Daily Devotional for Wednesday 24th April
Seeing their faith
This is another amazing account recorded by Mark – amazing and in parts amusing. Imagine if you had been in this house at this time – rammed against the walls as everyone wanted to see Jesus- even his enemies. I sometimes wonder how I would have reacted when the bits of dirt and twigs began falling down as the paralysed man’s friends dug a hole in the flat roof? There must have been some confusion in the crowd huddled in the room below! First century houses in that area were one-storey with flat roofs that people put to all sorts of uses (See Acts 10 v 9 – Peter at Joppa). They re-roofed them regularly and accessed them by an outside staircase. So what the friends did was perfectly feasible – whether the owner of the house thought it a good idea as he saw his roof demolished is not known! Mark doesn’t tell us – there’s a much more important point to the story.
What stands out is that Jesus knew everything that was going on, with the paralytic, his friends and the crowd. Amidst the confusion He stays serene. He doesn’t want to know who is going to fix the roof and while we might have expected Him just to express His compassion for the paralytic and heal Him, the story doesn’t go that way. He knows what this man really needs and gives it. When He saw the faith of the man’s friends He forgave the man Himself (v 5).
The teachers of the Law latched onto only one thing. What authority did Jesus have to forgive anyone? Before they could say anything, Jesus took the initiative and asked them an easy question (v 9). When He commanded the paralytic to get up, the man answered their question in plain sight. Everyone (even perhaps the teachers of the Law?) was amazed. Yes, Jesus heals the man to demonstrate His authority to forgive sins but the main thing has been bringing a sinner back into relationship with the holy God.
Time to reflect…
Are you reluctant to be open with Jesus? Do you think He doesn’t know or care? Like the crowd who witnessed this event, He can amaze us with His power and authority as He takes the initiative and continues to bring His kingdom to earth.
Pause to pray…
What things keep you away from Jesus, preventing you from hearing Him speak? Confess them to Him now…
Lord hear my prayer, Amen.
