Open Your Door and They’ll
Come
Jackson Snyder February 16, 2003
Mark 2:1-12; Psalm 41:1-3, 8, 11-12
Summary
from Last Two Messages (Mark 1)
Let me start by summarizing the action in
Mark chapter 1 so we can put this latest installment into perspective. Jesus was the regular teacher at the
church (synagogue) in Capernaum where he made his 
home (2:1). One Sabbath Jesus was teaching about how to
overcome supernatural evil when a person with an unclean spirit cried out
against him. Jesus then demonstrated his
teaching on the man and delivered him from the unclean
spirit. This caused a controversy in the
church because the people there had never heard of such a thing. They called it “a new teaching on authority”
and they debated about it (1:27 Greek). In
the meantime, Jesus retired to Simon’s house a short walk away from the
church. There he found Simon’s
mother-in-law in the grip of a serious fever.
He blessed her by touching her hand, the fever
departed, and she fixed brunch.
When word got around, the common people of that town clamored for Jesus to deliver and heal them. When the Sabbath was over at sunset, he healed many and cast out demons. In the middle of the night, Jesus went away to a deserted place to seek guidance. “Where do we go from here?” he prayed. His disciples found him there and he told them he’d received the answer – that they were to leave Capernaum and go on the road, teaching authority in neighboring towns thereabouts.
So they traveled on. When they are on the road, a man with a
terminal skin disease, leprosy, approached and asked to be made clean of the
disease. (The law didn’t allow lepers
within city limits because they were so contagious.) In this story, the text reveals that Jesus
was “moved to pity” (RSV) for this afflicted man, revealing to us that compassion
for others was his motivation for doing good. Jesus healed him by touching
him (!!) then pronouncing him clean.
The healing came with two conditions: (1) that
the man didn’t reveal the source of the healing, and (2) that he go to the
priest to be examined and pronounced disease-free. This was to confirm the actuality of the
healing. But this man who had been so
greatly healed cared not enough about the healer to be obedient to him. Rather, he disobeyed Jesus on both
points. And so it goes with many who’ve
since been healed or saved by faith.
They’re not grateful enough for what Jesus has done for them to be
obedient to his words.
Off the Road and
Back Home
Now we take up today’s text. Jesus and the disciples have just completed
their road trip and they return back home to Capernaum, but not to the
church with its controversy. They minister instead in Simon’s house. Jesus began a house church, which became the
norm for the early worshipers. House churches are still prevalent today. So many unchurched people crowd around
Simon’s house that the whole place is surrounded and nobody can get in the
door. But a couple of spying inquisitors
from denominational headquarters had gotten in, sent to on report whether
Jesus’ “new teaching on authority” adhered to their own ministerial standards.
At this point, five men take a very grave
risk. One of them is paralyzed and is
carried to the house by the other four on a stretcher. A couple of these guys climb to the roof,
drag the paralyzed man up there, then begin very quickly to break in
enough of the roof to let their friend and his stretcher down into the
house. Imagine the scene from inside –
all the noise, then dust and chunks of plaster, mud and sticks falling down on
the group jam-packed in the room. The
roof finally caves and down comes the stretcher right before Jesus. But there’s no mention of the disorder, the
mess, the danger, the expense or the illegality of the entry. We don’t even hear Simon’s opinion about the
destruction of his roof. All the
story is concerned with is that Jesus perceived extraordinary faith in
these men because they went to extraordinary lengths to get to Jesus.
When the dust settles, the debris is
harmlessly laid aside and everyone becomes quiet again wondering what will
happen next. Jesus says something
very simple to the man: “My son, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus speaks with the voice of Yahweh (since,
after all, the paralyzed man wasn’t Jesus’ son) and forgives him of his
sin. Yet Jesus doesn’t heal him
of his paralysis. Why?
Instructions in
Authority
Though we’re in the grip of a dramatic story,
let’s remember that its primary purpose is to instruct us as to Jesus’ new
teaching on authority. So far, Jesus
has committed four powerful, authoritative acts to affirm his identity as the
Son of Yahweh: he delivered a man from a demon, he blessed a
woman and her fever left, he healed a man of an incurable disease and he
forgave another man’s sins. We learn
that his authority against these evils derives from Father Yahweh and
that his motivations to act include compassion on his part and faith
on the part of others. We also learn
that we who are set free by Jesus should be grateful enough to obey his
commandments.
You see, we’re Jesus’ disciples not because
we come to church or pay the preacher.
We’re his only if we love and obey him. If he saved you, you should love him; and if
you love him, you’ll be keeping his commandments every day. Then, as obedient disciples, we can expect some
measure of his authority over evil to be operating in our lives to do the
same good deeds he did. We anticipate
using his authority to set the captives free.
Meanwhile, we pray for faith and compassion. Without these, we can accomplish nothing.
Mortal Sins
So now, hanging from the ceiling before
Jesus is a stretcher with a paralyzed man tied to it. It’s obvious to all that the man needs
healing. When I was a boy reading this
passage, I was disappointed in Jesus’ behavior in the face of this man’s
condition. All he did was forgive the
man’s sins. That seemed to be of little
consequence to this boy, unaccustomed to the ways of the world. But isn’t it true that as we grow we learn
that there are infirmities we can’t see that afflict us far worse than things
we can. We experience life like the
blind: we make mistakes, we sin, we hurt and betray others; sometimes we murder
or commit adultery or betray a friendship. Such sins are called “mortal” because they kill
us, even if we show no outward signs of inner destruction.
Just as our spiritual condition can cause physical ailments, sinful activities can also lead to physical harm. Suppose this paralytic had been engaged in an affair with the wife of his best friend. He’s caught in his sin and his erstwhile friend strikes him and breaks his neck, causing his paralysis. For some, the greater affliction would be the inability to walk. But for others, finally coming to grips with their betrayal of a friend would be the greater. So it was for this man. The forgiveness of some grave sin in his life would have been enough to satisfy him. He sought spiritual healing. If his spirit was healed through the grace of Yahweh, perhaps then the broken body might follow. And that’s what was to happen in the end. In fact, the man’s forgiveness led to a total healing of both spirit and body. But not just yet.
Spies and Sins
There were spies in the house -- religious
authorities: children of the devil. They
already wanted to do their father’s will by killing Jesus. They were upset enough about Jesus casting
out one of their own in the church; now they are livid when he forgives
sin. “What gives this man the right to
forgive anything? We believe only G-d
can forgive sins.” The words they only
imagine in their hearts are heard in Jesus’ spirit. Everything goes silent as Jesus peers at
them. “Which seems an easier feat to
you reverends, forgiving this man’s sin that you can’t see, or healing
his broken body that you can?” Of
course, there’s no answer from these pretenders. Jesus sets a trap – for himself!
It’s easy to make an incredible claim that can’t
be proved – like the authority to forgive sins. Sometimes such religious claims are true,
but thinking people like to see evidence.
These days we like to say, “The proof is in the pudding.” What Jesus confidently does now is to prove
his claim to spiritual authority by performing a feat that they could all
see. There would be no arguing with
that! “So that you’ll know the Son of
Man has authority to forgive sins: I’m telling you, paralyzed man, get up, pick
up your stretcher and go home.” And this
is exactly what happened. However, there
could have been no healing in this case had not the crippling
burden of sin first been eliminated.
This story gives us an idea why our
healings are so hindered when we pray, even when we pray in the authority of
Jesus’ name. Sin hinders healing
and aggravates disease. Spiritual
sickness is often the origin of physical illness. Get your spirit right and your body has a
better chance of becoming right. Time
after time we have seen people repent and receive forgiveness then turn from
their old ways and to their recovery. This is a good lesson for all of us who seek
wholeness.
Clearing Out (of)
the Hospital
However, the primary lesson that the author
wants us to learn is how we may stand in the place of Jesus and utilize the
authority of Yahweh to make our people better and our world a
better place. Acquiring the qualities of
obedience, faith and compassion should be the goals of every person on earth,
believer or not. Why wouldn’t someone
want to be obedient, faithful or compassionate except they be children of the
devil? No, but we’re children of G-d,
children of the light. We have every
right to claim the authority to cast out, bless, heal and forgive those whom we
love who come to us for relief. And you
can do these things – Jesus shows us how and especially when they are to
be done.
Twenty-some years ago I was part of an
accountability group* made up of other young men who
were looking to be disciples of Jesus.
We were very bold and became very “high visibility” in our community
within only a couple years. We
experienced “miracles” in those days because our group so earnestly desired to
see G-d move. (Several of these
miracles are described on another
site.) One of the fellows made us a plan to converge
on the local hospital, heal all the sick there and put the hospital out of
business in a few weeks. He put together
a schedule that called for us to go in two-by-two and cover visiting hours
seven days a week.
We took the hospital by storm, moving room
to room in teams, praying for everybody we could. There were some breakthroughs. Pretty soon our presence came to the
attention of the hospital administrators who wanted us out. But there was nothing the hospital could do
as long as we behaved. One of the
fellows, Greg, was full of faith and wanted to raise the dead. He was praying for a terminally ill patient
he knew of who was nearly comatose. All
of a sudden, the demons in the patient brought him awake, sat him up, and
started to scream profanities at Greg.
Though Greg was shook, he held his ground. He got into a shouting match with the devil
right there in the hospital ward.
Security was called; Greg was escorted out and the rest of us were
barred from coming back. But we were
glad to hear later that this terminally ill, demon-possessed patient soon went
home.
Open Door
Opportunities
I’m not advocating trying to go in and clear
out a hospital or a mental ward through healing prayer, unless you’re called to
do that. You know why? Look at the example of Jesus. With few exceptions, those with serious needs
came to him. They were five
layers deep around the door! We don’t
need to go looking for evangelism opportunities unless we’re specifically
called. Every week, opportunities come
to you if you open your eyes to them. I
doubt that there’s one person here that hasn’t had a god-given opportunity to
help someone with restoration, blessing, healing or forgiving, in the last
week. If you can honestly say that you
haven’t had an opportunity like this, it’s only because you haven’t had the
compassion to acknowledge that your help is needed. If you have the compassion but you
nevertheless did nothing when you were called upon, it’s because you didn’t
have the faith to step out in your gifts.
Hey, Yahweh wouldn’t have sent that
stranger, that grandchild, that friend, your way unless he was sending you an
opportunity to exhibit the gifts and graces of the one who saved you. Watch this next week. Live intentionally, as Jesus did, and have
faith. If you do, these wonderful
opportunities to make a difference, at home, work, school or church, will not
pass you by. Don’t worry about what you
will do when they arrive. Just do something
in the name of Jesus and it will ultimately be the right thing, even
if that means breaking a hole in the roof to get the mission accomplished! He will marvel at your faith, even if you
don’t have that much.
There used to be a church motto that was
very popular – “Open the doors and they’ll come.” That was very true of just about any church
twenty, thirty or fifty years ago. But
today, times have changed; people just don’t storm the doors of small churches
with limited programs anymore.
That’s OK though. Even Jesus
left the church. But when he did,
the needs of the desperate unchurched crowds only increased. The door of Simon’s house was always open for
them, as long as Jesus was there.
Friends, we come together in church as the family of Yahweh to
worship and learn of him. But we go out
there … to serve him. Open your door,
and when they come, Jesus will be at your house for those who enter. That Jesus will be you. And your people will say, “We never saw
anything like this before.”