Seek The God of Hope

And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” ~ Mark 2:2-12

Let me start by setting the scene for you. Jesus had been gone for a while; you could say He was on a preaching tour throughout Galilee and had just gotten back home to Capernaum. No doubt, all the people in His hometown had heard about all the great things He had done on His tour. Lepers were cleansed. The sick were all healed. The demons were cast out. The oppressed were set free. All kinds of various diseases were all healed.

At the very least, their curiosity was piqued, so much so that there was no more room left in the house, not even at the door. The crowd pressed against the door and then stretched out into the yard. Everyone was straining to hear what Jesus was saying.

In other words, the yard was filled with eager listeners. They probably crowded around the windows, if for nothing else but to hear and hopefully get a quick glimpse of Jesus. Jesus was preaching the word to them. Explaining Scripture like no one else did or no one else could. For Jesus taught with authority, not like the Scribes and Pharisees, but like one having authority.

When suddenly, a group of people entered the scene, trying to barge their way in carrying a man lying on his bedroll, but to no avail. The crowd was just too many. Everyone was bunched up together, hanging on every word Jesus said. There was simply no way to get in. They could not even get close to the door.

Then, one of them had a harebrained idea. Let us climb up on the roof, remove all the tiles, and let him down in front of Jesus. What? Are you mad? Climb up on the roof, tear the tiles off, and dig a hole through the roof big enough to let him down through it on his stretcher? Yes, came the reply. Okay, sounds good to me. Let’s do it.

There was no back-and-forth discussion about who’s gonna fix the roof. Or whose expense it will be to fix the roof. Their only thought was to get their friend in front of the only one who gave them hope. That was Jesus.

See, these friends understood that even when everything seems completely hopeless, there’s always hope in Jesus. If you can just get to Jesus, hope can be found. Why? Because Jesus is the God of possible. What seems impossible, He makes possible. Where there is no way, He makes a way. Therefore, no matter what is going on in your life or your loved ones’ lives, if you can just get to Jesus, you will have hope.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek The God of Hope.

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