The Forgotten Four

Mark 2:3-5"Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven you."

Jesus was in an Eastern home preaching the gospel of repentance to a crowd so large that it was impossible to enter the house.

Those of us who grew up in the church are familiar with this story of a paralyzed man who is carried to Jesus, forgiven of his sins and ultimately restored to good health.

There is allot going on in this story; the picture that sickness is of our depraved sin problem, Jesus sending a message to the self-righteous pharisees who refused to recognize His diety, Jesus' demonstration of His power over sin and sickness, the miracle of a paralyzed man immediately made strong and able to carry his own bed home.

Today, something new jumped off the page. The four men who carried the invalid to Jesus.

Who were they?
Was it their initiative to bring the sick man to Jesus, or were they responding to his request?What happened to them after the sick man lept up and ran home?

At the point where the paralized man is lowered into the center courtyard of the home where Jesus is preaching, he is spoken to and healed by Jesus, but up until that point, it was the actions of the four men which enabled him to be brought before Jesus.

They procured a bed, or mat, or large blanket with which to carry their friend.
They moved him.
They lifted him.
They used their strength to uphold him along whatever distance was needed crossing in order to reach Jesus.
They were determined and creative.
They worked through the barriers they met (the crowd and the roof.)
They carried the man onto the roof and used once again, their strength and effort to make an opening through which he could be lowered.
Then they lowered him carefully and safely into Jesus' presence.

These men were good friends. These men understood that healing was to be found in Jesus alone, and they were faithful to uphold their friend into the place where he might receive that healing.

They are not mentioned again.

But are they?

Notice verse 5. "When Jesus saw THEIR faith..."
Not "his faith" as in the man being lowered, but "their faith"...... including the four men who lowered him.

Do we, in faith, "carry" through sincere and committed prayer, the sick and bound to Jesus for healing?
Do we "get under and bear the load" with a burdened friend, using our actions, words and love to help them cast that burden on the Lord?
Do we "raise up, uplift, and elevate" our children to know the gospel made real in their daily lives?

My sons suffer the weight of their sin every day. They often seem paralyzed by it..... I am called to carry them to the cross every day, and by God's grace alone, I do. I do this through scriptural prayer. I do this by preaching the gospel to them in every consequence/blessing they reap. I do this by engaging them in spiritual conversations at their level - asking them questions to draw our their hearts and their knowledge of WHO God is. I do this by helping them memorize verses.

I have friends who are bound in some sort of sin pattern, wrong thinking, selfishness.... am I willing to confront them in love.... carrying them with gracious truth to a place of repentance and freedom? Maybe my "carrying" needs to be one of forgiveness, patience, overlooking, waiting and trusting the Holy Spirit to convict. Am I willing to do this?

Do I pray for opportunities to "carry" someone who is lost to the message of God's good news? Just last night, the Lord called me to carry the message of His redeeming Lordship to a young girl and her mother. Why do I not have more opportunities like that? Am I praying for and seeking them out?

I studied a familiar event of Jesus' ministry today. God spoke to me. He encouraged me to keep on with the "carrying" I am doing. He convicted me of people I have failed to uphold due to selfishness and/or laziness. He assured me of how His All-knowing , All-Powerful presence was over those four men, and it is with me too as I obey Him in this.

So an old story enters my meditation with powerful new application! I love God's word - it is to me, life-giving food!