“Some People”

When ambiguity is the most prestigious role we can play.

“And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed.” Matthew 9:2a

A paralyzed man.  A miracle working teacher.  A swelling crowd.  Intense scrutiny.  Skeptics.  The desperate.  Mystery.  Momentum.  Controversy.

The ingredients for a made for TV movie at the very least.

Yet, in the chaos, it is a picture of the anonymous companions that provide the opportunity for Jesus to be Jesus.

The account of this story in Matthew refers to these folks as “some people.”  The book of Luke says, “some men.” And the most robust description in Mark 2 simply says “and they came.”

Nameless.
Faceless.
Obscure.
Fearless.
… and courageously filled with hope.

Jesus.
The healer.

The rescuers were lost in the press of the crowd.  With his previously overused bed tucked under his arm, the “people” that were the energy to the victory disappear as quickly as a setting sun.

The book of Mark tells us that there were four.

Perhaps embarrassed.  Perhaps frustrated.  Perhaps drunk on the prospect of healing.

But whatever the mindset, they were invisible.

The headlines the next morning were all about the healed paralytic.  The bold type was focused on The Healer.  Words like amazement, and awe, and impossible highlighted every recap.

But it was “some people” that Jesus honors.

“And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘My son, your sins are forgiven.’”

Oh yes, and during the encore, right after the cheers and the boos, Jesus replaced his mat with hiking boots.

Soul healing dwarfed everything; it was first; it was the fruit of faithful friendship; it was the mercy extended on the shoulders of four advocates.

Some people became His People.  Some people became His Ambassadors.  Some people shame our effort to get to the front pages.

Our obscurity highlights His significance.

It is impossible to make much of Him when I am making much of me.

A tamed ego provides a perfect stage for the power of God.

Some people.  May I be nothing less AND nothing more.

Because He is God.
Because He is the Healer.
Because He forgives sin.
Because apart from Him we are nothing.

Some people.  His people.