~Mark 2:3
Often when I read the miracles of Jesus I‘m tempted to wrongly categorize them as parables, or great stories that never actually happened like so many of Jesus’ parables. This is not one of those moments. This is an actual, historical moment that took place in the Capernaum home where Jesus stayed. It was probably a small, one room house with a flat roof and outside ladder leading to the rooftop.
It’s a packed house tonight with people stacked around the outside door trying to see or hear Jesus. Then a group of guys show up and four of them are carrying their paralyzed buddy. The Bible never says, “Four men came carrying their buddy.” Neither Mark nor Luke (5:17-25) record the number of men involved, only that “they” or “some” (depending on your Bible translation) came, “carried by four men.”
I believe more than four men came with their paralyzed buddy, maybe as many as ten of them. If you’ve ever carried dead weight before, then you know how much a man can weigh. You’d need a group of men on the roof to pull him up by ropes while others steadily lifted him. Someone had to catch him while he was lowered to Jesus. Someone had to make a way through the crowded area, and others dug through the roof. Who guarded the stairway? This was a much bigger job than for four men.
This event is a great illustration for us men. We live compartmental lives. In other words, unlike our beautiful female counterpart, women, we struggle to blend the many hats we wear and multi-task. We struggle to intertwine life; thus, we compartmentalize life into mutually exclusive components.
We are masters of focus but don’t naturally weave the various aspects of life together. Because of this, each man needs a man on the roof in as many compartments of life as possible. Every man on my roof is a highly valued target since they watch over your life, whether that be at work, with hobbies, your relationship with God, your marriage, and health to name a few?
I pray for the men on my roof daily. I need them strong. I need them gutsy. I need them white hot for Jesus. They are catalysts for me living out my best version for Jesus. Who are your men on the roof?
