A Hole In The Roof

I hosted a meeting for this Jesus guy in my house. He was a really good teacher, so when his followers approached my about using my house, I quickly agreed. It never hurts your status in the town to host somebody up and coming in society, so we set the date.

When the date for the meeting came, I could not believe the crowd that showed up. It quickly filled up my house, then the courtyard, then the street outside. If it wasn’t my house, I wouldn’t have gotten a seat!

As Jesus began teaching I heard a commotion outside. People were being turned away, and some weren’t happy about it. Oh well, too bad for them. I am happy inside, so they can go pound sand!

As Jesus taught I began to notice an inordinate amount of dust in the air. I chalked it up to the huge amount of people in the living room. At least I did until I got hit in the head with a piece of ceiling! I looked up and saw three guys with hand saws cutting a hole in my roof! What on earth are they doing? The hole got bigger and bigger, and more and more light began to peek into my house. Jesus just kept teaching, and the crowd was so enthralled with what he was saying that nobody even noticed!

Suddenly the ceiling gave way and three morons were looking down through my house’s new sunroof. As they backed away from their newly created hole, they began to lower some guy on a stretcher into the living room. Finally, Jesus took notice and walked over to the man in the stretcher and said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” The crowd went nuts. The man next to me ripped his clothes and muttered “Blasphemy” under his breath.

Jesus told the crowd, “Look, what is harder? To tell this man to get up off of his stretcher or to forgive his sins? I wanted you to know that I have the power to forgive sins on earth.” Then he looked at the man on the stretcher and said, “Pick up your bed and walk.” And the guy did! I looked up through my roof and saw three guys dancing around and shouting with joy!

I, too, got caught up in the merriment. How amazing to see a paralytic man walking and jumping and praising God. The people in the room began to buzz with excitement, and all the blasphemy talk just faded away.

You know, if he could heal a man who had been paralyzed his whole life, he really can forgive sins. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it.

After the crowd left I reflected on the day. When it began, I thought I was going to enhance my social status by hosting some up and coming teacher.  It ended with me believing that my sins can be forgiven and that God has truly come to live among us.

As I looked up through the hole in my roof, I could see the stars above and it made me wonder about the power and the strength of God. It also made me wonder, “Who is going to pay for my roof?”

Picturing the works of Jesus… Jerry