Mark 2:3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
Mark 2:4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
It's a familiar story. Jesus was becoming very famous among the people, and they could hardly get to Him any more because of all the people. Well, these four men came carrying a loved-one to Jesus, because they knew that He could heal him. There was absolutely no doubt in their mind that He could heal the palsy in this man.
They demonstrated their faith by bringing this guy down in his bed, through the roof to get to where Jesus was! (Glad it wasn't my house!) They went through all this work - getting through the people, opening up the roof, after having carried this guy from where he lived. All of that, they did, just because they believed that Jesus could heal their friend.
Then, they finally arrive; they get to where Jesus was. They get His attention, and Jesus looks over at them, after they had finally completed their mission. Their friend was about to get up and walk - they knew it!
"Son, thy sins be forgiven thee..."
"Um, Jesus, 'thy sins be forgiven thee'? That's not why we brought this guy to You. You see, he's paralyzed; he can't get up off this bed. He needs to be healed... Ok, now you're talking to these other people about whether or not You are Who You say You are... You've missed something here, Lord..."
(What? That's not in your version? Strange. Anyway...) I wonder if the four men were a bit disappointed at Jesus' first action in the situation. They came to get their friend healed, and Jesus was more concerned about the guy's sins.
Hmm... how often are we more concerned with the physical issues of life, and when Jesus addresses something else instead... do we get upset? Are we so caught up with our friend's palsy not being healed that we fail to rejoice in the fact that his sins were just forgiven?! Sometimes, like in this story, the friend will be healed, but if he's not, are you happy with what Jesus did for him? Or, would you think He missed the point if He didn't do what you wanted?
Just a thought... (with pictures today!)
They demonstrated their faith by bringing this guy down in his bed, through the roof to get to where Jesus was! (Glad it wasn't my house!) They went through all this work - getting through the people, opening up the roof, after having carried this guy from where he lived. All of that, they did, just because they believed that Jesus could heal their friend.
Then, they finally arrive; they get to where Jesus was. They get His attention, and Jesus looks over at them, after they had finally completed their mission. Their friend was about to get up and walk - they knew it!
"Son, thy sins be forgiven thee..."
"Um, Jesus, 'thy sins be forgiven thee'? That's not why we brought this guy to You. You see, he's paralyzed; he can't get up off this bed. He needs to be healed... Ok, now you're talking to these other people about whether or not You are Who You say You are... You've missed something here, Lord..."
(What? That's not in your version? Strange. Anyway...) I wonder if the four men were a bit disappointed at Jesus' first action in the situation. They came to get their friend healed, and Jesus was more concerned about the guy's sins.
Hmm... how often are we more concerned with the physical issues of life, and when Jesus addresses something else instead... do we get upset? Are we so caught up with our friend's palsy not being healed that we fail to rejoice in the fact that his sins were just forgiven?! Sometimes, like in this story, the friend will be healed, but if he's not, are you happy with what Jesus did for him? Or, would you think He missed the point if He didn't do what you wanted?
Just a thought... (with pictures today!)
No comments:
Post a Comment