Opening the Roof

The people in today's Gospel are again awestruck.  Jesus continues to heal, forgive, and to restore.  Remember way back at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, when John the Baptist sends his disciples to follow Jesus, and to discover whether or not he is the Messiah.  Jesus noticing these disciples following him invites them to stay with him.  After some time, Jesus has these disciples report to John everything they have seen and heard.  They report that the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, dead men are raised to life, and the poor have the good news preached to them.  This is what Isaiah said the Messiah would do.

Some where the four friends of the paralyzed man must of either seen or heard of the ministry of Jesus.  Like the crowds in the house they too must have been overwhelmed with joy that something new was happening.  It is interesting that while the Gospel has Jesus commenting on the paralyzed man's faith, it is also the intense faith of the four men, who go as far as tearing open the roof, that also needs to be commended.  St. Paul would suggest that these four are not forgetful listeners, but rather hear the Word of God and out it into practice.  More so, the paralyzed man and the crowds now become proclaimers of everything that they have heard and seen.

Right from the get go, the message of Jesus Christ suffers opposition.  The scribes are hanging on every word, but not for the cause of conversion and discipleship, but to make sure the words match with the prescribed set of phrases to use when preaching.  In a real way today is no different.  The challenges that the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ causes many to rebel and try to find an easier or more expedient way around the message.  We like to pretend that Jesus really did not mean to change our hearts, to love our enemies, or to become humble servants of one another.

Now granted that we have as Christians hurt ourselves by wandering from the Word every now and then.  But the message of Jesus remains firm.  Discipleship is a matter of dying and rising.  The structures of Sin in which are alluded to today are not just or private Sins, but those that corrupt institutions and nations.  Conversion and discipleship as about a virtuous life and about justice and peace for all nations.  As with four men who remove the roof to get to Jesus, faith is a community effort.  There is no private religion.

We can be like the crowds today who marvel at what we have heard and seen in faith.  But we have to proclaim it, and maybe even others to Jesus for healing.  And sometimes our faith requires some radical structure changes to get to Jesus.