Famous people are hard to get close to because they usually have crowds around them. Jesus had become famous, and crowds surrounded him all the time. He was not famous for being a great singer, actor, or politician. He was famous because of what he said and what he did. People came from all over to hear him teach and be healed by him.

Today’s story starts with a packed house. Mark tells us that there were so many people in the house “that there was no more room, not even at the door” (Mark 2:2). The living room was packed. The bedrooms. Even the front hallway. As Jesus was teaching in that packed house, four men arrived carrying their friend on a stretcher. Their friend was paralyzed (he couldn’t move from his back to his toes), so they carried him. They carried him to Jesus because they believed Jesus had the power to heal. They couldn’t enter by the front door, but that didn’t stop them! At the back of the house was a stairway that led to the roof, which was flat and made of straw, twigs, and dried mud. They carried him up, dug a hole through the roof, and lowered him down.

When Jesus “saw their faith,” he said something strange: “Son, your sins are forgiven” (2:5). The man wasn’t there to have his sins forgiven but his body healed. The man and his friends were probably confused. The religious leaders, we know, were steaming mad! “Only God can forgive sins,” they thought to themselves. “What on earth! Does Jesus think he is like God in heaven? This man needs to have a priest offer a sacrifice in the holy place so his sins can be forgiven—not have an ordinary man say the words, ‘Your sins are forgiven’!” (see 2:6–7).

Well, they were right that only God can forgive sins. But they were wrong, because they didn’t know that Jesus is the God-man—so he can do what only God can do. To prove he had authority to forgive sins, he performed a miracle. He told the man, “Get up, take your bed, and go home” (see 2:11). Suddenly, his feet, legs, arms, and back were as strong as he and his friends’ faith. He did exactly what Jesus told him to do. He walked home. Maybe he skipped. Maybe he jumped up and down, then skipped! And the crowd responded, like we would, praising God and saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (2:12).