Jesus Meets A Parapalegic
(the first of two parts)
JESUS MEETS A PARAPALEGIC
MARK 2:1-12
2 After a few days, Jesus returned to Capernaum, and word got around that he was back home. A crowd gathered, jamming the entrance so no one could get in or out. He was teaching the Word. They brought a paraplegic to him, carried by four men. When they weren’t able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, “Son, I forgive your sins.”
Some religion scholars sitting there started whispering among themselves, “He can’t talk that way! That’s blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins.”
Jesus knew right away what they were thinking, and said, “Why are you so skeptical? Which is simpler: to say to the paraplegic, ‘I forgive your sins,’ or say, ‘Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking’? Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both …” (he looked now at the paraplegic), “Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home.” And the man did it—got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him. They rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”
(From "The Message", Biblical translation/interpretation by John Peterson.)
The Scene
Life in Palestine was very public. In the morning the door of the house was opened and anyone who wished might come out and in. The door was never shut unless a man deliberately wished for privacy; an open door meant an open invitation for all to come in. In the humbler houses, such as this must have been, there was no entrance hall; the door opened directly on to the street. So, in no time, a crowd had filled the house to capacity and jammed the pavement round the door; and they were all eagerly listening to what Jesus had to say. He was teaching them with the same authority that had been noted previously at the synagogue. Remember, this is the authority of God…authority that spoke the world into being…He is the author of all. This authority was about to come into conflict with the self proclaimed authorities of the time...the keepers of the purity code and the religious law. How would you feel if you were there listening to Jesus?.... You are…
hola soy nuevo ayudenme a subir de nivel
My spanish is poor, help know what you have said.
The authority of Jesus - and He knew perfectly how to use it.
Every miracle performed by the Lord not only attended to the need of the moment, but also transcended to eternity in many cases giving the salvation so valuable. My dear brother and consiervo thank you for sharing such a valuable publication. my prayer with you and your ministry. God bless you
I was just teaching Oona about disabled people and how they are no different then you or I! So in this story I think I would be a mother and daughter who goes running after the man recently healed to see his joy and the first things he does with his new movement. I think one of the things I like about this story is that this human was cared for, way back in those times when it may have been harder to do so. He was loved enough to be brought there on that day to be hopefully healed. Just so I am understading the wording here, was Jesus saying he was the Son of Man to imply that any son of man could be a healer?
No, it was a term of the time relating to His being the one sent from and in His case the one who is God. However, scripture does teach that anyone who has faith through Jesus, His Spirit can be accessed and through that transfer supernatural healing . Thank you for looking at this, in a few days I will add more to make this passage clearer.
I try to read all you write! I appreciate your words. I will stay tuned
One of the many miracles of our Lord, Jesus!! 😍