[Journey with Jesus – Day 7]
We knew that following Jesus would be an adventure. Shortly after he had healed my mother in law there is nothing that she wouldn’t do for him, so when we found out that Jesus was planning to make Capernaum his base, it was she who insisted that he made our house his home. It was the perfect place – we had different rooms around the central courtyard, so the more the merrier! News about Jesus’s teaching and healing of the demon-possessed man spread quickly, so that by the end of the day, after he had healed my mother, a large number of the sick and suffering were brought to him. He had time for all of them – we could see how much it was taking out of him, but every single one of those people and their suffering mattered to him. He would not have them turned away. He laid hands on them and they were healed. Spirits were driven out with a word, demons came out of many – the noise was extraordinary, as they were shouting, “You are the Son of God!”. He simply rebuked these demons and wouldn’t allow them to speak. By the time he had finished ministering to everyone it was very late. We managed to usher Jesus into his sleeping quarters and hoped that he’d be able to get a decent night’s sleep to recover. We were shocked next morning when we arose and found that he was nowhere to be seen. It was yet early and the beginnings of a crowd was forming outside our home. He was clearly a man in demand. Simon and Andrew, James and John went out to search for him – followed by the crowd who had worked out that they’d have a good chance of finding Jesus by sticking close to these guys. When they returned with Jesus a couple of hours later, Jesus was speaking about not stopping here in Capernaum, but instead going all over Galilee – “Look,” he was saying, “There is need all over the place – I have to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to these other places, not just here in Capernaum. This is why I was sent.”
From that point Jesus went all over Galilee. The pattern seemed to be the same in each place – he would head to the synagogue, where he would preach and heal all the sicknesses and diseases among the people. Simon, Andrew, James and John were his constant companions. We would come along when he was ministering nearby. Our role was to do our bit to support him, looking after his needs and the needs of the others – you know, food, clothing, that sort of thing. And everywhere he went, the crowds simply got bigger and bigger. Soon he wasn’t able to enter a town openly. Instead, he would head to a deserted place outside the village and sure enough, the people would come out to find him, where they would hear his incredible teaching and receive healing. We were worried about him, though. How did he keep going, when he was pouring himself out for all those people? We asked him and he told us that the key was the time he had alone with God – he would often take himself out before the break of day where he could be completely alone. Though he was so generous with his time all the rest of the day, he guarded this time as much as he could.
A few days later we had yet more drama. This time it was at home. Jesus had returned after being on the road for a while. Of course, news of his arrival spread and people started to gather to hear him speak. More and more people came until there was no space in the house at all – not even in the doorway. Most of the people there were the sick and the spiritually hungry, but there were others present who, quite frankly, had rather dodgy reasons for being there – pharisees and teachers of the law from synagogues in Galilee, but also from Jerusalem. Jesus was being watched. While Jesus was teaching, we heard a noise from above our heads. It was a scraping noise, and then dust and debris seemed to be falling from the ceiling. What was going on? Within a couple of minutes, we could see daylight. Amazed and shocked, we saw that a hole was being dug in our roof! We sort of watched numbly as the hole grew bigger, and then, out of the light we could make out something being lowered down – a man on a stretcher. The crowd instinctively shuffled back to make way for the stretcher and the man as he lay on the floor. I then looked at Jesus to see his response. How would he react to such an intrusion – in fact, I know everyone was watching Jesus at this point. Well, Jesus just had this huge grin on his face – he looked up at the hole, where we could see four men peeping down – and waved at them. He then looked down at the man, who was looking wide-eyed at him. No wonder – his friends had after all dug a hole in the roof of a house. Not everyone would be very pleased about this. Again, Jesus just smiled at him, then he said, “Friend, have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.”
Well, you could hear the intake of breath – almost a hissing sound – from certain people who were present – the scribes and pharisees – they were making their disapproval obvious. They started whispering among themselves, “He can’t talk that way! That’s blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins.”
Jesus knew right away what they were thinking, and said, “Why are you so sceptical? Which is simpler: to say to the paralysed man, ‘I forgive your sins,’ or say, ‘Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking’? Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both . . .” He then looked down at the paralysed man who was still lying there on the mat, and said, “Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home.” And the man did it — he got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out through the crowd, which made way for him – all eyes were fixed on him and then at Jesus. People were rubbing their eyed, stunned – they were praising God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!””
I looked up at the four men who were still hovering around the hole they had made. They looked thrilled for their friend. They had tears in their eyes. Jesus looked up and saw them. “Sorry about the roof!” one of them said.
“Don’t worry about that – roofs can be repaired! I just love the faith you showed and the love you showed for your friend.“ Jesus said. “You go and join him. Celebrate with him and remember the goodness of God.”
At the end of the day we were still in awe of all that was happening. God was powerfully at work through Jesus. People were receiving their lives again, experiencing healing and hope. We may have had a roof to repair, but it was well worth it!
Halwill Publishing 