Crowded Out

“So many gathered that there was no room left…they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. Jesus …said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”” Mark 2: 2,4,5  NIV

Jesus had returned to Capernaum and lots of people were anxious to catch a glimpse of him and hear him speak. The house was so crowded that the four friends of a paralyzed man were not able to bring him in through the door. Full of determination, they made an opening through the roof and lowered him down. Why go to so much effort? Perhaps the paralytic man pressed them to make every effort to bring him to Jesus. Perhaps he even said it was a matter of life or death. Imagine the friends hauling their friend up to the rooftop, and then lowering him on his swaying bed. Some deep desire to meet Jesus lay behind this endeavour, and the friends must also have believed that Jesus could provide some relief for the man.

Out of all the people in the house that day, Jesus only said “your sins are forgiven” to the paralytic man. Was he the only person who was coming to Jesus with repentance and faith? But the crowd of people were impeding this man’s approach to Jesus. How often today, do spiritual dabblers hinder the conversion of true seekers? How many of the popular ideas of the day that masquerade as a search for God block messages of truth that could lead people to a true relationship with God? I pray that I will not be part of a crowd that chokes the path to the living God.