At Home

Yesterday’s Gospel, taken from Mark, is the familiar story of the paralytic man who was healed by Jesus after his friends lowered him through the roof of a house.  I’d never considered whose house this might be:  maybe one of Jesus’ friends or relatives or disciples.   But today pondering the readings, the first line of this Gospel passage struck me:  “When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home.” 

           

“At home.”  Not at “a house,” which could be anyone’s house, but at home.  Capernaum is a small fishing village on the shore of the sea of Galilee, near Nazareth where Jesus grew up.  Since we don’t know much about Jesus’ childhood or young adulthood, it could be surmised that somewhere between 12 and 32 Jesus moved to Capernaum.  Maybe to ply his trade as a carpenter or to be close to fresh seafood, or both.

The Gospel tells us he has been gone some days.  Either Jesus was very popular and beloved in Capernaum or news of his miraculous doings since his Baptism had preceded him, but for whatever reason, when word got out that Jesus was “at home” people crowded around, even standing in the doorway to hear his words.  And he preached to them.

But then something bizarre happens.  Four men bring their paralytic friend to Jesus and when they cannot get in through the overcrowded doorway they do not take any of the rational, publicly acceptable options open to them (wait, come back another day, ask someone inside to send Jesus out).  Instead, they break into his house by making a man-sized hole in the roof.

These friends must have known something of the paralytic’s need for healing to make them act in such a brazen way—but they also knew something about Jesus.  Jesus, the Lord—Son of God and Son of Man--didn’t come to the earth so that we could go visit him when he is “at home.”  Jesus came to live radically in each one of his followers so that we can carry him out to a broken world desperately in need of healing. 

We don’t know what happened to the roof.  Did it get patched up later on?  After all, as a carpenter, Jesus probably had the tools and the expertise to get the job done.  Was Jesus angry over the wanton destruction of his property?  It seems not.  Along with knowing his excellent carpentry skills, the men also recognized Jesus, the Healer, the one who embraces brokenness.  And their friend’s need for healing couldn’t wait for a polite way to encounter the Lord.

And so, maybe today we are called, just as the four friends of the paralytic were, to break down the roofs of the nice houses where we keep Jesus inside and instead carry him with us into our broken world.  It is when Jesus is “at home” in us that we can be a source of healing and peace wherever we go.