Mark 2:1-12 how are we saved?

Ignoring for a moment* what “being saved” even means, are we saved by what we do** for others, how we love, how sorry we are for the things we did wrong? What else can save us? In this story, it is your friends. You are paralyzed: lets go for metaphor a minute. You have messed up your life so much, so deeply, you are frozen. Your friends lift you up. Your friends get you to Jesus. (That could even be another metaphor: Your friends give you a “come to Jesus” moment like “no ‘retirement’ doesn’t mean life won’t have anymore trouble for you, silly old bear, just a different type of trouble”.) Your friends took action and in this story Jesus saw their action (verse 5), he forgave you.

Okay you can argue the “their” in verse 5 means both you and your friends who did the work of getting you to Jesus.

But really you are paralyzed and had no choice but to go where your friends took you.

Or did you implore your friends?

Or are they really your friends? For years I thought that verse 3 said “friends”. And it doesn’t actually.

Or in a new interpretation that I am not sure about (The Bible for Normal People, Ep. 266, guest Candida Moss), they could be enslaved men. In the podcast/transcript, this is toward the end. Dr. Moss thinks that a “mat” would not be sturdy enough to lower down a roof, that it would be a “litter,” which were what rich people were carried about on. And a litter would be carried most likely by enslaved people. She is not sure about the interpretation used for the word “people” in verse 3, that “friends” would perhaps not be a valid interpretation even though it is common. Is it even people? Is is more like, “the unseen labor lowered him down on his mat”? However if this is so, then when Jesus thus forgives the paralyzed man, we can imagine how there would be stuff to be forgiven, yes, in this case? And when Jesus then heals him, to show that Jesus has this power of forgiveness, Jesus tells the man to go home and now take care of people too. This was a really fascinating episode of the podcast.

Because I want actions on the behalf of others to matter to God. I want “to be saved” — while mostly a private mystery — to also be somehow, in some cases, a group effort. That friendship and loyalty matter.

Although if Dr. Moss’s interpretation is pressed on, then your prayers and actions on behalf of anyone, even someone you hate, could “count.” Could save them. Could save yourself. Could save the world.

Perhaps I just don’t think as big as Jesus and God who want to free and forgive the whole world, whatever it takes!

Unseen labor, people, friends — Jesus saw their faith — they were not unseen or just people to Jesus. He looked right at them, at the hole in the roof, and brushed the dust created off his robe, and smiled. I bet his eyes twinkled right at these men, seeing them. I bet Jesus was filled with joy at this messy situation that he was going to clean up, a carpenter rolling up his sleeves.

FTGOG

*I’m ignoring defining “to be saved” but I would suggest it means being forgiven for your sins, to be “remembered” that is put back together from all the broken pieces that make us up. Maybe? I’m not talking about “heaven.”

**Yes yes faith by grace not by works. But seriously “doing” is important too, isn’t it? The older I get the more I know I need grace. And more I know I need to try to do something that helps. This just can’t be an either/or, can it?

Mark 2:1-12 and windows and doors

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

Back to Mark 2:1-12

It seems that I haven’t written about my favorite bible story on the blog! I am shocked! I’m delighted. I’ve been at a loss about what to write about. Let’s dive into Mark 2:1-12! In fact look at the first verse. He — that is Jesus — returned to Capernaum and after a few days of quiet, people found out that he was at home.

Jesus was at home. How amazing is that! We think of Jesus as being on the road and dusty and miserable and homeless. But here, at the beginning, he was at home — he had a home maybe, or maybe he felt at home. Relaxed? Energized? What was Jesus like when he was at home? Isn’t that curious to wonder about?

Verse 1 has more to wonder about. Capernaum is by the sea of Galilee and it was (if I see the map properly) “toward the top” but definitely in the ancient days it was Judean, but under Roman control.

Here’s a map.

Here’s a picture.

I have been told that Capernaum was bustling — but not perhaps by our modern standards.

So Jesus has returned (we’ll look at this in the future, where did he return from?), he’s “at home” and he has been found out to be at home. This starts with quiet. But the quiet is already about to end.

FTGOG