Mark 2:3-4
Perseverance
is one thing that so many lack today. I like to define perseverance as the
ability to stick with a task, project, goal, or dream until it is accomplished,
even in the face of opposition or difficulty. It takes determination to
persevere. It is easy to get discouraged and give up. But the most successful
people in any endeavor in life have learned to stick with it. They have learned
that almost anything can be accomplished if you are determined to make it
happen.
Our
text today tells about a group of men who were determined to bring their
paralyzed friend to Jesus. They were not going to let anyone or anything stand
in their way. We don’t know how far they traveled. We do know they heard about
Jesus’ powers to heal and they wanted that healing for their friend. We don’t
know how this man was paralyzed. We don’t know how long he had been like this.
We do know that his friends would not let anything stand in their way.
I
can picture them carrying their friend on that mat. They approach the place
where Jesus is preaching and they try to push their way through the crowd, but
the crowd won’t yield. They are not the only ones who want to get close to
Jesus and hear what He has to say. They try another approach and it fails as
well. And then one of them has an idea: let’s go around back, climb up the
stairs on the outside of the house and dig through the flat roof! At first it
seems a little “out there,” but the more they think about it, the better it
sounds. They don’t think too long, they act. They rush around the back of the
house, up the stairs and begin digging.
Meanwhile
below them Jesus is teaching. The teaching probably came to a stop as the noise
of the digging was heard. Whispers about what could be happening move around
the gathered crowd. First the sod is removed. Then the dirt gets moved,
followed by the straw and sticks. The dust and debris fall in on top of those
gathered inside the house and sunlight cuts through the dust and straw filled
air. Then the final largest sticks are removed. At this point all eyes are
looking at the hole in the ceiling.
And
then there is an unseen commotion above the hole. Then the sunlight is
interrupted and the hole fills with an unknown object. Grunts are heard as
muscles strain at lowering this object. Once the object passes through the hole
everyone can see that it is a mat with a man on it that has been thrust into
their midst. Now they know what all the commotion was about.
This
was determination. They could have stopped at the first obstacle. They could
have looked at the journey and said that it was too far, carrying their friend.
When they saw the crowd and realized that they would have to push their way
through, they could have turned around and gone home. When they tried to get
through the crowd and were unable, homeward they could have been. But they didn’t
give up. They climbed the stairs, dismantled the roof without any tools, and then
lowered their friend. They didn’t bring rope for lowering, so they had to
improvise, perhaps using their own garments as extensions of their grip. They
were determined to help their friend.
How determined are you to accomplish God’s
purpose in your life? Have you given up on following His call because you face
a few obstacles?