CROWDING ROUND THE DOOR

18 January 2019

CROWDING ROUND THE DOOR (Mark 2:2-12)

‘When Jesus returned to Capernaum so many people collected there was no room even in front of the door.’ We have hardly started the gospel and already Mark has mentioned this crowding around Jesus twice.  People were drawn to him: he was attractive in every way.  They sense that he could satisfy the hunger of their heart.  He will relieve the hunger, poverty and oppression they felt daily.  He longed to respond to them and heal their pain.  But they had to do one thing – just one thing – if he was going to be able to do this. They had to change their way of thinking.  They brought a paralytic to him and he wanted to cure him.  But first the paralytic had to change his ways.  Then resistance set in.  It would be like that all the way through the gospel.  And it is still like that today.  We do not want to change.  But if we can find it within ourselves to do so, we, with the paralytic, will be able to ‘get up and walk out in front of everyone.’