This is a curious coincidence — my husband and I have watched several movies lately that revolve around doors as magical things. And then here is a door in verse 2 of this biblical story (Mark 2:1-12) — “So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door….” It seems as if, from various lectures and a tiny bit of google, that generally houses in Jesus’ time and place did not have windows, and they wouldn’t have had glass like we think of windows. But doors, yes. Doors let in light and air! Doors kept danger out at night. Doors are kind of magical aren’t they? You are one place, then you are another when you open the door and step out (or in).
In this case, for there to not be any more room even in front of the door, that meant there were a lot of people around! It was packed!
And the magical thing really was Jesus “was speaking the word to them.” I like the translation “preaching” better — Jesus was preaching! And I would capitalize “the Word” — he was speaking the Word! Wow! If I had a chance to ride on a time machine, this is where I would go, that hot, packed, aromatic incredible moment where Jesus spoke the word.
I imagine that Jesus would speak the truth, wiser than anyone else. I imagine he used stories from the Torah and so on. But the Gospel of Mark doesn’t say! At all. This is not a story about what Jesus said. This is a story about what Jesus does.
So there was no more room, but — then more people came! What is going to happen next? Stay tuned!
FTGOG
FTGOG 