Mark 2:3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.
I am personally going through a season of electro-mechanical breakdowns which are at least frustrating, and may be very expensive. May car broke twice, my dryer is making a loud protesting noise - though still working, the ice-maker in my refrigerator stopped working, my dish-washer has a leak, and worst of all, my home air-conditioner has a bad freon leak…bad enough it seems the entire system must be replaced. (See very expensive.)
As bad as that list of broken items may seem to me right now, there are probably millions of people on the face of the earth who would trade places with me in a New York minute. (Translation: a very brief period of time.)
You see, the list of all my broken stuff pertains to luxury items only a small percentage of persons on the planet have even had the opportunity to dream of. Sure, it’s a pain to have an ice-maker that doesn’t work – I have to open the freezer door and twist the ice-trays and then re-fill them. Poor me.
Even air-conditioning, which seems a requirement to sustain life here in SW Florida, is a lofty privilege attained and enjoyed by hundredths of percentage points of people who have ever lived on this planet. Now…consider the paralytic.
Jesus cares about the condition of the human heart, and He stands ready and willing to heal the broken-hearted and the cast down and the discarded. How would this healing take place?
One might notice that Jesus would show up, and the people – aware of His presence – would throng Him, touch Him, and be healed by Him. This is a very ‘attractive’ ministry style. People are drawn to His amazing authority over diseases and demons. But Jesus established His healing ministry as of secondary importance.
Mark 2:1 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.
Before Jesus would heal in these gatherings, He would teach the Word. Why? Because His healing touch may bring about the end of a physical affliction – but His teaching the Word would heal the condition of the heart. He is still ministering in exactly this way in the world today. Jesus is alive – and so is His Word! The most important words Jesus spoke to the paralytic? "Son, your sins are forgiven you." (See Mark 2:5.) He then touched the paralytic and healed him physically to prove the work He had already accomplished Spiritually. When you consider that physical healing is temporal and Spiritual healing is eternal – which do you think had the greater priority in the heart of Christ? People missed that then – and they still miss that point today.
- Pastor Bill
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