We Can Be Mat Carriers

Scripture — Mark 2:3-5 (NRSV)

Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Devotion

Mark 2:1-12 paints a powerful picture of how you and I can care for the people in our lives who are suffering. This story begins with Jesus preaching in a house in Capernaum. His popularity has grown so much that the crowd exceeded standing room only. People were even jammed outside the door, trying desperately to hear Jesus.

Four men approached the house, carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing that there was no obvious way for them to get their friend to Jesus because of the crowd, they carried him up onto the roof and dug a hole right through it. Roofs, in Capernaum, were made of branches and dried mud, so it would have been possible but not easy to dig through the roof. When the opening in the roof was large enough, they lowered the paralyzed man down in front of Jesus. He did not rebuke the men who had temporarily ruined the roof. Rather, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’” (12:5). This unexpected response led to a debate between Jesus and some Jewish leaders about the authority to forgive sins. Jesus, as the Son of Man, claimed such authority and proved his point by healing the paralyzed man whom he had forgiven.

Every time I read this story, I’m impressed by the men who carried the mat of their ailing friend. They showed exceptional kindness in the act of carrying. But then, they went way beyond kindness to boldness. They had no way of knowing in advance how Jesus would respond to their brash destruction of private property. They did know that they might get into a heap of trouble with the owner of the house. Yet, out of a deep concern for their paralyzed friend, these men risked plenty to present him to Jesus.

Their action mattered, not only to the paralytic, but also to Jesus. Mark tells us that when Jesus saw “their faith,” he acted to forgive and ultimately to heal the man. We don’t even know what the paralyzed man thought about Jesus. But we do know that the faith of his friends counted with Jesus and led to the man’s restoration.

You and I have the privilege, indeed, the calling, of being mat carriers. We do so by reaching out to those in need, kindly and even boldly. We do so when we pray for people with faithful persistence. We are mat carriers when, through word and deed, we help people get to the one who is the true healer and Savior. And we can even be mat carriers in our workplace. We’ll work on this last possibility next Monday. For now, let me encourage you to consider the following questions.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: The Paralytic Man (Mark 2:1-12).