In these days of economic recession, it’s time for us to take stock and think about what we really need. The other day I saw some T-shirts advertised cheap. When I went in they were sold out but they did have lots of lovely blouses at reduced prices. ‘Why don’t you buy one?’ my husband said when he saw me looking at them.
‘Because I don’t need them.’ I needed a cheap T-shirt to wear to tennis. I didn’t need pretty blouses to wear out, though I have to admit it was tempting. It’s so easy to get caught up in what we want, rather than what we need, isn’t it? Advertisers will try and convince you, you neeed this new product. Most times you don’t.
Look around and you’ll see the inconsistencies in our world. Half the world goes hungry while the other half has plenty and many people are obese. People spend more on their pets each year than they do in helping people overseas who never will see three meals a day. Weddings get bigger and more elaborate and cost more but the marriages are getting shorter. So it would seem we have a lot of things skewed.
Jesus never got his priorities wrong. He knew what people needed. In Mark 1 Jesus was surrounded by people who wanted healing. Yet Jesus leaves these people and goes off to other towns to preach, Mark 1:37-39. And then we see in Mark 2 that when the crowd assembles Jesus sees his main priority as teaching them, verse 2.
It is into this crowd milling around Jesus, that a paralytic man is brought by his mates. His mates are persistent. Though they see the crowd, they do not back away but look for another way to get their friend to Jesus. They could have decided it was all too hard, or impossible, but they didn’t. They expended a lot of effort getting an opening in the roof and lowering their friend down.
Jesus recognizes their faith. He also recognizes the need of the paralytic man. You might think it would be his healing and surely that is why the friends brought him. But Jesus recognizes this man has a deeper, more urgent need. He, like us, needs forgiveness of sin, verse 5.
Of course, Jesus doesn’t leave it at that. Next time we’ll look at some more points to do with Jesus and this paralytic and how it applies to our lives.
Bible verses from New American Standard Version
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