Wednesday, 11 November 2009
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What Would You Do to See Jesus?
What does it mean to have faith? How far does your faith go? Does it stop at any closed door? Or does it find away around the door so that it can grow deeper? These questions bring up a bible verse: Mark 2:1-12.
When Jesus again entered his hometown of Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"
I love this story of Jesus. First of all, it shows how deeply Jesus loves us. He showed the paralyzed man lying on the mat forgiveness, offering him compassion and love. Jesus didn't ask who this man was, where he came from, what this man had done wrong... or anything like that. He didn't want or need to know those things; he just knew he had a sinner laying before him who needed help. So he forgave the man's sins, and when that wasn't enough--and the crowd was bothered by what Jesus said--He told this paralyzed man to get up and go home... and he did!
That is amazing in and of itself, but what I find the most intriguing is the faith of the people who brought the man to Jesus.
We see a group of men, four of which are carrying the paralytic, trying to find a way to get to Jesus. And these men weren't stupid. They heard about the things Jesus had already done, and they wanted Jesus to heal their friend. But they came across an obstacle. The entire house was full, and even the doorway was blocked by all of these people who wanted to see Jesus. Again, these men weren't stupid. They knew that Jesus was someone special, and they wouldn't let this obstacle get in between them and Jesus. So what did they do? They carried their friend up to the top of the house, tore a hole in the roof, and lowered him in, right where Jesus was teaching... I told you these men weren't stupid.
When Jesus saw this great amount of faith, when He saw that they would think outside the box and try to overcome any obstacle just to see Him, He looked at the paralytic and said, "Son, your sins are forgiven!"
And this wasn't enough: Jesus had a point to prove, so He told the man to get up and go home!
The paralytic man didn't have to do anything for this; His friends did it all for him, because they would look past anything in the way to see Jesus and because they really believed the things they heard about Him.
And this is why I love this story. It makes me think about my faith... Would I overcome any obstacle just to see Jesus? Would you?
Would you really tear a hole in the roof to see Him? Or would you stop at the door with the rest of the crowd, hoping that Jesus would eventually walk past you? Would you settle for the latter because it's easier? Or would you want to follow Jesus so much that you would do absolutely anything--and I mean ANYTHING--to get close to Him?
We can get close to Jesus. But we have to be determined. We have to be loyal and faithful, and sometimes, that requires us to think outside the box. Sometimes, it requires us to tear open roofs.
What obstacles stand between you and Christ? How can we overcome these obstacles?
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About the Author
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- From: jmallory@xanga
- Name: Jimmy
- About Me: I am a Christian. I am an anarchist. I am a pacifist. I am a listener. I am an observer. I am a feeler. I am a reader. I am a lover. I am a joker. I am made in the image of God. I am Jimmy. Hi, how ya doin?
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Comments (13)
Great points the only thing I disagree with is the part in which you said that the paralytic did nothing. In God's eyes he had a very imortant role in this, he had to put complete faith in his friends and in Jesus. Imagine being unable to move and allowing people to haul you up onto a roof and lower you into a room of people who might be angry about you being there? He had no idea what the crowds reaction would be or if his friends might drop him or even if Jesus would be angry or not for what they were doing. He simply had to trust everyone because he could do nothing himself.
What obstacles stand between you and Christ?
About two houses, a door and a tabernacle. So, really, nothing.
I'm with the guys on the Road to Emmaus every day I head over to the chapel, and every day I attend Mass, I recognize him "in the breaking of the Bread."
But the charism of my order hopes to foster within us the ability to see God and encounter Christ in everything. So when I wake up, my first encounter with Christ is within myself, in the gratitude I have for the rest granted and the gift of awakening to encounter him in the creation of the new day. Then I encounter him in my brothers here in the community, in everyone I meet through the day; really, I suppose my answer is still, "Nothing." Praise God!
@Ancient_Scribe@xanga - Yes! Christ has broken down those barriers which separate us from God.
Interesting that the friends in the recitation let nothing stop them from bringing Christ to their friend. How often do we act, stopping at nothing, to bring Christ to our friends?
I keep thinking about how rude it was for them to destroy someone's roof. I hope they rebuilt it. I wonder what objections they faced while doing it. I wonder how long it took, what they used, and why Jesus didn't stop them and just heal the guy. I guess it doesn't matter since none of those really enhance the point of the story. But still, I hope someone fixed the roof before it rained.
@ToastersNMilkshakes@xanga - those are great points...and hearing you raise them (hadn't occurred to me before) I don't think they're beside the point. I've discovered following Jesus is messy...and definitely shakes up the 'conventional wisdom.' Not stopping those guys from destroying the roof...says something. Perhaps that you have to rock the boat, see others turn against you and tell you you're crazy, or thoughtless, or unwise, or dumb, or even sacrilegious...or selfish (tearing up someone else's house just to get your own personal healing).
Great points...thanks for raising them...making me think here!
What obstacles stand between you and Christ?
Because I have never seen physical proof of Christ or God, I have doubts that either exist. I believe there is no Christ because I have no proof. But I also have no proof that there is no Christ.
Today, while perusing the internet, I came across an interesting idea: "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." Quite simply, this means that just because you don't have evidence of something, does not necessarily mean it doesn't exist.
The example of this is that a man arrives on a desert island and, seeing no evidence of other people, he immediately concludes there are no inhabitants. The principle states that this is an unfounded conclusion. If the man were to examine the entire island thoroughly and still found no evidence, he could make the same conclusion and it would be valid.
The FSM is the ONE TRUE GOD! Repent before it's too late!
"What would you do to see Jesus?"
Look inside myself until I see clearly what he was talking about. "Seek and ye shall find" is the clarion call. "The Kingdom of Heaven is within." Truer words were never spoken.
"What obstacles come between you and Christ?"
I'm my own worst enemy.
"How can we overcome these obstacles?"
"Though one may conquer a thousand times a thousand men in battle, yet he indeed is the noblest victor who conquers himself." - Shakyamuni Buddha who lived some 3,000 years ago.
"If you seek enlightenment outside yourself, then your performing even ten thousand practices and ten thousand good deeds will be in vain. It is like the case of a poor man who spends night and day counting his neighbor’s wealth but gains not even half a coin." - Nichiren Daishonin, the True Buddha who lived in the 13th century.
@Unstoppable_Inner_Strength@xanga - Bahahaha!
Perhaps the key to the story lies in what Jesus first saw ("much faith"# and did first #"forgiveness of sins"#. Observe the order of events in the cause and effect of the double miracle #Matt. 6: 9, 12, 33#.
According to Jesus, the paralysed man et al.showed in public VERY HIGH PRIORITY, i.e., hurry and determination, for the things of the Kingdom of God #acknowledgement of Jesus as LORD# and his requirement, viz.: faith. In descending order of needs, their rewards were: 1) forgiveness of sins and 2) complete physical healing.
@reckless_eagle@xanga -
Let me introduce you to Jesus Christ through his Self-Portrait composed from the LIVE evidence of his works in and around his death on the cross!
PRELIMINARY WORKS
1. Fixing the day of his death (Matt. 26: 1-5); 2. Self-identification for arrest (John 18: 1-9);
3. Self-surrender (Ibid, 18: 5-11); 4. Self-incrimination for death sentence (Matt. 26: 57-68; John 18: 19-24); 5. Waiver of right of appeal (Ibid, 19: 8-16)
FINAL WORKS
1. Authority over death (Matt. 27:50; John 19:30)
2. Authority over life (Matt. 27: 51-56; John 19: 31-37)
N.B. Under the timely guidance of the work of the Holy Spirit, as promised (John 14: 15-21; 16: 5-15), the perfect and diacritical death of Jesus Christ on the cross is the exclusive and infallible forum for God's self-revelation as self-sufficient life (immortality) with power to change lives for good! God bless you.
(http://www.the2keys.com)
@ToastersNMilkshakes@xanga - Actually, historically, they didn't really "destroy" the roof. Back then, roofs were made of tiles that could be easily moved. So, it wasn't really an act of vandalism.
I totally wondered that myself......lol.
@jmallory@xanga - Well in that case it's fine.