And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.
Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. And when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you." But some of the scribes were sitting there reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
And immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk?' But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins'--He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go your way to your house."
And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!" Mark 2:1-12
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Now you may be wondering right now how this account of the healing of the paralytic has anything to do with "The Harvest?" I know I was since I had thought 'The Choice Made Clear' Part 8 was the last in this series on the harvest but He has shown me two more things, so it looks like nine and ten are in the works.
And the point of today's message is actually pretty simple and it will be made clear pretty quickly because we are going to take a quick look at the four men who carried the paralytic. They had obviously decide that Jesus was the answer to their friends need and they also took steps to get him to Him. I'm going to say it again because this is key to the harvest. They knew that Jesus could meet their friends need and took steps to get Him in front of Jesus.
The first thing to note is they worked as a team. It took more than one of them to carry him the distance it took to get him to Jesus. As you contemplate the harvest in your life realize its not always about just you. Sometimes it takes the help of others to see your loved ones harvested and cut off from the works of the enemy. Don't feel like its a burden you need to carry alone! Get two or three to stand in agreement with you and carry the load together in prayer!
The next step after (1) coming together in agreement that Jesus could meet their friends need and (2) actually carrying him to where Jesus was located was (3) to not be discouraged by the crowd! They get to the house where they know Jesus can be found, and in the way is a huge crowd of people who, like them, are seeking for one reason or another, to see Jesus face to face. They must have, at least for a moment, felt that sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs that it was all for nothing. Or at the very least they must have experienced a moment of, "AAAAAAHHHHH! What are we going to do?"
The thing is there are always going to be the possibilities of obstacles to the harvest taking place in the lives of those you love. In the natural it could be a bad storm, or even a drought that can effect the harvest. The possibility of obstacles is always there but that doesn't stop the the farmer who sows the seed from planting his crop in the spring. We can't judge the outcome ahead of time. We can't look at a person, and decide they are too far from God, or that they have strayed too far, or that they are too lost to reach. It is our job, no matter the obstacle, to keep planting faith in the lives of those we love or come in contact with. The crowd was a momentary obstacle to their plan of a 'Jesus encounter' for their friend. We can't let the crowd or rather peoples opinion, including our own, determine whether we bother with sharing Jesus with those around us.
They didn't throw up their hands, give up and take him home. They opened their eyes and came up with another way. It was harder than simply going through the door but they got him onto the roof, broke through, and let him down, bed and all, till he was laid before Jesus. They hadn't let the obstacles stop them. They hadn't let the crowd make a difference to their belief that Jesus was the answer!
Usually at this point you get to read 'that Jesus, filled with compassion' did whatever miracle comes next. In this case we don't see that. What we see instead is, 'When Jesus saw their faith," he acted. It was the four men's faith and belief that caused this man's encounter with Jesus to take place! It was because of their faith that this paralytic was set free from his sins and healed. It was their pressing in; keeping the faith, despite the obstacles that caused him harvested (Cut off from) the works of the enemy in his life, and to be added to the kingdom. It was because of their faith on behalf of the paralytic that the crowd or rather the obstacle ended up 'amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"
Jesus is the 'Lord of the Harvest' and it is up to him to send the laborers into the field were He deems best. He may give you a paralytic or two to get before Him. We know that He is the way, the truth, and the life. We know that if we can get them face to face with Him that it will make all the difference. So don't give up, despite the obstacles, there will be a way. There will be a time when your faithfulness on their behalf will reap its reward. A life restored!
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