Mark 2:1-4 “A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.”
Most people think of Jesus returning home to his home town and not doing many miracles because of the unbelief of the people. This passage is a portrait of the difference between where we grow up and where we serve. Many times in both the pages of scripture and in the history of the body of Christ God has seen fit for his servants to grow up in one place and serve in another. So many times people resist receiving life training from someone that they have grown up with. To let someone move from the place of being a peer to being one you teaches you or leads you is a great challenge and test of humility that many people fail.
Jesus is returning home in this passage, but it is not the home of his youth, it is the home where he has lived during the time of his ministry. In this setting the faith of the people was so much different from the response of the community that knew him during his years before the anointing of the Holy Spirit came upon his life. There the people stumbled over the work of God in his life. Here in Capernaum the people responded with such faith that friends of an invalid broke through the ceiling of the house to find a way to get their sick friend to a place where Jesus can see him and perhaps reach out to him with mercy! Talk about faith, these men believed with enough faith that they laid aside conventional protocol to reach the Lord.
What is truly fascinating in this passage is that the house that these men destroy to reach Jesus is Jesus’ house!!! He has come to his own home and the crowds have followed him there. In the midst of the moment these desperate men break through the roof and remarkably Jesus responds with joy to their faith filled act. For many people the moment someone broke a hole in their ceiling to get in, the emotional distraction created by the damage to their possessions would distract them from the need. There is no mention of the need, only a response to their faith. God is looking for people who will reach out to him with this same resolute, determined faith. These men were willing to risk reproach. These men were willing to face the possibility of rejection because they saw in Jesus the power to restore their friend to help.
What stands between you and the answer to your prayers? Will you break through with the same faith that compelled these men until you can reach Jesus for the answer you need?
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