The Second Sunday of Great and Holy Lent
An Unconquerable Faith, Perseverance, Resourcefulness, and Good Friends Overcome
Mark 2: 1-12
Jesus was preaching in house in Capernaum, and when the word had got at that He was there, throngs rushed from far and wide to hear Him. Very soon, the house was packed, and no one else could get into the house, and indeed, the house was surrounded, and no one could get close to the door.
The people of God were suffering physically, spiritually, and emotionally, individually and corporately. They were occupied, oppressed, taxed, and demeaned. The Roman yoke of oppression was heavy and burdensome. They had become tired. They longed for a deliverer, a great King David-like figure who would lead them to victory against their enemies like Joshua and restore their long-remembered greatness and glory like Solomon. Their ethnic pride was hurt.
Moreover, their religious faith was under assault, for they were second class citizens for their ancient beliefs and revered history. They were appalled and cringed at the thought of Pagan practices being performed in their Promised Land, hard fought and won, and now lost and desecrated.
However, there were others too who longed for something missing in their lives. Disease, penury, squalor, and want were their constant merciless companions, and these were not just the Chosen People. There were the Gentiles who resided in “Darkness” longing for the “Light.” There were many Hellenes, Romans, Arabs, and others who were suffering and missing something in their lives.
Into this appointed time and environment, came Jesus. His reputation had preceded Him. They all wondered and hoped. Was this Elijah come again? Was this Jesus the expected Messiah? Was this the Son of Man? Was Jesus a great Prophet? Was He just another holy man, itinerant preacher, philosopher, miracle worker, or charlatan?
Everyone had a need, and everyone projected their hopes and aspirations upon Him. Despite their disparate backgrounds, they were all united by their shared pain, suffering, and hopelessness. Jesus was the hope of the hopeless, and they hoped He would heal them and save them.
Into this crowd of people who had packed and surrounded the house, came a paralytic, carried upon his pallet by four friends. Immediately, they recognized the challenge and difficulty of the situation. How were they to get through, or around the crowd, and get their friend to Jesus. The Paralytic was totally dependent upon them, and as good friends, they would not let their friend down. They would not be deterred. They would do whatever it took for their friend.
In Jesus’ time, this type of house in Palestine was quite prevalent, and therefore, very familiar. The roof had wooden planks that had a good deal of space in between to lower items down or to climb up. In between these spaces dry mud and dry grass was packed (Psalm 129:6). With a little bit of effort, this dried mud and grass could be dug out for the purpose of entry or exit. Knowing this, the four friends seized the opportunity immediately and got their friend up on the roof. Imagine the crowd outside the house witnessing this sight.
The four friends were resourceful and creative. They wanted to dig to see exactly where Jesus was so they could lower the Paralytic at the very Feet of Jesus as He preached. Once they saw where Jesus was, they dug in earnest to be able to lower their friend before the “Friend of Man.” Again, imagine the scene, as the crowd inside the house witness a man being lowered on his pallet through a hole in the roof at the Feet of Jesus.
The four friends succeeded. They got the attention of Jesus, and their friend was not before Jesus. Their love for their friend got them an audience with the Embodiment of Love, and soon, they would all experience the prevailing Love of God.
When Jesus saw this love for their friend and their indomitable Faith, He said to the Paralytic: “My child, your sins are forgiven.” The Word of God Incarnate forgave the paralytic his sins to cleanse, restore, reconcile, and make him a new creation by the Word of God that created all that exists, ever was, or will ever be. Moreover, He called Him His child, reclaiming him, and making him His own. (The original Greek etymologically says “child [τέκνον]”, not “son”.)
Naturally, as the crowd was diverse, there would be different reactions to Jesus’ deed. In that time and culture, for many belief systems, sin and suffering were inextricably tied. They believed you must have done something wrong if you were sick, lame, blind, deaf, dumb, mad, had a disease, or suffered a tragedy for the God, or the gods, to punish you so. To be healed, your sins must be forgiven by God; or you must propitiate the angered gods. So, if Jesus could forgive sins, He must be God or godlike.
However, there were also those in the crowd who were envious of this Jesus that the people followed. Jesus was a threat to them, their power structure, their prestige, and their privileges. They cared not for the people, but only for themselves. They said what they thought the people wanted to hear, but they did want they wanted.
They invoked God, but they wanted the people to come to them and not straight to God. They were a barrier to God. They were corrupt hypocrites, and their loyalty was to God and His People. Their loyalty was to their power and wealth, and this Jesus was threat to everything. They were already looking to trap Him to destroy Him.
This ilk of people present were the scribes. In their minds, only God could forgive sins, so Jesus brazenly usurped the Power of God. For them, in their black hearts that had no compassion for the paralytic, Jesus uttered blasphemy and must be destroyed. They ruminated that they had ensnared Himself, and this was a gift to their advantage.
However, being the Son of God and Son of Man Who knew His creation as the God the Creator and knew His creation intimately as God the Man, He knew immediately and completely what they were reasoning over in their little, fallen, created minds. As God the Logos and Reason, He knew their limited reasoning.
Thus, Jesus called them on it. However, He knew that His Word would not be enough for the scribes. They needed proof. If He really could forgive sins, then He was indeed--by the logical extrapolation of their own belief--God. Thus, if Jesus truly forgave the paralytic his sins as God, then, the paralytic would be instantly and miraculously healed, for this would be a Transformation of the Most High God, not mere man.
Knowing their reasoning, Jesus set them up. He knew they thought that anyone could say “your sins are forgiven,” but those were just mere words that anyone could utter, and no one could verify. So, Jesus saliently cut to their reasoning. He asked them which was easier. “To say your sins are forgiven, or arise, take up your pallet, and walk.” Jesus knew that if the paralytic rose, picked up his bed, and walked, all doubt would be removed.
Hence, Jesus said: “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. I say to you, arise, take up your bed and go to your house.”
At the Word of God, that created the cosmos, this paralytic, this man (a microcosm of the cosmos), immediately arose, picked up his bed and went home. He was not just instantly healed at the saving Word of God; he was perfectly healed by God’s Word, for rose immediately, picked up his bed, and went home, proving his immediate and complete healing, and proving that Jesus had the power and did indeed forgive his sins. To all this, the crowd glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
The love of their friend, their persistent Faith, their trust in one another, their confidence in their God-given abilities, and their gratitude for the opportunity provided, gave them an audience with Jesus and granted to their friend a miracle. Their love was requitted by the Lover of Mankind; their friend had the friendship of the Friend of Mankind; their friend became a new creation as a child of God in the presence of the Creator. They delivered their friend to Jesus, and Jesus delivered and saved their friend.
After the Second Sunday of Great Lent, let us keep our momentum and tap our zeal to finish the course of the Fast and our Lenten Journey together. Like the paralytic, we are all, in some way, paralyzed spiritually. It may be different for each of us, but in our own unique way, we all are, and this we share and have in common.
Therefore, let us be like the friends of the paralytic and help our friends and one another. Let us keep the Faith and persevere, and let us never be dissuaded by obstacles, but sometimes those are mysteriously placed in our paths as opportunities to overcome for our salvation together in the presence of Christ Who wills our forgiveness, our healing, and our redemption in this life below for our eternal salvation in Heaven above.
Faithfully yours in the abiding and prevailing Love of Christ,
†Father Jim