Mark 2:1

  

Mark 2:1 says, And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.  After some time alone in a desert place to escape His growing notoriety, Jesus returned to Capernaum.  Though Jesus is not here today, the Holy Spirit is, and rather than keep the truth about Jesus secret, we are called on through the power of the Holy Spirit to tell the world about Him. Even though we need time alone with Him, we need to spend more time proclaiming His good news to the world than alone keeping the gospel to ourselves. Verse two adds, And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.  Jesus`s return to Capernaum was publicized quickly, and soon His house was overflowing, and people could no longer get through the door.  It would be wonderful if we had that same situation in churches today, but normally people of the world simply ignore what is going on in the church, but we still put our faith in the same Jesus Who was in Capernaum that day.  Verse three continues, And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. Four men had a friend who was sick with palsy that they wanted to bring to Jesus for healing, but they seemed to be blocked from getting to Him.  How many of us say we would bring our friends in need to Jesus, but seem to encounter something blocking us from doing so?  If we do encounter something in the way, what do we do then?  Verse four states, And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.  These four men would not be stopped from getting their friend to Jesus, so they tore through the roof and let him down before Jesus.  There could have been many reasons to give up.  First, they had to get through the crowd. Next, they had to get the man up on the roof.  Then, they had to remove enough of the roof to let him pass through.  Finally, they had to let the man down without dropping him.  They could have decided at any point that it was too much trouble, but they didn't give up.  How often we let the least little obstacle keep us from bringing someone to Jesus?  We should be just as determined to bring our friends and family to Jesus as these men were.  Verse five adds, When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.  We see that when Jesus saw their faith, He told the man sick with palsy that his sins had been forgiven.  Through faith, the four men brought their friend to Jesus for a physical healing, and because of faith, both theirs and his I believe, the man's sins were forgiven.  We must be willing to do as much as we can to bring people to Jesus.