Mark 2:4
And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
In Capernaum at Peter's house where Jesus was teaching with His disciples near Him, a dense crowd blocked the palsied man and his bearers from coming near Him, so they carried him on his couch to the rear of the house and onto the roof, broke it open above Him, and let him down on his bed into His immediate presence at His feet. The man lay in utter helplessness with incurable palsy as the penalty of a sinful life of dissipation, embittered by remorse and fear that God had cast him off, wasted to signs of decay with no time for delay, yet hoping from reports of Jesus healing even the most sinful and helpless that he too might be cured, and desiring above bodily cure relief from sin and peace with God. When the crowd hindered them they refused to give up, and their determined act of breaking the roof and lowering him expressed a faith that belonged both to the bearers and to the sick man himself, who trusted Jesus as his only helper and whose faith grew stronger with every attempt to reach Him. Brought directly before Him, the man first received forgiveness and peace of mind for his guilt and then sudden complete bodily healing, with life-giving blood in his veins, obedient arms, fresh ruddy flesh, and strength to rise and walk with firm step and carry home the couch that had borne him. The miracle gives convincing evidence that Jesus is the promised Savior with power both to forgive sins and to heal the sick and illustrates His power to heal the soul, binding preaching truth and healing the sick together as the way to work, while the people glorified God and the Pharisees were left dumb and abashed at power they thought belonged to God alone.
Setting and Obstacle
The place was Capernaum, at the house of Peter where Jesus was staying as a guest while He was teaching. Men, women, and children flocked from every direction to hear Him when the news spread that He was there. Inside, Jesus was teaching with His disciples seated near Him, that they might learn the truths they would afterward proclaim.
In and about the house a dense crowd assembled, filling the entrance and pressing so close that passage was impossible. Because of that press the sick man and those bearing him could not come near Jesus. They could not even come within hearing of His voice.
When they could not reach Him through the entrance they refused to turn back, but carried the man to the rear of the house and up onto the roof. There they uncovered and broke open the roof directly above where He was. Then, on his bed, they let him down into His immediate presence at His feet, breaking in upon the discourse.
The bed thus let down was the couch or litter on which the palsied man had been slowly borne from his home only a short time before.
Sufferer's Past and Hope
The man lowered through the roof was reduced to utter helplessness by palsy pronounced incurable, having given up all hope of recovery after Pharisees and doctors pronounced him incurable and abandoned him to his fate. His disease was the consequence of a sinful life, brought on mainly by dissipation in loving the pleasures of sin and transgressing God's law, with his bodily suffering as the penalty of that course. His suffering was embittered by remorse, and by fear that the pure Physician would not tolerate him in His presence. He was tortured in mind by the priests' suggestions that God had cast him off because of his sins, for Pharisees and doctors refused him sympathy, treated his sickness as God's righteous retribution and proof of God's anger, and held him as beyond help, while themselves more corrupt in heart and life.
Hope revived when he and his friends and relatives heard the gracious instruction of Jesus and witnessed His wonderful miracles, including His words of mercy to the despairing and His freeing of people from Satan's power by a word of authority. They saw that He turned none away, since even loathsome lepers found access to His presence and were healed, and they were told that others as sinful and helpless had been healed and cleansed. His friends encouraged him to believe he too might be cured and his petition granted if he could be carried to Jesus and brought under His notice, and he began to hope for relief and longed to see Jesus and place himself in His hands for pardon and relief. Above physical restoration, his greatest desire was relief from the burden of sin, with pardon, relief of mind, and assurance of forgiveness and peace with God and Heaven. He was content to live or die according to God's righteous will if only he might come into His presence.
The case admitted not a moment's delay, for his wasted flesh already showed signs of decay and dissolution doing its work upon his body. He feared he would die before help could reach him, and felt this urgent effort was his last chance of recovery and his only chance of life. Despite severe bodily pain, the dying man retained strength of mind to propose the plan himself, suggesting they carry him on his bed to the rear of the house, break through the roof, and let him down into the immediate presence of Jesus. His friends gladly undertook to do it, fearing in his increasing suffering and anxiety that he could not live to be taken home.
Faith That Overcomes Hindrance
When the press blocked every way to Jesus, the bearers would not turn back but carried the sufferer to the roof, broke it open above Him, and let him down on his bed into His immediate presence at His feet, even interrupting His teaching. They bore him to the rear of the house and up onto the roof when the entrance could not be reached, refusing to accept defeat because his need was urgent and they feared he would die before help reached him. By that persistence they brought the helpless man directly before the One from whom he hoped for help.
Their determined labor to get him to Christ was faith in Jesus as the One who could help him, and Jesus saw that faith and answered it by forgiving his sins and healing his body. The resolve to reach Jesus in spite of obstacles itself displayed the faith He afterward acknowledged. That effort gave evidence of trust that Jesus was his only help, and the man's first taste of the Saviour's life-giving mercy had already come at home when he repented and believed that Jesus could make him whole.
The faith shown at the roof belonged to the sick man himself, not to his friends alone, revealing his trust that Jesus was his only helper. It grew stronger with every attempt to reach Him, so that each hindrance and each step toward His presence deepened his dependence.
That faith had begun at home under conviction of sin, where repentance and belief had already brought him the first blessing of life-giving mercy before the roof was ever opened. Jesus had already drawn the perplexed and doubting sinner to Himself as his only helper and the hope of the guilty and wretched. Gazing with inexpressible anguish while suffering and anxiety increased in the confusion of the crowd, and feeling he could not endure disappointment with help so near, he himself proposed the plan as his only chance of life — to carry him on his bed to the rear of the house, break through the roof, and let him down into the immediate presence of Jesus — and his friends, fearing he could not live to be taken home, gladly followed his suggestion.
Healing and Its Meaning
Lowered on his bed into Jesus' presence, the man first had the burden of his sins lifted and was given peace of mind, and only then was his body healed, for his deepest need was guilt over sin and forgiveness brought him peace and joy. Christ's first work was to quiet the torture of mind caused by the thought that God had cast him off, speaking forgiveness that filled his heart, and then to heal the body to prove to murmurers that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins.
The healing restored his body with sudden and complete strength, as life-giving blood bounded through his veins into its natural channels and his whole frame sprang into activity. Arms that had been lifeless and useless became quick to obey his will, shrunken leaden-hued flesh with the pallor of approaching death became fresh and ruddy with health, and he rose to his feet with the elasticity and strength of youth to walk with a firm, free step, with joy and hope in every line of his face and purity and peace in place of the marks of sin and suffering. He who a short time before had been slowly borne from his home on a couch or litter now took up his bed and carried it home with ease, as if it were a feather's weight.
There was great rejoicing in his home as the family gathered round with tears of joy, scarcely daring to believe their eyes to see him standing before them in the full vigor of manhood, and glad thanksgiving went up as God was glorified through His Son who had restored hope to the hopeless and strength to the stricken and brought light into their darkened home. His recovery brought hope and joy to his family and praise to God, and he and his household became ready to lay down their lives for Jesus, with no doubt dimming their faith and no unbelief marring their loyalty. The cured man passed through the crowd blessing God at every bounding step while the people gazed with awe-struck faces, fell back to give him room, whispered softly that they had seen strange things that day, and glorified God, his simple faith accepting Jesus' words as new life and remaining silently joyful.
The Pharisees were left dumb with amazement and overwhelmed with defeat, with no opportunity for prejudice and jealousy to inflame the multitude and their influence for the time forgotten, disconcerted and abashed as they recognized but did not confess the presence of a superior being. The wonderful work upon the man whom in arrogance they had given over to death and the wrath of God impressed the people as if heaven had opened to reveal the glories of the better world, showing Christ possessing and claiming as His own prerogative a power they thought belonged to God alone, His gentle dignity united with miraculous works standing in marked contrast to their proud and self-righteous bearing. That act of mercy gave convincing evidence that Jesus has power both to heal the sick and to forgive sins and that He is the promised Savior, illustrating Christ's power to heal the soul.
The healing took place where a leper standing afar off could catch words from Christ's lips and see it, among the lame, the blind, and those dying of various maladies who rose up in health praising God for deliverance, and seeing the paralytic healed strengthened faith in the leper's heart toward his own healing. The work displays Christ's compassion toward the guilty and afflicted and points to the message of salvation and His mercy, binding together preaching the truth and healing the sick as the illustration of the way to work.