Mark 2:4 In Desperation, Go UP!
Pastor/Teacher, Maurice H. Sykes
Years ago, one of my co-workers was a young man, with a Yale University degree, who literally hated himself. While ministering to him I learned that his mother abandoned the family and years later his father abandoned them. This was a very bright person who was highly skilled at his work as an Investigator. But he was emotionally crippled&ldots;a broken man. He sought love by hooking up with another male, who virtually dominated his life. Their homosexual relationship did not provide the solutions that the my co-worker sought. This young man was hurting so bad that in desperation he drank a bottle of bleach and in an attempt to secure the final solution to his problems. He lived.
Principle: desperate people will try desperate solutions!
Years ago, a man that I knew was hurting badly, as a result of his wife, son and three friends being viciously murdered. The man tried every form of medication, legal and illegal, but he couldn't stop hurting. In his desperation he put a gun to his head, pulled the trigger---but missed.
Principle: desperate people will try desperate solutions!
The Lord has a way to rescue people who are desperate, hurting, broken and emotionally crippled. God has a plan for every living soul. But that living soul has the volition to accept or reject the plan. Jeremiah 29:11-13 reveals what God has in mind for people: "For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for well-being and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." God, out of His justice, will allow us to remain desperate, hurting, broken and emotionally crippled until we make the decision to seek Him. A just God does not coerce or intimidate nor does He force His plan, His will on anyone. What God allows in our lives, especially the hurts and pressures, is meant to draw us to Him. Why? Because the solutions are His. All solutions are made available to whomever believes in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Desperate people try desperate solutions because, in their minds, the obvious is the answer. Many people view suicide as the solution to all their problems. But the Word of God/Bible doctrine reveals a greater solution.
Spiritual Truth: the obvious is not always the solution.
In the gospel of Mark Chapter 2, God shows us a great principle about how to get the help we need. When Jesus the Christ visited his friend Peter in Capernaum (Mark 1:21, 29) the people heard He was in town and they thronged the house where He was at. You know how it goes&ldots;once the crowd hears that a personality is in the area, everyone flocks to that location with different agendas. Some go to see a miracle, some go to see if they can hustle a few dollars, some set up vendor stands to sell goods, some are curious, some are dealing drugs, some are looking for a mate or just someone to shack up with for the night and few go because they have positive volition towards God, having heard a partial message about the Christ.
Mark 2:2-3 "And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, even near the door; and He was speaking the Word to them. "And they came bringing a paralytic, carried by four men." The four men are carrying their friend to the Lord for healing. The paralyzed man wants to walk again. They get to the right location but can not enter because of the great crowd blocking the way to Christ. Spiritual Truth: when faith becomes active in a believer and is demonstrated, there will always be opposition. In the case of the paralyzed man and his four friends the crowd represents stiff opposition. The four have taken the obvious route to get to Christ. The have taken the expedient way to Christ, they have gone the way of their own understanding. They had sought healing by the natural route---the door, the entrance to the house. But they are met with stiff opposition. Once they attempted the obvious, the natural, the way that seemed right, at least one of the four men got inspiration and determined to GO UP!
There was no room at the natural level of the building. They met great opposition at the level that seemed like the solution. They did not plan on being hindered by the crowed. However, the positive volition toward the Lord resulted in inspiration from God:
at least one of the four men purposed in his heart---"let's break through the roof." The solution was to GO UP! They went up to the flat roof and uncovered a sizeable opening and then lowered their paralyzed friend. Now picture this: this is Peter's house. Brash Peter, aggressive Peter, Peter the battler. Here we have five strangers (the paralyzed man and his four friends) invading someone's home, uncovering the roof in order to put the paralyzed man in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is boldness, this is inspiration and this is acceptable. Desperate people will try desperate solutions! Their inspiration is acceptable to Christ. In order for these men to approach Christ, they had to GO UP!
To "GO UP" is an action which begins with having positive volition towards God. When the soul makes the determination to get to God, God reveals the Lord Jesus Christ. Then right solutions can be perceived and acted on. For the unbeliever, a decision must be made in the soul for Christ. For the believer, every battle fought, won or lost is done so in the soul. The bottom line is that positive volition toward God results in God being found by the seeker. Jeremiah 29:13 "and you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." By going up, the believer has gone beyond the natural, the obvious and has called on the Word of Truth in their soul to provide the solution to the need. Solutions are not always with the obvious. That is why the Word says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3: 5 and 6.
Mark 2:5 "And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralyzed man, 'My child, your sins are forgiven.' " Jesus waited for the four men and the paralyzed man to make the breakthrough. They overcame the first line of opposition---the crowd and they overcame the second line of opposition---the roof covering. NOW NOTE THIS CAREFULLY: they overcame the third line of opposition---the people inside the house who also were watching these four men break through the roof. The only reason that the opposition did not raise itself up against the four men and the paralytic was because the presence of Jesus had control of all that was in His space. The power of faith, demonstrated, had the approval of the Lord. He accepted them as they were&ldots;the way they came. He accepted them! Righteousness always takes precedence. Faith is always supported by God. And, meeting a need overrules self-righteous opposition, for someone in that house was ready to pounce on the four because they had uncovered the roof. Someone in that crowd wanted to chastise the four. Someone in that crowd wanted to impress Jesus by their moral self-righteousness. The power of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ stayed all opposition. It was God's plan to heal the paralytic and to reveal the key element of salvation: "My child, your sins are forgiven."
The obvious is not always the solution. We must GO UP. Colossians 3:1,2 "Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth." As believers in Christ our solutions are found by going UP, because "There is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiates 1:9. At the natural level of life there are no godly solutions to the spiritual problems we encounter. But there's always solutions "UP," with the Lord Jesus Christ.
---mhs