Mark 2. We continue our journey through Mark today while asking the question, “How does Jesus interact with people?” In chapter one we saw that he calls out to ordinary people, has compassion for them and their struggles, and he brings healing and restoration to many he encounters.

Chapter two opens with one of my favorite stories – the paralytic man whose friends lower him down through a roof so that he can be in the presence of Jesus in a crowded house (2:1-12). I always tell my teenagers this story and remind them that they need to pick their friends carefully. Everyone needs the kind of friends who would go to extraordinary lengths to help you out!

There Jesus is, teaching in a crowded house and this drama develops with the paralytic man. How does Jesus interact with these people? Notice that he does not shame them, criticize them, or in any way cast a negative light on who they are and what they have done. Undoubtedly the paralytic man has suffered plenty of shame, indignity, and frustration in his lifetime. Jesus does not add to this but responds with healing compassion. Note that Jesus sees the man’s spiritual need – to have his sins forgiven – as the first priority. Jesus interacts with this man by calling attention to his real spiritual need, not just his obvious physical need. He says to the man, your sins are forgiven…  and then later rise, pick up your mat and go home. Jesus responds with compassion and healing of physical and spiritual needs, never with shame or annoyance.

How else does Jesus interact with people in this chapter? As he reclined at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus (2:15-17). Jesus hung out with people that other people rejected. Jesus was happy to spend time engaging with them, eating with them, and being among them. Obviously, Jesus did not go sinning with the sinners, but he was welcome to hang out with them. Something in the way Jesus interacted with them did not make them feel judged or less valuable or unimportant. Jesus’ engagement with sinners was counter-cultural and created a bit of a stir, as outsiders asked why is he hanging out with tax collectors and sinners?!

As we think about how Jesus interacts with people in chapter two, we might ask ourselves if we (as individuals and as the church) act the same way? When we see someone struggling, do we recoil or respond in a manner that might cause shame? Or do we engage with compassion? Are we open to spending time with those society might consider to be outcasts, different, or sinners? Are we the kind of people who communicate love to those on the margins of society?