Three of the gospels tell the story of Jesus healing a paralytic man after his friends lowered him into a house through a hole they made in the roof. This is an incredible and inspiring story, but I wish the writers had told us something about the homeowner’s perspective.
We don’t know for certain who owned the house. Capernaum, where the miracle was performed, was Jesus’ hometown (Matthew 9:1), so it could have been His own house. But Jesus had said, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" (Matthew 8:20), so I assume He didn’t have His own place. I think it was probably Peter’s house. Matthew (8:14), Mark (1:29) and Luke (4:38) all tell us that Jesus spent time there when in town, and it seems likely that they would have let us know if He switched houses between miracles.
So, imagine you are Peter. Your little house was crowded before Jesus started doing miracles, because you already had your wife and mother-in-law and little brother, Andrew, living there. Now, practically the whole town has shown up. People “gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door" (Mark 2:2). Your neighbors are sitting on every piece of furniture and taking up every inch of floor space. It’s stifling hot, and the smell of sweating bodies is overwhelming. If you had any food in the house before they arrived, it’s gone, and there’s a long line at the outhouse.
Then the unimaginable happens! Some men climb up on your roof and start pulling apart the branches and clay plaster that you worked so hard to arrange in order to keep out the rain. The chutzpah!
If you are Peter, you are beyond irritated! You just met Jesus a chapter ago! Now He’s disrupting your world and taking over your space! And He’s doing nothing to deter these strangers from assaulting your home!
But be careful, Peter. If you get so distracted and annoyed by what’s happening to your personal property and level of comfort, you might miss the miracle.
What I’m learning from the story is that Jesus may mess up your house...and you need to let Him.
I know a little about this. My wife and I are in our “empty-nest years,” but our nest was only empty for a few months before our adult children found their way back. Drug and mental health issues led to crises in their lives, so we welcomed them home while they got back on their feet. That was three and a half years ago. We don’t have a plan for when the kids will move out. It looks like it might be awhile.
It gets messy at times. Just last night, we were huddled on the floor and in tears with one of the kids as they struggled with what life is throwing at them. There are many inconveniences, obligations, expenses, conflicts, and frustrations. It’s hard and sometimes exhausting and occasionally heart-wrenching.
But if we get distracted by the mess, we might miss the miracle moments. Those moments when we get to know our kids as adult humans. Those moments when we get a do-over for some of our early parenting mistakes. Those moments when we get to participate in God’s work in our kids’ lives. Those moments when we get to be the hands and feet...and home...of Jesus to them.
I wouldn’t trade these miracle moments for all the convenience and comfort of a clean house or a full refrigerator or a quiet calendar.
Go ahead, Jesus...make a mess! The house is yours.
Man looking up at the sun through a hole in his roof
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