There was no way in.
The fellas had expected a crowd, of course, as they weren’t the only ones to hear about this man named Jesus who was casting out demons and healing the sick. They had heard of the man of the tombs in Gadara who he set free from the evil that had overcome him. And they had heard of his willingness to restore the man who had leprosy outside of town. Whatever power this Jesus was working with, they had desperate need of it.
But they had walked all this way, carrying their paralyzed friend, and it seemed like the whole town was between them and Jesus. Every time they tried to push through the way was blocked. They couldn’t hear the words Jesus was speaking, just the reaction of the crowd as he spoke them. And the captivated crowd wasn’t going anywhere. But neither were they, not when the only hope for their friend was in that house.
They went around the side the house and precariously climbed the ladder, friend and mat and all, and made their way to the roof, the dulled voice of Jesus teaching below them. And in an act of benevolent vandalism, they began to unroof the roof. First the thatch, then the mud, then the sticks, then through, daylight pouring into the room, giving them away as the vandals. But they didn’t stop there, they kept going, more thatch, more mud and more sticks, until there was enough room to lower their friend to Jesus.
Jesus watched, no doubt smiling, watching the men. Seeing their faith, he looked at the paralyzed man and said, “Man, your sins are forgiven”. This is a confounding declaration. The men on the roof were expecting a physical healing for their trouble. The religious leaders in the room were taken aback at the audacity of someone proclaiming that they can speak into reality the forgiveness of sins. This was blasphemy.
Jesus knew what they were thinking, of course. The man’s sins had been forgiven, but it wasn’t something anyone could see, wasn’t something that could be proven. So Jesus took what happened inside the man and made it true on the outside as well. “Take up your mat and walk,” he told the now formerly paralyzed man. And that man walked out of that house through the very door he could not enter moments before, healed.
When I think Hope on Offense, I think of this story, here’s why:
- Hope Persists: The friends could have given up when they saw the crowds. They could have consoled themselves that they did their best and walked away on good intentions. But they would not be put off by the world that stood in their way or the effort it would take to get their friend up the ladder or the scowling looks it would draw to unroof the roof. They risked it all so their friend could meet Jesus.
- Hope Speaks for the Silent: The paralyzed man never speaks. He can’t yell from the rear of the crowd, he doesn’t explain himself as he’s being lowered down, he doesn’t tell his back story to Jesus to justify why he should be healed. He is carried by the faith and persistence of his friends and it is that faith that Jesus calls out in his healing.
- Hope Makes the Invisible Visible: Love is an action and rescue a tangible reality, not just an inner affirmation. Jesus gifts this understanding to the man, his friends, the crowd, and the pessimistic religious leaders by healing the man physically in the same way he brought restoration within his soul. Just as well, sometimes when we pray with our hearts God answers with our hands and feet, our eyebrows and elbows, our voices and treasure and time.
Guided Prayer
Father,
Give me the kind of hope that won’t quit when the way is blocked.
Make me willing to carry my friends when they can’t walk, and stubborn enough to unroof whatever stands between them and You.
Teach me to trust that what You do on the inside is just as real as what everyone can see on the outside.
And give me courage to follow You even when it offends the crowd, and may my trust in You create within them a holy confusion that resolves in Your arms.
In Jesus’ name, amen.