Previously, the Lord Jesus left Capernaum because His popularity was on the rise and so many wanted to get to Him. In fact, He had to withdraw to a lonely place. In addition, the people were too enamored with His miracles that they were in danger of missing His message. When the gospel becomes the servant of the miraculous or the entertaining, we must follow the example of the Lord and reevaluate.
In v.1-2 of today's passage we read, "1 A few days later, when Jesus came back to Capernaum, the news spread that he was at home. 2 Many people gathered together so that there was no room in the house, not even outside the door. And Jesus was teaching them God’s message."
As a result of the hustle and the bustle of the crowd, the Lord Jesus chose to spend a few days in a lonely place. No doubt, as before, He spent a lot of time in conversation with His Father. When He returned to Capernaum, the Lord Jesus stayed as He had before with Simon Peter and his family. It didn't take too much time for the people to discover He was back in town. It was at Simon Peter's home that many gathered to hear the message of God from the Lord Jesus.
The greatest need for mankind is to be taught the truth which is God's definition of all things. It is this truth that sets us free from the false path we have been led down by none other than Lucifer himself. Oh, he has his minions that help him carry out this task, but we must not make any mistake about it, he is behind every bit of false teaching there is among men. When we allow the false to define us in any given moment, we are empowering him to have influence in and through our lives.
In v.3-4 in today's passage we read, "3 Four people came, carrying a paralyzed man. 4 Since they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd, they dug a hole in the roof right above where he was speaking. When they got through, they lowered the mat with the paralyzed man on it."
Four men came carrying a helpless friend. Here, we are introduced once again to desperation which always involves a sense of hopelessness and despair. We have all heard it said, "Desperate people do desperate things." It is the design of desperation to get us to the place to help us see that we need God. We are in the most dangerous place when we are most comfortable in this world and we are convinced that we do not need God. In His word, God likens us to sheep for a reason because sheep are not all that bright and they wander from the fold. Typically, it takes a calamity to get our attention. We then get back on course until the next distraction comes along.
On that day describe here in today's text, four men tore a hole in the roof of Peter's home in order to lower a paralyzed friend down to the Lord Jesus. This is a great picture of what life is really about: Getting people to the Lord. This paralyzed man was not in the plans for this meeting. But these men had a burning desire to get him to the Lord Jesus. The faith of these men born by their response to the message of the gospel is the centerpiece of this story.
Now, houses in that day were constructed with flat roofs, and, a set of stairs on the side of the house allowing access to the roof. These roofs were usually made by laying timbers across the top of the house, and then, covered by a layer of branches. The branches were covered by a layer of clay tiles, and finally, a thick layer of mud was placed on the very top. All of that was torn out in order for these men to get their helpless friend to the Lord Jesus.
Now, houses in that day were constructed with flat roofs, and, a set of stairs on the side of the house allowing access to the roof. These roofs were usually made by laying timbers across the top of the house, and then, covered by a layer of branches. The branches were covered by a layer of clay tiles, and finally, a thick layer of mud was placed on the very top. All of that was torn out in order for these men to get their helpless friend to the Lord Jesus.
In v.5 of today's passage we read, "When Jesus saw the faith of these people, he said to the paralyzed man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven."
Instead of rebuking these men for tearing open the roof of the house and interrupting His sermon, the Lord Jesus brings attention to their faith. There is nothing more important to the Lord Jesus than the development of our faith in Him. You see, it is not the quality of our faith that impresses God, the only thing that impresses Him is the object of our faith.
Most consider it odd that the Lord Jesus didn't address the man's paralysis first. But, that day He went deeper. You see, deeper than our physical needs are our spiritual needs. This man had to be made right with the Lord in order to really appreciate the physical healing that eventually came. It would have been a tragedy had he been healed physically and remained in his sin. The Lord didn't address this man's paralysis first, He addressed the root of his paralysis. He addressed his eternal problem of sin.
Here, the Lord Jesus took on another disease, the disease of sin, our deepest problem. Sin has alienated us from our Creator, and, in doing so, it has separated us from life itself. Our greatest need is to be positioned to have a personal relationship with our Creator. He is the only one who can set us free from the clutches of sin. He does this by forgiving us. And only He can do this, for we have violated His truth. We are all prodigals who have run away from home. The message declared that day to the paralyzed man is pertinent to us: "Your sins are forgiven."
The events of that day all tell us the Lord Jesus is God for only God can forgive sin. And, in the final analysis, the only correct response for all of us who have been paralyzed by sin was demonstrated by those four men that day at Peter's house. They were eager to do whatever it took to get their friend to God.
Desperation frames up our real need in life for a deeper personal relationship with our Maker. Our desperate need for God stems from the fact that we already have a relationship with Him, and we must have more of Him. Every problem in our lives is an opportunity for God to prove His unique power to and through our yielded lives.
Every day, when we encounter the various trials that come our way, brilliantly disguised as insurmountable problems, we have the choice of who will define us. All of these moments provide to us the opportunity to glorify Him. This only happens in the lives of those who are desperate enough to depend upon Him solely.
