“And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.” Luke 5:26
When we walk with Jesus, don’t we get a glimpse of extraordinary things? We don’t even realize it at times because we get so consumed with ourselves and what we can do, but isn’t it amazing when we stop and reflect on the amazing things Jesus has done and is doing! Hasn’t it been eye opening and riveting as we have walked together through the Old Testament to see the wondrous things God did for His people! Hasn’t it been amazing to begin the New Testament with that in mind as we get to experience the coming of Christ in light of God’s promises to His people to save them! God has given us the ultimate gift of hope and life in Jesus. Now, let’s take a focused look at the extraordinary act we see mentioned that Jesus did in the above verse: healing the paralytic.
Our sins being forgiven and getting to be placed in a right standing before God through Jesus is the most important gift we can ever receive.
Let us first look at Jesus in this passage. “And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ‘Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, ‘Why do you question these things in your hearts?’(Mark 2:5-8)” First, we see Jesus affirming the faith of the paralytic and his friends and performing a great miracle we take for granted, forgiving his sins. Our sins being forgiven and getting to be placed in a right standing before God through Jesus is the most important gift we can ever receive. Next, we see Jesus knowing what the scribes are “questioning in their hearts”.
They never even verbally expressed their concern for Jesus blaspheming but we see Jesus outwardly answer their inner questions. Jesus proceeds to not only perform the miracle of forgiving our sins, which they could not see visibly but heals the paralytic right there on the spot! An outward, physical showing of his being the Messiah! “‘I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.’ And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like this!’ (Mark 2:11-12)” What an extraordinary account we see here of Jesus loving, forgiving, and healing, and in so doing, proving he is the Messiah!
May we be intentional in pursuing Christ and bringing our brothers and sisters alongside us!
Now, let us look at the paralytic and his four friends. What community we see here in Scripture! This man was most likely rejected by family and society, yet these four friends showed such love and faithfulness to him. They went to great lengths to bring their friend to Jesus, including tearing apart the roof of the house Christ was in! Jesus even recognizes and rewards “their” faith together when he forgives the man of his sins. We see that our involvement in our community by supporting them and bringing them to Jesus in the various ways that may look in our daily lives matters. May we be intentional in pursuing Christ and bringing our brothers and sisters alongside us! May we continually be amazed by God and glorify him by telling of the extraordinary things we see him do daily!
Morgan Hall
Communications Assistant