Faithful Friends, Forgiving Lord

https://musingsdevotions.wordpress.com

Mark 2:3-5

“Four men came to him carrying a paralyzed man. Since they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof over the place where Jesus was. Then they lowered the cot on which the paralyzed man was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” Some scribes were sitting there. They thought, “Why does he talk this way? He’s dishonoring God. Who besides God can forgive sins?” At once, Jesus knew inwardly what they were thinking. He asked them, “Why do you have these thoughts? Is it easier to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your cot, and walk’? I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then he said to the paralyzed man, “I’m telling you to get up, pick up your cot, and go home!” The man got up, immediately picked up his cot, and walked away while everyone watched. Everyone was amazed and praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

Faithful Friends, Forgiving Lord

Those five men had one goal, the physical healing of the one in the most need. We should all hope to have friends such as those who would dismantle a roof to bring us to Christ. And for our part, we should have such determination to see a friend brought to Christ that we would not let anything stand in our way.

Though they came seeking a healing, they received so much more, forgiveness. The men, seeing through their human eyes, saw only the physical need. Jesus, seeing through the eyes of God, saw the deeper need, his release from the chains of sin.

Prayer

Faithful and forgiving Lord, thank you for understanding our true need. Though we may come to you, seeing with our human eyes only the symptoms, you discern and remove the root cause of of distress. We give you the praise that is due you. All glory is yours. Amen.