Today's Devotions: Mark 2:1-12

I was doing my devotions this morning, and I thought about my students.
It would have been nice to be sitting with you talking about this passage of Scripture, so I thought that I would simply do just that.
Here you go . . . my devotions for this Wednesday morning. And, if you desire to use this devotion in your preaching or teaching, feel free.

Rope Handlers for Christ

The Passage Mark 2:1-12

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 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. 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.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'?

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . ." He said to the paralytic, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 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!"

As I read through and meditated on this passage, I saw two powerful messages.

The First Message
First, there is a profound statement about the divinity of Christ in this passage. Jesus set up an either/or logical construct and proves to those present that he is God.

Rather than healing first and forgiving second (like the woman in Mark 5:25-34), Jesus first pronounces forgiveness for the lame man.

However, as we all know, and as the people of that day knew, only God can forgive sins. So, some teachers of the law, understandably, questioned in their hearts what gave him the right to say that he had forgiven this man of his sins.

I believe that Jesus was helping them understand and that he was not simply chiding them when he asked them the profound question: "Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'?"

The answer to that question sets up the visual revelation that all of them were about to experience that day.

The answer is that both are equally easy for God.

But, both are equally hard (impossible) for a mere man. I should add that one is as hard as the other if both are to be realities. After all, anyone can say the words, "Your sins are forgiven." Jesus was asking the people, which is easier: to actually forgive sins or to actually heal this man so that he can get up, take his mat and walk. (For those of you who deal in this: I did not check the mood of the verb; if this is in the subjunctive, I may have to revisit it.)

This was not mere semantics. This was real-world, in real-time. So, the question remains. Which is easier, to forgive sins or to heal the lame man with just your spoken word?

But, these people had to see something outward (the healing of the lame man) which pointed to the reality that they could not see (the forgiveness of sins). So, Jesus healed the man, and in so doing he did what no mere man could do, and in so doing he proved that he was no mere man, but God Himself.

The ending passage is a fitting close to this part of our meditation.

This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

The Second Message
The men who carried the lame man to Christ is the focus of message two . . . I call these men rope handlers. I should point out that my thoughts on this second message have been influenced by John Garlock, one of my former professors. I once heard him preach a sermon based upon this passage and the title of his sermon was, as I remember, Rope Handlers. However, I heard that sermon more than two decades ago, and so while I remember the generalities of his sermon, this material below is not his sermon point for point.

These four men carried the lame man to Christ, and they met with obstacles.

As I see it, they had to possess certain qualities as individuals and as a group (of four) to accomplish their task.

In no particular order these qualities are (perhaps you can think of more):

1. Agreement - It seems obvious that if people are going to work together to bring others to Christ, they must be in general agreement as to how best accomplish this goal.

2 Common Cause - These four men had a common goal: get their buddy to Jesus. The sad thing is that many people "in ministry" do not have this common goal. Too often, some people's goals are far more self-serving.

3. Coordination - These four men carried their friend on a pallet to where Jesus was. We are not told how far they carried him, but no matter the distance, they had to coordinate together the logistics.

4. Determination - When they arrived, there wasn't even anymore standing room. It appears that these people were standing shoulder to shoulder. Too often, Christians give up and think that there is no way to get their loved one to Christ. But, these four men were determined.

5. Creativity - So, in their agreement for a common cause, they coordinated their efforts with determination to achieve their objectives and when faced with an obstacle that might have stopped most people, these four men became creative: "they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on." Now, some people might say that they were destructive and not creative. After all, didn't they just tear apart some man's roof? I think that for people to come to this conclusion is to miss a very important aspect of these four men.

6. Responsibility - These men took upon themselves the responsibility of bring their friend to Christ at all costs. How much time and energy do we expend to bring our loved ones to Christ? I have met Christians who act as though it is simply inconvenient for them to love their families and friends into the Kingdom of God. Though the passage does not tell us, I am of the conviction that these men were in agreement to tear open the roof, but also that they would repair the roof. I cannot imagine these men who are so compassionate toward their friend and so responsible so as to carry him there and make sure that he is brought to Christ that they are now going to simply walk away from the damage that they caused. I personally believe that they repaired the roof. Who knows, perhaps the formerly lame man helped them! And, don't forget, their were lots of people there. Maybe the four men coordinated the activities of some of the people there and they all pitched in to help repair the roof. In any case, I do not believe that these four very responsible caring men simply left the home owner with a gaping hole in his roof. In fact, the roof may have been better than before.

7. Risk - Note how far these men were willing to go to help their friend. They were willing to climb up on a roof and risk being hurt themselves. They were also willing to risk the wrath of the home owner. How much risk are you willing to take to bring someone to Christ?

8. Anonymity - Did you notice that these men are never identified? What a refreshing change from so many people today who "need to be seen." One of the things in our society that is particularly nauseating is Hollywood's constant "Awards Shows." Someone in the news recently said that there is--on average--one of these "Pat Me on the Back" award shows every three weeks. But, these four Rope Handlers are anonymous. Are we willing to do the will of God and bring others to Christ and be responsible for our actions and remain anonymous after our achievements? Like one of my professors used to say, "Just remember, it is God who keeps the books."

Thanks for allowing me to share my devotions for the day with you.

Reader Comments:

Dr. Walston,

I am simply sharing these "tid bits" of information with you in hopes that that you may find them interesting and/or useful. Here they are:

1) At one point in your devotional discussion, you made this comment: "(For those of you who deal in this: I did not check the mood of the verb; if this is in the subjunctive, I may have to revisit it.)" Just for fun, I took a quick look at the Greek in the passage. The term used for "forgiveness" in Mark 2:5, 9 is in the indicative mood. Thus, they indicate the "actual" forgiveness of sins and not the mere possibility. They are also in the "passive" voice indicating that the paralytic was "acted upon" in this forgiveness and contributed nothing of his own merit. [For those who may not be following, my interpretation of the "forgiveness" idea above is correct and is now supported by the mood and voice of the verb.]

2) In the second message section, under "Risk," you note that the rope handlers were willing to climb on the roof and risk being hurt themselves. I couldn't help but wonder if this was entirely accurate given the nature of homes in ancient Palestine. Rather than go into lengthy details, here's a quick excerpt from Nelson's Bible Dictionary: "The roof of a typical house in Palestine usually was flat and often was used as a sitting area. The roof was used as a place both to relax and to observe the surrounding area (2 Sam. 11:2)." My point is simply this: if roofs were normally and frequently used to stand on, sit on, etc., was there really any risk to the rope handlers (at least in their own minds)? You are quite correct, however, in that they risked the anger of the home owner for tearing a hole in his roof! [Thanks David. This indeed sheds light on this "roof risk" factor, and corrects my implication. Now I'll know not to use the "roof" portion of the risk factor should I preach this somewhere.]

Well, there you have it, my two-cents worth! :-)
[David's comments are worth far more than two-cents to me!--Ric]

In Christ's service,
David Peterson, M.T.S.
CES graduate