Mark 2:1-5 reminds us that we have more faith than we realize as these friends of the paralytic manifested it in a different ways:
Dares the difficult: The first thing I notice about the men that lowered their friend through the roof to Jesus is the degree of difficulty they were willing to go through for just the opportunity for their friend to meet Jesus. We are not told how far they have traveled carrying their friend but if it was any length greater than a few 100 feet the degree of difficulty would increase with each passing step. They struggle through the crowds to see a glimpse of the house and in front of it as chapter 1 verse 33 said, the “whole city gathered at the door.
The point I’m making is that when we in spite of the challenges and difficulty continue pressing forward to get to the place and possibility of change we are demonstrating that we have faith!
Does what is demanded: They didn’t limit their actions by what was normal or customary, like waiting and going through the front door! The construction of the ancient roofs reveals quite an amount of work to accomplish the task. Typically, these were flat roofs made up of a composition of mortar, tar, ashes and sand spread out on the roof with stone tiles placed on top. They did what was necessary to accomplish the task of getting in front of Jesus in spite of what I can only imagine would have been disapproval by Peter as it was his house that was losing a roof.
Clearly these men did what was unorthodox, risked criticism and weren’t afraid to do so. Faith is evident when we are doing what is demanded, risking rejection and overcoming obstacles to get to Jesus!
Careless about the cost: The final unorthodox sign of faith is that they must have realized that tearing apart a large hole in a roof and lowering their friend in front of Jesus was going to cost them something. There was no “home owner’s policy” for paralytic roof damage. These 5 were careless in the face of the cost and that is another example that you have faith! These men had accepted and realized that even if unsuccessful they were still going to have to pay for the damage. Saints I think the church could use more people that exhibit this kind of unorthodox faith.
•Dare to do what is difficult
•Willing to overcome obstacles
•Castaways that count the cost