With a Little Help from My Friends Mark 2:1-12 When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching Gods word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldnt bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, My child, your sins are forgiven. But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins! Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man Your sins are forgiven, or Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins. Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home! And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, Weve never seen anything like this before! (Mark 2:1-12) Houses in biblical times were built of stone. They had flat roofs made of mud mixed with straw. Outside stairways led to the roofs. These friends may have carried the lame man up the outside stairs to the roof. They then could easily have taken apart the mud and straw mixture to make a hole through which to lower their friend to Jesus. The religious leaders understood correctly that Jesus was claiming divine prerogatives, but their judgment of him was wrong. Jesus was not blaspheming, because his claim was true. Jesus is God, and he proved his claim by healing the paralytic (2:9-12). The paralytics need moved his friends to action, and they brought him to Jesus. When you recognize someones need, do you act? Many people have physical and spiritual needs you can meet, either by yourself or with others who are also concerned. Human need moved these four men; let it also move you to compassionate action.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 09:17:43 +0000