mark | Pedestrian God

Paralyzed in Sin

Sep 21 2016

This past Sunday, our middle school girls’ class studied the passage of the paralyzed man whose friends lowered him through a roof to Jesus. Since we were all very familiar with this story, we decided to retell it from each viewpoint in the story – the paralyzed man, his friends, the crowd, the scribes, and Jesus.

And we collectively admitted that we are not as passionate about bringing our lost friends and family to Christ as we ought to be.

To get to that realization, let’s look just 5 verses before this story. In Mark 1:40-45, a man with a serious skin disease came to Jesus on his knees and begged for healing. Jesus healed him, warned him not to tell anyone, yet the man proclaimed his healing widely anyways.

So Mark gives us this wonderfully enthusiastic story of a man healed. And then instantly transitions to the story of the paralytic man. (If you’re not familiar with this story, read Mark 2:1-12).

We know very little about the paralytic. He doesn’t say anything. We don’t see him fall before Jesus and beg for healing. We don’t even know if he knew who Jesus was. All we know is that his friends so desperately wanted him to know Jesus and His healing that they were willing to carry him onto the roof, tear a hole in it, and lower him to Jesus. Nothing deterred them from their passion to bring their friend to Jesus – not other people or physical barriers.

Who do you say I am?

Mar 09 2016

Have you ever played Follow the Leader? Other than Red Rover, Follow the Leader is my least favorite game to play. Inevitably, the leader makes us copy goofy motions that force us to jump in place while tapping our noses and waving our arms. I never understood why I would follow a leader that made me look so ridiculous.

So when I heard that we are to follow Jesus, I wanted to know what type of leader He is. Mark chapter 8 helps us understand that the call to follow Jesus as our leader is personal, public, and imitates Jesus’ life.

The first 26 verses of this chapter showcase the authority that Jesus had while He was on earth. Mark retells the story of Jesus feeding 4,000 people with just 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish. We even read about Jesus’ ability to restore sight to a blind man. Then we get these verses:

Jesus went out with His disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
They answered Him, “John the Baptist; others Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.”
“But you,” He asked them again, “who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered Him, “You are the Messiah!”
And He strictly warned them to tell no one about Him.
– Mark 8:27-30

This passage helps us understand that following Jesus is more than rattling off a list of what other people believe about Jesus. The call to follow Jesus is personal. Let’s look at the list His disciples made.

Tag - mark

Share this:

Share this: