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REDEMPTION THROUGH THE ROOF #2
THAT’S NOT THE WAY TO PETER’S HOUSE!
Is it easy or hard to get several Christians to travel
down the same road in order to achieve a common goal? Can we work together,
or is it just too easy to get to kicking and pushing one another into
the ditch?
If you want to lose about fourteen hours of Internet browsing time real
quick, friend, all you have to do is to begin scrolling down through some
online theological discussions. Some of us got onto one not so long ago
that had this title: “Eternal Destiny of the Wicked: Perpetual Torment
or Ultimate Extinction?” Well, since that’s an area of Scriptural study
that we’ve entered into right on this program, and since many people are
interested, we began to read through the back-and-forth. Now, these were
two Christian men, both pastors, both scholars, and ironically, both in
the same denomination. But one believed in the concept of eternal torment;
the other embraced soul sleep and what’s called “annihilationism,” suggesting
that those who reject God will eventually be just GONE — destroyed. Not
to get into it ourselves, but as the dialogue continued, it was sad to
see the spirit between the two men disintegrate. They began to accuse
each other; sarcasm entered in. They began to take a third of each e-mail
to zing each other’s character. By the end of it, there was really more
heat coming from the emotions than from the flames of hades themselves
. . . and that’s honestly not much of a pun.
Here in the book of Mark — and it’s in Matthew and Luke as well — we find
a story of confrontation, a clash of wills. It’s the great Bible showdown
where Jesus Christ heals a paralytic man who’s let down through the roof.
But right at the outset, before that, we do find a sweet picture of cooperation.
Here are verses 2 and 3, and remember that this happens in Capernaum,
in a crowded house — and the reason it’s crowded is because so many of
Jesus’ enemies are parked in the living room with hidden microphones and
bugs planted in Peter’s potted plants, hoping to catch this Galilean teacher
in some heresy. (Speaking of Internet brawls.) But now here’s the lead-in
to the story:
“So many gathered that there was no room left, not
even outside the door, and He [Jesus] preached the word to them. Some
men came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four of them.”
As the story progresses — and most of you recall how
they went up on the roof, pulled away some tiles, and literally dropped
their friend, carefully, down almost into Jesus’ lap — commentators observe
that this was a real expression of faith: both on the part of the sick
man and also for his friends. They had jobs and livelihoods to take care
of; there was a huge, intimidating crowd around; this was an inconvenient
challenge. And yet they weren’t going to be stopped; they wouldn’t be
denied. More about that later.
But there’s another unnoticed little lesson hiding in this down-through-the-chimney
story. On a web site called “Bible.org” — and we’re glad that some of
our surfing did bear Scriptural fruit! — the writer points to a couple
of applications we could easily miss.
“This miracle teaches us,” the writer suggests, “the
privilege of intercession. The friends interceded on the man’s behalf.
They were instruments of healing.” Then he adds this: “We see the importance
of unity and teamwork. One or two friends could not have accomplished
this on their own.”
There weren’t any ambulances in the time of Jesus;
these four men — and notice that they were four out of a larger entourage,
Mark reports — had to literally pick up the four corners of a bed and
lug this guy clear across town to where Jesus was holding court. And this
writer from “Bible.org” takes us further into the story. Listen:
“It is costly, however, to have Christian unity. In
order for the four men of Mark 2 to get together to bring this paralytic
to Jesus, they had to consent to go in the same direction. Otherwise they
would not have succeeded. Then they had to go at the same speed and to
the same place.”
Now let’s think about this. “Going in the same direction.”
Let’s leave off thinking about these men planning a route through downtown
Capernaum to Peter’s house — “Take a right at the second light, and then
left at the Fish Market.” But could these four men have gotten embroiled
in roadmap discussions about the following?
Question: Is this Jesus capable of healing? Is He or isn’t He the divine
Son of God with that power? That was the whole crux of this gospel story
anyway, you recall.
Question: Is there ever such a thing as miracles? Is it all a fake? Or
maybe are they being done through the power of Satan?
Question: Is it appropriate to even seek spiritual healing? Or should
we just go to doctors and put our faith in science, in ambulances and
HMOs and prescription drugs?
Question: If this paralytic is sick because of his own sins, would it
be wrong — would it be the dreaded “sin of presumption” — to take him
to Jesus and ask for a miracle? After all his profligate living, if we
lug Fred all that way downtown, are we just being “enablers”?
Can you see how difficult it might have been for four healthy, spiritually
sensitive men to pick up a stretcher and get on the same theological road?
They could have killed all week debating and lost this rare opportunity.
Speaking of which, we also have here the issue of “speed.” If you’ve ever
sat on a church board, friend, you know all about that one — where someone
says, “Brothers and sisters, let’s not move too fast on this issue. Let’s
not get out ahead of the Lord. Let’s exercise some prudent caution.” And
one or two of these four men might well have said to the others, and to
Fred, “I don’t know. This Jesus is an upstart. I’m hearing a lot of troubling
things. Everywhere He goes, there’s controversy. Why don’t we wait until
the next time He comes to town. Let’s appoint a subcommittee to study
His teachings. Let’s table this one; let’s equivocate; let’s delay and
stall and spend the rest of this board meeting talking about what color
the carpeting in the fellowship hall should be.”
Well, friend, all of those things could have happened, but they didn’t
happen. Not only did these four men get on the same road, they got up
on the same roof; that’s how determined they were. And their faith and
unity were richly rewarded, weren’t they?
Let’s notice the two things that certainly come all the way down into
this far-removed millennium. First of all, when the situation is desperate
— when someone near to us is deathly ill — then the theological road map
should get to be very simple. Am I right? When a soul is in jeopardy,
when someone may die, either physically or spiritually, then maybe it’s
time to stop, or at least suspend, the dissecting of Greek verbs, the
explaining of prophetic riddles, the trying to solve the unsolvable. I
mean, you should have read the MOUNTAIN of minutiae, the overwhelming
volume of arguments and counter-arguments, that these two Internet warriors
posted in their debate. Now, if you have the time and the disposition
to go through it and formulate an opinion, that’s wonderful. Ask God to
guide your mind and humble your spirit as you proceed. But there is a
time to do that and there is also a time to simply fall on your knees
and say, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. Lord, thank You for salvation.
Lord, thank You that Calvary is a simple concept even a child can grasp.
And by the way, please make me to be like a little child right now.”
Secondly, these four men with the pallet and the Thomas Brothers map leading
to Peter’s house didn’t let anything deter them from coming to Jesus.
Theological discussions didn’t keep them away. Disputed points of the
law didn’t stop them. By the way, they didn’t get to the front door and
say — as some Christians do on Sabbath or Sunday morning when they get
to church — “Aaah, it’s too crowded. I think I’ll just go home. Getting
with Jesus is not that important.” These five men sensed that to get with
Jesus at this moment in time was not only important, it was ALL-important.
It was life or death. It was everything. They didn’t let theology stop
them, or crowds, or Pharisees, or tiles on the roof. And whether we’re
posting our thoughts on the worldwide web or preaching them on the radio,
I want to quietly say this: Let’s not allow anything to keep us away from
the merciful Savior who heals souls today just as He did at Peter’s house
so long ago.
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