Devotions for July 30, 2011
Mark 2
1And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.2And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.
3And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. 4And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
6But there was certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
8And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? 9Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
10But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)11I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
Pastor Ben’s Commentary:
Summary:
This is one of my favorite stories about Jesus. He is teaching in a house that is so full that people can’t get in. These 4 guys come in carrying their friend, who was handicap, to Jesus so that He could heal him. When they got to the house, there wasn’t a way to get in. These guys made a way to get their friend to Jesus. They literally tore through the roof and lowered their friend in. Jesus saw the faith of the guys who brought their friend to him, and because of their faith he forgave the man’s sins.
When the pharisees and scribes scoffed at the idea that Jesus could forgive sins, Jesus perceived their attitude. He basically implied that they should know that He can forgive sins (something you can’t see), but since they didn’t believe what they could see He showed them something to prove it. He showed them that He could heal the crippled man. Jesus commands, and the man is healed!
Application:
3 Things I Notice about this story:
- The friends had faith in Jesus.
They believed that Jesus could heal their friend.
- The friends brought their friend to Jesus against all odds.
They didn’t give up or give in. They didn’t stop at the first obstacle. They were creative, relentless and willing to sacrifice their reputation and money (they would have to fix the roof) to get their friend to Jesus.
- Jesus did for the man what his friends could not do.
The whole reason they did this is because they believed that Jesus could do something that no one else could do. Jesus came through for them.
My questions for today are…
Am I that kind of friend?
Do I have that kind of faith in Jesus? Would Jesus be pleased with my faith?
Am I sacrificial, creative, and relentless in getting my friends to Jesus?
Do I believe that Jesus is the real answer for those around me?
Tough questions…. But great to think about.
What do you think?
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
Guys- Sorry I stopped the discussion on today’s Devo! Let’s keep the discussion going…
This man’s friends were really determined to get him to Jesus. They were willing to devote time and energy to overcome difficulties to get him there. And Jesus rewarded their faith. I started wondering if I have ever put that kind of effort into bringing people to Jesus. Sometimes, just taking alittle time or being embarrassed or rejected is too much of an obstacle. I’m sure this does not please God after all He has done for us.
If I know that people who don’t know Jesus will spend eternity separated from God in hell, why don’t I try harder to reach them?
What if I were as determined and had as much faith as these men did. It really makes me feel like I’m not doing everything I can to reach people for Christ. I want to try harder to invite people to church and tell my friends and family about Jesus.
Sandy- I totally feel the same way about this passage. Sometimes it’s easy to be intimidated by what people may think.
Also, Don’t be discouraged by only 3 posts, because a bunch of kids had responded earlier in the day. I totally re-did the site and so those posts won’t show up anymore.
What I go out of it is that, The 4 man took their friend to jesus cause they believed in him so much that they knew he had the power to heal there handicap friend and the fact that the 4 man tore throught the roof was truly amazing cause not everyone would of had the guts to go to jesus and ask him to heal their friend not knowing if jesus could really do that but the 4 man believeing in jesus so much really helped. The 4 man must of been a really good friend with the handicap man cause I am not sure just any friend would have gone through all that trouble. That is what I got ouit of it! 🙂
I think it was so cool that you brought your friend on Wednesday night (or was it last Wednesday night, I can’t remember.) In a way, you were doing what those guys did, and I think that is pretty cool. Keep it up! BTW- Are you still thinking about being baptized? Have you talked to your parents about it? What do they think? I’d love to talk to you/them about getting baptized and what it means!
I need 2 b a better friend like the friends of the man in this story, it taught me tht I really need 2 stand up 4 Jesus! Because I know I wouldn’t have the guts 2 break through someone’s roof just 2 talk 2 Jesus! 🙂 Wat I got from it is not only to stand up 4 Jesus but 2 also have faith in him like the hurt man’s friends did.
Good stuff Mikayla. Isn’t it cool what Jesus did for the man not because of what the man did but because of his friends faith? So cool!
#1: MOST OF THE TIME I AM THAT FRIEND AND I WISH I HAD THAT MUCH TO GO THE EXTRA MILE FOR A FRIEND IN THE STORIE TODAY.
#2: I DO HAVE THAT KIND OF FAITH IN JESUS AND I KNOW HE WOULD BE PLEASED WITH IT SOMETIMES AND SOME OF THE OTHER TIMES HE WOULD NOT BE PLEASED BE DISAPOINTED IN ME.
#3: DEFINITLEY, BUT LAST YEAR I WANTED TO TELL MY FRIENDS AND I GOT IT AROUD TO SOME OF MY FRIENDS BUT I KNOW I WILL BE EVEN MORE OPEN AND GET THEM TO COME TO CHURCH AND TO HAVE KNOW JESUS CHRIST AS THERE SAVIOR.
#4: YES, AND THIS YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT BECAUSE WE AS A YOUTH GROUP ARE GOING TO DO WHATEVER WE CAN TO GET MORE PEOPLE TO BECOME A PART OF OUR YOUTH GROUP.
#5: YES THESE QUESTIONS WERE HARD BUT IT GAVE ME A CHALLENGE AND IT TOOK SOME THINKING.
#1: MOST OF THE TIME I AM THAT FRIEND AND I WISH I HAD THAT MUCH TO GO THE EXTRA MILE FOR A FRIEND IN THE STORIE TODAY.
#2: I DO HAVE THAT KIND OF FAITH IN JESUS AND I KNOW HE WOULD BE PLEASED WITH IT SOMETIMES AND SOME OF THE OTHER TIMES HE WOULD NOT BE PLEASED BE DISAPOINTED IN ME.
#3: DEFINITLEY, BUT LAST YEAR I WANTED TO TELL MY FRIENDS AND I GOT IT AROUD TO SOME OF MY FRIENDS BUT I KNOW I WILL BE EVEN MORE OPEN AND GET THEM TO COME TO CHURCH AND TO HAVE KNOW JESUS CHRIST AS THERE SAVIOR.
#4: YES, AND THIS YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT BECAUSE WE AS A YOUTH GROUP ARE GOING TO DO WHATEVER WE CAN TO GET MORE PEOPLE TO BECOME A PART OF OUR YOUTH GROUP.
#5: YES THESE QUESTIONS WERE HARD BUT IT GAVE ME A CHALLENGE AND IT TOOK SOME THINKING.