Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
We return today to Mark 2:1-12 and the dramatic healing of a paralyzed man. Verse 5 says, “When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, ‘Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.’” The tender term “son” indicates Jesus’ personal love for this paralyzed man and reminds us that all believers are called “the sons [literally, the children] of God” (John 1:12) and “My son’s and daughters” (II Corinthians 6:18). However, the pompous religious leaders were “sitting there” (verse 6) – even though it was a standing-room-only crowd – and quickly accused Jesus of blasphemy (verse 7). Jesus pointed out that, as “the Son of man” (verse 10 – this designation is clearly Messianic, based on Daniel 7:13-14), He had the authority both to heal and to forgive (verses 8-11). It is ironic that the religious elites erroneously taught that sickness was a direct result of individual sin. Yet, when Jesus dealt with these separate and serious issues, these legalists attacked Him, revealing their preconceived biases and their paucity of spiritual insight. Their vituperative criticism did not deserve a response, but Jesus nonetheless answered their harsh misassessment with clear words and actions. As He confronted them with necessary and unanswerable truth, He was also speaking to everyone else there and to us. We always have a clear choice: we can listen to Jesus or not. The wise person will love to hear what the Savior says.