Have you ever tried to move a couch up a flight of stairs? It takes teamwork. Somebody lifts. Somebody steers. Somebody yells, “Pivot!”
Four men in Capernaum had a much bigger moving job.
Their friend was paralyzed. He couldn’t walk. He couldn’t work. He couldn’t get to Jesus on his own.
So they put him on a mat and carried him.
When they got to the house where Jesus was teaching, they hit a wall. Literally. The house was packed. People were crowded around the door. There was no way in.
Most of us would have said, “Well, we tried,” and gone home.
Not these four. They climbed up on the roof, dug a hole right through it, and lowered their friend on his mat right down in front of Jesus.
Imagine being the homeowner.
And here is the key verse: “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.'”
Their faith. Not just the paralyzed man’s. The faith of his four friends.
Then Jesus told him, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” And the man got up, picked up his mat, and walked out in full view of everyone.
So, what is teamwork? Teamwork is carrying someone who can’t make it on their own. And sometimes, it means your faith carries them, too.
Every one of us will be on the mat someday. And every one of us can be one of the four.
Grab a corner.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank-you for the people who have carried me when I couldn’t make it on my own. Thank-you for giving me the faith and teamwork of the four friends, so that I can help carry others to You. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Wikipedia: Healing the paralytic at Capernaum, Capernaum
Look-It Up:
The story is told in Mark 2:1-12.
Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, 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 by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.
Free Bonus:
Houses in Capernaum often had flat roofs made of wooden beams covered with branches and packed clay, which you could dig through. Luke’s version of the story says they lowered him “through the tiles” (Luke 5:19).
The same story is also told in Matthew 9:1-8.