May 14 - A House Church

Read Mark 2:1-12

Context: Jesus has been traveling through Galilee, preaching in the synagogues, healing people, and driving out demons. This is relatively early in his ministry.

Text:
1A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
6Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7"Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
8Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? 9Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? 10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, 11"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" (NIV)

taken from www.biblegateway.com

Some texts say that Jesus' home in Capernaum was actually the home of Peter. It was very close to the synagogue so it was easy for them to travel back and forth. This is the first example we see of a 'house church' -- people gathering together for the purpose of learning more about God and his Son. The text makes it sound like the people knew where Jesus stayed and they went to his home as soon as they heard he was back in town.

Luckily our ministers don't have to deal with such invasive distractions. But Jesus handled it like the pro he was. I always wondered what Peter's wife was thinking as she saw the debris from the roof raining in on her living room....