Written ~ 02-09-2024
Read Mark Chapter Two
Mark 2
We learned from Mark chapter one that Jesus was coming and He was coming soon. The message of John the Baptist was clear, the Messiah was coming. After Jesus was baptized by John, His ministry was set in motion. He selected His first few disciples and began casting out demons and healing the sick. The first story we read about in Mark chapter two is about a paralyzed man who is healed.
Mark 2:1-12 (The Message Version)
1-5 After a few days, Jesus returned to Capernaum, and word got around that He was back home. A crowd gathered, jamming the entrance so no one could get in or out. He was teaching the Word. They brought a paraplegic to Him, carried by four men. When they weren’t able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, “Son, I forgive your sins.”
6-7 Some religion scholars sitting there started whispering among themselves, “He can’t talk that way! That’s blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins.”
8-12 Jesus knew right away what they were thinking, and said, “Why are you so skeptical? Which is simpler: to say to the paraplegic, ‘I forgive your sins,’ or say, ‘Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking’? Well, just so it’s clear that I am the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both…” (He looked now at the paraplegic), “Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home.” And the man did it—got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him. They rubbed their eyes, stunned—and then praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”
Here we see Jesus not only healing a paralyzed man, but we see Jesus calling Himself the “Son of Man.” This name shows His humanity and His deity and many times in Scripture Jesus refers to Himself, in the third person, as the “Son of Man.” This would have infuriated the teachers of religious law (religious scholars), because Jesus was referring to Himself as the Son of God.
We have two sets of people witnessing this healing. The people in the crowd who were absolutely stunned over what they were seeing, and, in their amazement, they praised God! The other set of people were the teachers of religious law who couldn’t see past the “blasphemy” of what Jesus was doing and saying to understand Who it was they had in their midst.
As believers and followers of Jesus, we know from reading the Bible that while on earth Jesus is fully human and fully God, so for us to read a story like this it may not come to much of a surprise. But to all those people crammed into that small house listening to Jesus and witnessing this miracle of healing, this was something new, something they couldn’t quite grasp yet. The questions of who this man was would be swirling around in the middle of their stunned expressions. There could have been a vast emotional outburst of fear, confusion, excitement, amazement, and anger. All I can imagine is Jesus seated in the middle of the room, with an uproar of different emotions cascading around Him and a grin of peace and compassion filling His entire countenance. Oh, to be in that little house.
What if you and I were in that house watching everything going on at that very moment… with the knowledge we have of who Jesus is… would we be more concerned over the various reactions of all the people present? Or would our focus be on Jesus? Would there be an exchange of eye contact with your Savior, a recognition of understanding?
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke record this story of healing, but nothing is said about what happens after the crowd calms and the paraplegic who was healed heads home. We know the teachers of religious law were probably furious and went back to the synagogue to discuss what they had just seen and heard. It’s possible they had to reason with themselves to come up with a logical explanation as to who this Jesus really was. All the others in attendance, maybe they dispersed to their homes talking excitedly amongst themselves. They had seen and heard marvelous, miraculous things and maybe they too needed to come up with an explanation as to who this Son of Man was. What we do know at this point, no matter where Jesus went, the news was traveling quickly that this man was extraordinary and everyone who heard He was coming to town turned up to see what the excitement was all about.
When you read your Bible and you learn more about Jesus, do you find yourself questioning who this Son of Man is and try to reason with logic? Or are you excitedly pursuing more knowledge in order to solidify your relationship with Him? Some hearts are hardened to the truth of who Jesus is and will miss out on the glory of His presence in their lives. But there are others who will absorb every last detail of His nature and become more and more like Him with each passing day. Which person do you want to be? Pray for your heart to be opened, pray for the knowledge of who Jesus is to fill every void.
Thank you, Father, for these eyewitness accounts of Your Son healing the sick and proclaiming His authority to forgive sin. As we go through the New Testament teach us more about who Your Son is and how we can strengthen our relationship with Him.
~AMEN~