Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
Mark 2:4
Redemption Has Come
Jesus was a disruptor. He flipped everything over—not just money tables, but entire worldviews. The Hebrew Bible teaches us that those who are unclean must leave the camp so as to not infect others (or make others unclean). And that truth hasn’t changed. What has changed is that Jesus has come to redeem us.
Jesus actively sought those who were unclean. But more than that, He knew He was so holy and righteous that interacting with them would have the reverse effect: instead of them making Him dirty, He’d make them clean! What a wonderful truth!
Get Your Hands Dirty!
In our story today, these friends brought Jesus a paralytic. Traditionally, the thought would have been that this fellow was a sinner whom God did not love. The evidence was in his paralysis. But instead of his sinfulness infecting Jesus, Jesus’ cleanliness infected him.
In Matthew 28, Jesus says He has received all authority, and He then gives it to us. I submit that making disciples is just a case of us drawing near to the unclean in the freedom of knowing that they won’t infect us, but rather that Christ through us will infect them.
Let’s go to the “least of these” together to offer to them the freedom in Christ we have. Together, let’s go to the “not-so-least-of-these” and show them that the bondage of their material wealth and status is overcome by Jesus. Let’s get our hands dirty. Whom are you being asked to disciple?
Now What?
Join a local or global missions team at your campus. Invite your small group, friends and neighbors to join you in that service. (Sometimes, even those who have yet to believe in Jesus are willing to serve others alongside Christians.) Be bold and ask.
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