May the amazing miracles of Jesus happen to the beloved sick people whom “The Elephants” pray for with faith.

As Jesus was preaching the word of God to the crowd of people who had gathered in the house, so crowded that they could not even get in, four men came to Jesus carrying a paralyzed man.  Because they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they tore down the roof over the place where Jesus was and lowered the man on a mat.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:2-5, Korean Modern Bible).  When I meditate on this passage, several thoughts come to mind:

(1)    When I think about the four people who carried the paralyzed man on a mat and brought him to Jesus, I suddenly remembered something my late cousin, who battled cancer in her life, once said to me.  As far as I can recall, she said, “The Elephants.”  The meaning of “The Elephants” is, "Like the elephants that surround a birthing elephant and fight off predators during the birth process, praying believers who immediately surround you in prayer during a crisis provide protection in the spiritual warfare that ambushes us all at times” (Internet).  Our cousin was a woman blessed with friends like that.  I believe that the four people who helped the paralyzed man were “The Elephants” to him.  Like them, may we also become “The Elephants” for family members, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, or those we are trying to reach with the gospel who are battling cancer or going through tough times, surrounding them with prayer in faith, love, and hope, showing Jesus’ love for His friends (Ref.: Romans 5:8, Korean Modern Bible).

(2)    The four people, when they couldn't bring the paralyzed man to Jesus because the house was too crowded, dug through the roof where Jesus was and lowered the mat on which the man was lying, became even more vivid in my meditation as I read the interpretation from the Hokma Commentary: “The four companions did not give up and did their utmost.  In the end, they took the most proactive action, though it was a roundabout way.  They carried the patient up through the outside staircase to the roof, tore off the roof, and lowered the patient to where Jesus was.  Meanwhile, a typical Palestinian working-class house was usually a small, single-room structure made of mud bricks with a flat roof.  The roof would have an outside staircase, making it possible to climb onto the roof.   The roof was typically constructed by laying beams made of wood, then covering them with straw, and filling the gaps with dirt to keep out the rain. Occasionally, tiles would be placed on top of the beams, with straw and dirt placed on top of the tiles (see 'The Structure of Palestinian Homes in Jesus' Time' in the Sermon on Mark 2:1-28).  Therefore, the people who took the paralyzed man onto the roof would have removed the dirt, straw, lime, planks, and tiles covering the roof (which would have certainly caused dust to fall into the house) and then lowered the patient through the now-exposed beams" (Hokma).  Reflecting on this, I realize how precious the dedicated efforts of those four people were.  Especially, I think about how desperately they must have wanted the paralyzed man to meet Jesus and be healed.  I believe their hearts were like those of “The Elephants," the brothers and sisters who fervently prayed for our beloved cousin, Christie, with the love of the Lord.  I think that when those four people tore off the roof to lower the paralyzed man before Jesus, they must have been prepared to pay for the repairs to the roof to the house owner.  And indeed, the “Elephants” who prayed for Christie also showed great love by financially supporting Christie, her husband, and their five children. I am deeply grateful for that.

(3)    Even though Jesus saw and knew the dedicated efforts of those four people, the Bible says, “When Jesus saw their faith…” (Mark 2:5, Korean Modern Bible).  As I meditate on this verse, I remember the words of the Apostle James in James 2:14-26, where he encourages us to have a ‘faith that is accompanied by actions’: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save them?  Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:14-17, Korean Modern Bible).  I believe that when Jesus saw the four people who tore off the roof and lowered the paralyzed man on a mat before Him, He saw a living faith in their actions.  And then Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5).  However, I think this may not have been the first thing the four people wanted to hear.  Perhaps, they were expecting Jesus to say, “Get up, take your mat, and walk” (Mark 2:9, Korean Modern Bible), because just as those who pray as “The Elephants” for someone battling cancer would most earnestly want the Lord to heal that person’s cancer, these four people might have also wanted the physical healing to come first.  But why did Jesus say to the paralyzed man, "Son, your sins are forgiven"?  From our perspective, physical healing is the urgent need, but from the Lord's perspective, forgiving our sins is the priority.  Ultimately, after forgiving the man's sins, Jesus told him, "Get up, take your mat and go home," and the man "got up, took his mat, and walked out in full view of them all" (Mark 2:11-12, Korean Modern Bible).  The paralyzed man, who had been brought in on a mat through the roof with the help of those four people, was now walking out of the house on his own two feet. Ha-ha.  I pray that the same miraculous works of forgiveness and healing performed by Jesus may arise for those we love who are battling illness, as the "Elephants" pray in faith for their loved ones.