standing outside the door of the house, happy to be near Jesus, but not actually having much interest in getting to Jesus because the effort would be too great. But Jesus rewards these men's faith-- He sees their faith, their urgency, their relentless pursuit of Himself, and He grants them the fruit of their labor: forgiveness.
The men thought that they were going to save their friend from being immobilized and paralyzed physically, but Jesus saw deeper than that. He saw that the man needed to be freed spiritually, that he had been paralyzed and immobilized in his soul. And so, seeing the greatest of his needs, Jesus forgave the man's sin and brought relief and comfort to him. This didn't go unnoticed by the scribes, however, who mumured in their hearts against Jesus, supposing Him to have blasphemed. But Jesus called them on their murmuring, and in a display of magnificent authority over both the spiritual realm and the physical realm, He heals the man of his bodily ailment as well. How joyful and how happy that man must have been! To be set free from his internal and external agony all in one moment!
We too can come to strange conclusions about Jesus. We can come to Him, asking for this or that, and He will strangely not answer us, but rather put His finger on some sin in our hearts, and speak to us, "Son, your sins are forgiven." We look at Him and think, "Jesus, I didn't ask You to forgive my sins-- Yes, thank You, but what I really want is this..." He knows our greatest needs. He knows what we need more than even we do. He's not interested in bringing momentary relief, but permanent relief. He's more interested in our long-term well-being than our temporal comfort. But just so we know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins... "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."