Tearing Off the Roof…

And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.  And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Jesus; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay.  And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Child, your sins are forgiven’… rise, take up your pallet and go home’. (Mark 2:3-5, 11)

These four loyal friends carry their paralyzed friend to Jesus on a stretcher.  Their assumption is that they will be able to get access to this miracle worker they have heard about.  But the crowd that is always following Jesus seeking his words, his touch, his power keep them from their intended goal of getting near Jesus. 

But they’re not discouraged.  They figure that since the way to the doorway is totally blocked, they will try something totally different: tearing off the roof.  Using this novel approach, they are able to do their part: they get their friend to the Healer. 

The Gospel tells us, “.. Jesus saw their faith”…  The great persistence, even insistence, they demonstrate impresses Jesus.  He forgives the man’s sins (whatever they are).  Later, he says to the man, “… pick up your mat and go home…”.  His mat is the symbol of his paralysis which has disabled him from a productive life.  Others have had to carry him to Jesus; now Jesus commands him to his own activity.  He directs him to “go home” and engage with life again, not focused on his inability any longer and not using it as an excuse.

The “stuckness” of sin can disable any of us and keep us paralyzed, unable to live fully.  The faith of those who bring us to Jesus in persistent, insistent and undaunted prayer can be effective in our healing despite our own inability to move forward ourselves.  How often I myself have thought with profound gratitude of people in the past who I knew were praying for me when I most needed them to “carry me to Jesus”!

However there must have been some consent on the paralytic’s part.  He most certainly would not have allowed himself to be carried so far – even to be brought up onto the roof of a house! – without protest if there weren’t.   Similarly, asking someone if we can pray for them often harnesses a hidden desire in them, even if they don’t have much faith and they don’t pray themselves.  We can do much on their behalf with our faithful, persistent prayers just as the four friends did.  Obviously we cannot usurp their free will; they still have to accept Jesus’s offer to be freed from their own spiritual paralysis and receive his healing power.  They must use their own faith and take the steps necessary to obey Jesus’s command to them. 

But the actions of the man’s friends do what he alone cannot do: they get him to the place of opportunity and decision.  Let’s be those friends for our friends and family with our prayers!