Same difference?
When we read the Gospels in the New Testament, we may ask ourselves why we have four versions of the same story, in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? And why do they have slight differences in things like the order of events, the wording of what is said, or even in things that are included and things that are left out?
Well, there are a number of reasons for all of this. One of the things I like, though, is that each of the four writers has different interests and different ways of thinking about Jesus and his story. Mark’s Gospel, although the shortest, has a number of little details in his stories. Like, when Jesus fed 5000 people (or more), all four tell that story, but it’s only Mark who gives the detail that the grass was green. Sounds obvious to us, but grass isn’t always green in Palestine. It’s only green at certain times, so it helps us to know when the story took place – spring, near Passover.
Carried by four of them
So we have this story, in Mark 2:1-12, about Jesus healing a paralysed man. I love this story. It’s powerful, and there’s so much in it. Every time I read or hear this story, I find something new about it.
Matthew, Mark and Luke all record this story. It’s famous for the friends carrying the man. But it’s only in Mark’s gospel that we find out that there are four of them. And when I read that again, I had this image of four men carrying this man, probably one at each corner. And I also had another image.
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a picture of the ark of the covenant being carried. This box, with sculpted cherubim, usually looking a bit like eagles, on top; it’s usually golden, and carried by Jewish priests. And they carry it on long poles. And there’s always four of them.
The ark was very important in the Jewish faith. In the time of Jesus, it was kept in the temple at Jerusalem, behind a big curtain, in the Most Holy Place. It contained some Jewish artefacts, particularly the tablets of the ten commandments, and the top of it was called the mercy seat. This was where God said he would sit and meet with his people.
So the ark became the symbol of God’s presence. In their past, the people of Israel would march into battle with it…
Carried by four of them, the tradition goes.
And here is a paralysed man, carried by four of them…
It really struck me. I don’t suppose that Mark made up this detail, but I’m so glad he mentioned it, because now, when I read this, I think of the ark, that symbol of God’s presence. Perhaps this man, carried by four of them, is also a symbol of God’s presence. God really spoke to me about this.
He came down
Look at some other details in the story. The man is lowered, down through the roof. Obviously, that was a novel solution to the problem of how to get through the crowds to Jesus. But looking at this another way, might this not also symbolise God’s presence among us? In a man, who comes down to us… Like Jesus. We sing about it. The chorus, “He came right down to me, He came right down to me, To condescend to be my friend, He came right down to me…” Again, at Christmas, “He came down to earth from heaven, Who is God and Lord of all…”
God’s presence comes down to us.
John’s Gospel starts with this wonderful prologue, and he talks about the Word, which was with God and was God, in the beginning. The fullest revelation of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us. Came down.
As John Gowans wrote, “I believe that God the Father can be seen in God the Son…” If we want to see God, we look at Jesus. We see the Father in the Son.
Son
But there’s more in this story. Look at what Jesus says to the man: “Son…” He calls him son. This is the only person that Jesus calls son in our bibles. So, first of all, that shows the compassion of Jesus, he recognises this man as a man, a human, someone like himself, family… Jesus does the same thing when he tells a story of the return of the king (Matthew 25:31-46), and the people will be separated out, like sheep being separated from goats. The righteous sheep are the ones who cared for the least of Jesus’ brothers…
Jesus identifies himself with the poor, the lost, the lonely, the excluded, the sick…
And so, Jesus, the Son, sees himself in this man, whom he also calls, “son.”
The apostle Paul, writing to the Colossian church, tells them about Jesus:
“He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:13-20)
In the Son, we see God. He is a symbol of God’s presence. And I want to suggest that this paralysed man is also a symbol of God’s presence. Just as the ark, carried by four of them, symbolised God’s presence, so did this man, carried by four of them. This man, a son, like Jesus the Son, displays the image of God. Maybe not as perfectly as Jesus, but he displays the image of God, because he was made in that image.
No ordinary people
So, when we meet someone who is ‘less fortunate than ourselves’, let’s see God in them. When we serve someone, let’s not do it from above, condescending, out of pity, looking down on them. Instead, let’s do it out of humility, looking up, in reverence for the God who is present in them.
Mother Teresa used to talk of serving Jesus in distressing disguise when she worked among the very sick and poor of the Calcutta slums. Jesus in distressing disguise.
CS Lewis, that great Christian thinker and writer, said in his book The Weight of Glory, that,
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whomwe joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously - no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.”
In each person you meet, there is a reflection of God. We can discover God’s presence, God’s image, in everyone. If we really believe this, how will it change us? What if we see Jesus in everyone we meet?
There’s a Celtic prayer that says,
“May the Christ who walks on wounded feet
walk with you on the road.
May the Christ who serves with wounded hands
stretch out your hands to serve.
May the Christ who loves with a wounded heart
open your hearts to love.
May you see the face of Christ in everyone you meet,
And may everyone you meet see the face of Christ in you.”
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