Disciples of Jesus - Mark 2:1-12

This is our Sunday teaching by Julian Manning. Recorded live at our 11.30 service in Harris Academy Purley, Croydon on Sunday 11th October, 2026.

Talk Summary - We Didn’t Carry Him This Far to Leave Him Outside

Picture the scene. Jesus is teaching in a house in Capernaum. Every room is packed, the doorway is blocked, and there isn't a spare inch of space. Then dust starts falling from the ceiling.

Four friends have brought a paralysed man to Jesus. When the crowd prevents them getting inside, they climb onto the roof, open it up and lower their friend down on his mat. It's audacious, inconvenient and wonderfully determined.

In Mark 2:3–12, we encounter three different responses to Jesus. There are religious teachers, questioning his authority; spectators, absorbed in what they might receive; and four friends whose faith moves them to act on someone else's behalf.

It's worth asking ourselves: are we simply taking up space around Jesus, or making space for others to encounter him?

Those four friends could have gone home. The obstacle was obvious, the effort enormous. But I imagine them looking at each other and thinking, "We didn't carry him this far to leave him outside."

That's a picture of the church at its best.

Sometimes carrying someone means praying when they have no words, listening over coffee, turning up in a difficult season, or inviting someone into community. It's not about fixing people or earning something back. It's love that refuses to walk away when things get inconvenient.

I know something of what it means to be carried. Through difficult seasons, people at Croydon Vineyard have carried me and my family with their prayers, friendship and faithful presence. That's what family does. We don't just celebrate when people are walking; we carry them when they can't.

And then the story takes an unexpected turn. Before Jesus heals the man's body, he says, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Jesus sees beyond the most visible need, offering the deeper gift of forgiveness and restored relationship with God. Then, to everyone's astonishment, the man gets up and walks.

We cannot make miracles happen. But we can carry the mat.

So who comes to mind today? Someone discouraged, isolated, grieving or simply exhausted?

Perhaps bold faith begins with something wonderfully ordinary: a phone call, a prayer, an invitation, an act of kindness.

Who could you help carry towards Jesus this week?