Thank you for once again taking some time to read the message for the week. I hope that everyone has had a great week so far. I am doing about the same.
Over the course of the last few weeks, we have been studying what the Lord has to teach us from the Gospel of Mark. We finished up chapter one last week, and we are going to begin in chapter two starting with our message this week.
In our passage for today, we have to recall what happened at the end of chapter one. Jesus healed a man that was filled with leprosy. He told the man not to tell anyone, but the man went ahead and told everyone. People were coming from everywhere to see Jesus and to be healed.
With this in mind, we come to the events that are recorded in chapter two. Jesus is in a house preaching and teaching. The crowd is huge. The house is entirely filled, and there are people standing all around trying to get a glimpse of Jesus and hear what He has to say.
At this event, there were four men who had brought their friend who was paralyzed to be healed by Jesus. The crowds were so great that they couldn't get in. So they improvised. They went up on the roof, took away some of the roofing, and lowered their friend right down to where Jesus was at.
When Jesus saw the man, He told him that his sins where forgiven. This infuriated the religious leaders. Jesus knew what they were thinking, and He informed them that the Son of Man had power to forgive sins. Jesus then healed the man completely, and that was a sign to the religious leaders of Jesus' power.
Now, what can we all these years separated from these events learn from this miracle encounter? The first thing that strikes me about this event is that this man had some really good friends. They just didn't say they were friends, they showed it. They showed it in a big way. They were determined to get their friend the help that he needed.
It is important to have friends like this as we try to make it through this world. It is important to be this kind of friend. A true friend is one that will stick with you in the good times and the bad times. They will help you in any way that they are able when you are going through a hard time. That is the type of friend that we should all try to be.
The second thing I notice in this encounter is the way that Jesus demonstrated His divinity as God the Son and the Messiah. Jesus forgave the man of his sin. That is something only God could do. By taking this on, Jesus was clearly saying that He was divine. Jesus also demonstrated His divine power through the miracle of healing a man who was unable to even get around.
The third thing I want to emphasize in this passage is the prominent place that Jesus gave to forgiving the man of his sins. Jesus didn't heal the may first. He forgave the man first. The reason for that is that that was the more important thing. Eternity matters more than the temporal. Having a right relationship with God is what means the most in life. Jesus made sure that the man's soul was right, and then He made his body right.
The most important thing that you can do in your life is to make sure that your sins have been forgiven by the Lord Jesus and that you have turned to Him and made Him the Savior and Lord of your life. Nothing else in life is more important than this. I hope that you will come to salvation through the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus today. Amen.
Prayer Requests
I am having a great deal of trouble with my health. Please keep praying. Thank you.
Please keep praying for peace. Ukraine needs peace and we need peace in Gaza and Israel. Pray that there will be a diplomatic solution with Iran. Also, pray for peace in Mexico. Keep praying for peace in Sudan and Syria as well as Haiti.
Pray for those who are dealing with the big snow in the US east. Pray that people will get their power on and get any help and aid that they might need.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Guinea-Bissau and Azerbaijan. Pray that many will come to know the Lord Jesus.
Next week, I will post the verses on Tuesday and the next chapter in the James commentary on Wednesday. I will post the message on Friday. May God bless you all.
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