Jesus Loved Them, Part 8: They overcame the obstacles and found love
Here are four helpers who would not be deterred by the crowd blocking their way to Jesus. They dug through the roof of wood and brush and clay keeping them outside and dropped their paralyzed friend at the feet of Jesus.
In different ways, with the same grit, caregivers today seek the best for the person they love. They monitor prescriptions, pester doctors, and search options for care or cure. They rearrange their houses and adjust their schedules to provide the very best for the good of someone depending on them for everything. Just like the four men in today’s story, they push through many obstacles, sacrificing themselves for the good of one who cannot help himself.
And what must that one in this story have been thinking?
Was he frightened? Was he pleased? Did he protest, or was he too weak to object? We do well to wonder what the person in our care understands about what we’re doing to help them.
And what was this man’s thought when the first words Jesus spoke to him were, “Your sins are forgiven”? Did he believe his sins were responsible for his sickness? Or was forgiveness the last thing on his mind that morning?
It’s interesting to notice that healing wasn’t what Jesus handled first. In fact, he cured the man only after his authority to forgive sins was questioned. Again and again throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus working a miracle to show he was the very Son of God.
And still today forgiving sin is a higher priority for Jesus than repairing bodies. Every person dies; no cure lasts forever. The healed man in this story would eventually fall victim to another tragedy that would be his undoing. But forgiveness could last forever for him. The same is true for us.
Much of our caregiver concern focuses on physical health. But we do well to remember that physical remedies are not God’s greatest concern. He’s most interested in restoring his relationship with each of us. And sometimes we grow stronger when our plea for healing is denied.
We can smile at the love of Jesus for this man and his helpers. We can marvel at the power that made the lame man stand in an instant. We can ponder the promise that came to him, a promise every person could wish to claim.
And we can revel in the prospects of knowing his love and feeling his power and receiving his promise ourselves. Surely such possibilities can sustain us for the rest of the week, even for the rest of our lives.
Read: Mark 2:1-12
Pray: We praise you for your power and promise. We thank you for your love. We seek you in all our moments this week, Lord. And we ask you to show your power and promise and love to the person in our care.
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