In today's reading from Mark's Gospel we have the familiar story of Jesus at home in Capernaum, where His preaching has gathered a huge crowd at His house-- a crowd so big that more people can't get in through the door. A group of four men carrying a paralyzed man and seeking to have the man healed by Jesus is so deteermined to get before Christ that they go up on the roof of the house, break through, and drop the man down on his man right in front of Christ. Must have been quite a scene-- mud and straw and wood from the roof falling down, the man being lowered, people shouting and pointing. Think about it for a second. Think of the urgent need these people felt to bring their friend to Christ. Do we have that kind of urgency? Jesus' response to this great act of faith is to forgive the sins of the paralyzed man. That's more important than physical healing, Jesus seems to say, and the paralyzed man gives no indication that he has a problem with that. He doesn't say: "But what I really want is to walk." He's fine, maybe overjoyed, with the outcome. But there is another group there, comfortably listening to Jesus, that finds that outcome outrageous. They are the scribes-- scholars of the law. They can't imagine who Jesus is. They can't fathom the idea that He can forgive sins. To them what Jesus has done is blasphemy. How dare He, they are thinking. Their hearts are hardened. They aren't open to seeing who Jesus really is. They have their minds made up. They have studied the law. They know their stuff. They don't want to be troubled with something new. So they aren't open to seeing who Jesus really is and how He is working in the lives of those around Him. The same thing happens to the disciples after Jesus multiplies the loaves and fishes. In Mark's Gospel after that miracle the disciples are crossing the Sea of Galilee and the wind comes up, making the disciples struggle to make progress in their rowing. Jesus sees them, and walks on the waves out to them, terrifying them because they think they are seeing a ghost. Jesus gets into the boat with them and the wind calms, and the disciples are "astounded." Why? Because they had not understood the miracle of the loaves and fishes in that, as Mark says, "their hearts were hardened." We might wonder where our hearts are hardened too. Where is God working miracles in our lives which we fail to recognize? Where are our minds made up so that we cannot see how Christ makes all things new?