Week 2: Day 1
Join Gemma Milligan - part of the team at Youthscape - for the first reflection of the week!
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralysed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Intro: Hi, my name’s Gemma Milligan and it’s great to welcome you to Orbit - a short daily reflection from the team behind Satellites, which aims to help you put God at the centre of your life. Each weekday we reflect on a bit of the Bible, pray, and give you a practical challenge to help you live out your faith.
Bible: Today’s reading comes from Mark 2:1-5:
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven”.
Thoughts: I want you to imagine for a moment that you are in the middle of a huge crowd of people, and you know you need to get through them to get to where you need to go. I wonder how you might be feeling in that situation. A few years ago, I went into Central London on New Year’s Eve to watch the big firework display down by the River Thames. The experience was incredible; but as we prepared to make our way to the train station to head home afterwards, my friends and I got caught up amongst the largest crowd of people I have ever been part of in my life, and I felt pretty overwhelmed, stressed and anxious, as it felt as if I was never going to make it home.
And I wonder if this is how the men in this passage were feeling as they approached Jesus’ house and saw the huge crowd gathered around it. I imagine their hearts would’ve sank, their anxiety and stress levels would have increased, and they may even have felt like turning around and heading back home. The crowd would have looked so overwhelming that they might even have momentarily thought that the effort wasn’t even worth it – I know I probably would have.
But they had heard all about Jesus and what he could do. They would have heard stories of him healing many people with a huge variety of illnesses and diseases and so they believed that if they could just get their friend in front of him, then Jesus might be able to heal him too. And the hope of that was enough to get them to do everything they could, even making a hole in the roof of the house, to get their friend to him!
I don’t know about you, but that determination to see their friend encounter Jesus inspires me. They were willing to do whatever it took, even in circumstances that would have looked close to impossible, to see their friend healed and able to walk, and *spoiler alert* we read later in the passage that this is exactly what happened. Jesus saw their faith and their love for their friend, and this compelled him to meet the man’s physical and spiritual needs, which may even have been more than they were hoping for.
Pray: Jesus, please give me a greater desire to see my friends encounter you. Help me to be like these men who were willing to do whatever it took to see you meet their friend’s needs. And thank you that even if my faith is small, you are able to do above and beyond what I believe you can in my friend’s lives. Amen.
Action: Here’s today’s practical challenge to help you put what we’ve reflected on into action:
Think of a friend who you believe needs to encounter Jesus in some way at the moment – maybe they don’t yet know him, maybe they need physical healing of some kind, maybe you know they are going through a really tough time right now. Imagine yourself in this Bible story as the one pushing through the crowd, carrying the friend you have identified on the mat, and lowering them through the roof in front of Jesus. Ask him for what you believe your friend needs and then leave them lying at his feet as an indication of your faith that he can do even more than you ask.
Outro: Thanks so much for joining us for Orbit today! We hope you found that helpful, and we’ll be back with another reflection tomorrow.