26 Jan. A man drops in (through the roof) to see Jesus
"A few days later, when Jesus came back to Capernaum, the news spread that he was at home. Many people gathered together so that there was no room in the house, not even outside the door. And Jesus was teaching them God's message."
"Four people came, carrying a paralysed man. Since they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd, they dug a hole in the roof right above where he was speaking."
"When they got through, they lowered the mat with the paralysed man on it. When Jesus saw the faith of these people, he said to the paralysed man, 'Young man, your sins are forgiven'."
"Some of the teachers of the [Jewish] law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 'Why does this man say things like that? He is speaking as if he were God. Only God can forgive sins'."
(Mark 2:1-6)
After preaching his 'Sermon on the mount', Jesus returned to his home base in Capernaum - probably the large house belonging to the BarJonas fishing family, where his friends Simon 'Rocky' Barjonas and his brother Andrew lived.
In the middle of a heated discussion with the local Jewish rabbis, Jesus healed a paralysed man who had been lowered on a mat through the roof of the house. Jesus told him, “Young man, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5). In Jesus's day, sickness was assumed to be a sign of God's displeasure, so saying "Your sins are forgiven" also implied that God had healed the young man.
The crowds were amazed when the crippled man walked away, but some of the teachers of the Jewish law were furious and accused Jesus of blasphemy. They pointed out (quite correctly) that only God can forgive sins.
But Jesus COULD forgive sins, and the young man walked away, healed both in body and in spirit.
In the dry climate of Palestine, most simple houses were constructed with a flat roof, often accessible via external stairs, where people could escape the smoke from the fire and the noise of children, or sleep outside in the cool breeze on a hot summer night (see Acts 10:9).
The roof of the house would consist typically of thin wooden poles laid across more substantial crossbeams. It would not have been too difficult a task to remove these wooden poles in order to lower the crippled man through the roof (see Mark 2:4).
Reconstructed houses built in this fashion can be seen today at Ancient Qasrin, a Jewish village dating from the 4th century AD near Qasrin (Katzrin) on the Golan Heights to the northeast of the Sea of Galilee (see the photo).
You can read more about these houses, and other similar ones @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/jesuss-teachings-on-a-hi…/