Mark 2:9-12

Passage

Jesus continues to speak.  He asks the scribes whether it is easier to say to a paralytic person, “Your sins are forgiven” or “Get up and walk out of here.”  Jesus then reassures them that He will give proof that He is indeed the Son of God.  He turns to the paralytic man and tells the paralytic man to stand up, collect his bed, and walk out of a house that he had entered by being lowered through the roof.  The paralytic man did just that.  Everyone was amazed and glorified God by saying that they had never seen such a thing.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus forces the issue that we talked about yesterday.  The scribes wanted to keep their doubts private.  Jesus assures them that it is better to deal with spiritual issues like this publically so that they can have confidence in what they see and believe.  Jesus tells the paralytic man to get up and walk out of the house so that the scribes would know that Jesus can back up the claims that He makes.  Now it is no longer an issue of believing words.  Now it is an issue of believing one’s sight, too.

What amazing things have you seen Jesus do in your life?  How easy are those things to push back and forget about?  What is the spiritual danger of forgetting about those events and not talking about them?

Second Thought:

In Jesus’ day, many people assumed that conditions such as paralysis, deformities, and even illness were caused by sinfulness – even the sinfulness of a set of parents.  Thus, by healing the paralytic Jesus is actually making the point that both statements are identical.  If the scribes believed the paralytic to be in such a condition because of sin, then the only way to heal the condition would be to irrevocably do something about the sin, too.  By healing the man, Jesus was giving evidence that the sinfulness had been dealt with.  He had the authority to heal physically as well as to remove the guilt of sin.

How much do we believe that sin is tied to pain and suffering today?  Do you believe that it is still true that in order to genuinely heal a person you must also consider and deal with the effect of sin upon their life?

Third Thought:

The man immediately gets up and walks out.  Again we see that what Jesus commands happens without hesitation.  Jesus is master over creation.  He is master over life.  He is God.  There should be no doubt in the mind of these scribes {or the whole gathered crowd}.

Why is it important for the paralytic man to get up precisely at that moment and walk away?  How would the testimony have been different if the man would have taken a week to gradually improve in His condition rather than being healed on the spot?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 2:13-14