Tag Archives: paralytic

Is it blasphemy? (Mark 2:5-11) July 9, 2016

Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Luke 19-20

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 2:5-11
5Jesus recognized the faith of these men.
Jesus (to the paralyzed man): Son, your sins are forgiven.
Some scribes were sitting in the crowd, and they didn’t like what they were hearing.
Scribes (reasoning to themselves): What does this Jesus think He is doing? This kind of talk is blasphemy, an offense against the Most High! Only God can forgive sins.
At once Jesus realized what they were thinking. He turned to them.
Jesus: Why do My words trouble you so? Think about this: is it easier to tell this paralyzed man, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to tell him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk”? Still, I want to show you that the Son of Man has been given the authority on earth to forgive sins. (to the paralytic) Get up, pick up your mat, and go home.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

The scribes were the authorities on scripture. They not only preserved them by coping them from one scroll to another, but they also spent years learning them. They learned what their forefathers thought about their interpretation and carried those interpretations from generation to generation. The scribes did the research on topics when the priests wanted to know something. They could find whatever subjects someone was looking for, which was a minor miracle in Jesus day. Remember, chapters and verses didn’t appear in scriptures until the Geneva Bible translation in 1599. So these guys were the PhDs of biblical knowledge.

Then Jesus comes on the scene. He’s pulling out information that confounds the scribes. They have to search deeper and find passages He quotes that they haven’t used because they’re not very familiar to them. His teaching doesn’t fit the normal pattern and they have to brush off their books and find what He’s talking about. But it’s there. He’s using scripture, but He’s using it in ways they’ve never heard before.

Now He’s talking to this paralytic who wants help with His disease and instead of healing him, this Man says his sins are forgiven. “Who do you think you are? What do you think you’re doing? No one can forgive sins but God and there’s a ritual you have to go through before that can happen. He has to make an offering in the temple. Payment must be made to the priest so a sacrifice can be made. It’s God’s way to ensure the priests make a living, after all. Why would He think He can side-step the temple and take away the priests’ livelihood? This is blasphemy!”

Now, maybe there’s the rest of the story. But maybe not. These scribes couldn’t see how God could come to earth in the likeness of sinful man. They couldn’t believe that God would wrap Himself in human flesh and live among us. So Jesus could not be the Son of God and so couldn’t forgive sins.

But the words are easy to say. Jesus knew that. The scribes knew that. Everyone in the room knew that. Even the paralytic knew that even though he immediately felt the guilt from his past lift from his heart as the words left Jesus’ lips. But to show Jesus had power over the hearts of men, He show those present He also had power over the physical bodies of men. He told the paralytic to get up, roll up the mat he was lying on and walk out the door. Then Jesus reached out His hand and help the man stand to his feet. I expect Jesus only watched as the man rolled up his mat and danced around the room on his way to the door, shouting praise and thanksgiving to the Lord of lords.

What do we need to learn from this scene?

Some have a hard time believing Jesus can forgive. They recognize Jesus as a good man, even a prophet connected to God and able to use that connection to do good things, even miraculous things for people. But God? Some have a hard time with that and so go through life like the scribes questioning His ability to rid them of the guilt that weighs them down. Some just can’t see past their own intellectual understanding of the universe, as finite as it is, to see that there are so many things that can only be explained by putting faith in God, the creator of all things. Some just can’t believe the Bible is not just a collection of stories, but the record of God’s love for humankind and His plan for our redemption.

Is the Bible accurate? Yes. Every time someone tries to prove something doesn’t fit historic facts, archeologists seem to uncover evidence that the Bible, not the historic facts are true. Is it scientific? No. It’s not meant to be. It’s the story of what God does for us and why, not how. Our finite minds can never wrap around the infinite wisdom of God. Just one simple thought to consider to boggle our finite mind: Scientists tell us everything is made of atoms. And atoms are mostly empty space. So much so that scientist tell us that if all the empty space in the universe could be removed and the solid mass of the universe condensed into a single object, some say it would take up the space of a house and some say as small as a basketball. So why can’t we just walk through walls? I know the quantum physics answer, but it does make you wonder about God’s design in it all, doesn’t it? After all, where did those, electrons and protons come from to repel each other in the first place to form those atoms we’re talking about?

So when the Bible tells us proves to be true, then when it says Jesus is God in the flesh, that must be true, too. And we exercise just a little faith in that truth, scripture opens up to us in incredible ways. Just try it. You’ll find He really can forgive sins. He forgave mine and He can forgive yours, too.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Where are the miracles? (Matthew 9:2-6) February 14, 2016

Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Romans 13-14

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 9:2-6
Jesus: Rest assured, My son; your sins are forgiven.
Now some scribes and teachers of the law had been watching this whole scene.
Scribes and Teachers (to themselves): This man is blaspheming!
Though they had only spoken in low whispers among themselves, Jesus knew their thoughts.
Jesus: Why do you hold such hardness and wickedness in your hearts? Look, is it easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or “Get up and walk”? To make clear that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins (turning to the paralytic man on the mat), Get up, pick up your mat, and go home.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus returns home and some men there had enough faith in Him to bring their paralytic friend to Him for healing. They believed Jesus could help their friend walk again. Comparing their faith to much of the faith I see today, that’s pretty astonishing. We don’t see that kind of faith much today. We don’t see the kind of healing evident in the New Testament church. Why is that? God hasn’t changed. His Spirit hasn’t changed. The maladies and malignancies of life haven’t changed. So what’s different?

I think we find it in the attitude of the scribes Jesus addresses that day. Note that Jesus’ first response wasn’t to heal the paralytic, but to take care of more important business. “Rest assured, My son; you sins are forgiven.” Jesus addressed the man’s sins and cleansed his heart. Forget the secondary physical frame the man dealt with every day, the important thing on Jesus’ mind was to remake his heart. To bring him into God’s kingdom. To adopt him into the Family. To give the paralytic the thing he needed most, forgiveness.

But the scribes and teachers of the law took offense at Jesus’ words. They didn’t believe He could forgive sins. They didn’t believe the testimony of others who felt the cleansing power of His touch and His words of forgiveness. They didn’t believe He was truly the Son of God. Neither did they believe Jesus could make the paralytic walk. They came for the show, they came to trap Him in His words, the came to find out what all the fuss was about. But they didn’t believe in this Jesus who people were saying was the Messiah.

Is that what’s wrong with us today? Is that why we’re not seeing miracles today? Do we really believe He is who He says He is? I wonder. If we as Christians really believe Jesus is God incarnate, the Son of God. If we truly believe the only way to heaven is through forgiveness of our sins and obeying His commands, then why don’t we obey Him? Why don’t we do what He asks? Why do we hold back? Why do we fail to love each other? Why do we fail to believe? Why do we fail to worship Him and honor Him? Why do we fail to visit Him each day and learn more about Him through the study of His word?

Do we really believe in Jesus, the Son of God? Maybe we don’t see the New Testament church miracles because we don’t want to see them. Maybe we really don’t want to let God come upon us the way He did then. There’s some danger involved in letting loose and letting God have full control of your church, you know. Remember Ananias and Sophira? They lied about their giving and God struck them dead! Remember Silas, the sorcerer? God blinded him for his attempts at playing Christian. Certainly the early church saw miracles happen in their midsts, but God executed His wrath on the unfaithful in powerful ways as well. Maybe we’re afraid to let God do His mighty works in us because we’re afraid to let Him in the door.

Maybe we’re afraid of what God will see in us if we let Him look inside. We shouldn’t be afraid of what He sees, though. He already knows. Maybe we’re really afraid of what we’ll see. We might find just how broken and desperate and needy and sinful we really are. Maybe we’ll find how far we are from Him and find we must fall on our face before Him in true repentance before He can do any work in us or through us.

Maybe our faith is too much like the scribes and the teachers of the law and not enough like the four men who struggles through those hillsides with their paralytic friend to find their way to Jesus. Maybe we need to find a quiet place to let God turn His searchlight on our hearts and let us see ourselves as He sees us.

Can miracles happen today the way they did when Jesus walk alongside us? He told His disciples they would do greater things than He did. And they did with the power of His Spirit resident in them. God hasn’t changed, Jesus hasn’t changed, His Spirit hasn’t changed. What’s changed? Maybe it’s our willingness to just let Him have His way in our life. Complete and total control. That’s what He wants. And when He has it, we’ll see miracles happen again.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.