Founders Journal · Fall 2003 · pp. 13-18
Do Something Extraordinary
Roger Ellsworth
And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 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. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (Mark 2:1–12).
We can summarize the message of these verses in this way: Jesus did something extraordinary when ordinary men took extraordinary measures to meet an extraordinary need.
There can be no doubt that the four men in this passage were dealing with an extraordinary need. As they made their way to hear Jesus preach, they came across a paralyzed man. How long had he been paralyzed? We cannot say. It would, however, be a dreadful thing to be in that condition for no more than a day. The impression we get is that he had been paralyzed for a very long time.
There also can be no doubt that these men took extraordinary measures. The mass of humanity around Jesus made it impossible for them to set the paralytic before Him. The situation seemed bleak, but they were not deterred. They carted their friend up to the roof, tore through two feet of earth, reeds and branches, and lowered the paralyzed man to Jesus.
Jesus responded to this extraordinary measure by doing a couple of extraordinary things Himself. He first forgave the man of his sins (v. 5). Then to show His critics, the scribes, that He indeed had the authority to forgive sins, Jesus healed the man of his paralysis (vv. 5–12).
Finally, it is clear that these four men were quite ordinary. They disappear from the stage of human history as quickly as they appeared without even having their names mentioned. They are forever obscured in the sea of anonymity.
This passage opens the door for us to
http://www.founders.org/FJ54/article1.html
Do Something Extraordinary
Roger Ellsworth
And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 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. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (Mark 2:1–12).
We can summarize the message of these verses in this way: Jesus did something extraordinary when ordinary men took extraordinary measures to meet an extraordinary need.
There can be no doubt that the four men in this passage were dealing with an extraordinary need. As they made their way to hear Jesus preach, they came across a paralyzed man. How long had he been paralyzed? We cannot say. It would, however, be a dreadful thing to be in that condition for no more than a day. The impression we get is that he had been paralyzed for a very long time.
There also can be no doubt that these men took extraordinary measures. The mass of humanity around Jesus made it impossible for them to set the paralytic before Him. The situation seemed bleak, but they were not deterred. They carted their friend up to the roof, tore through two feet of earth, reeds and branches, and lowered the paralyzed man to Jesus.
Jesus responded to this extraordinary measure by doing a couple of extraordinary things Himself. He first forgave the man of his sins (v. 5). Then to show His critics, the scribes, that He indeed had the authority to forgive sins, Jesus healed the man of his paralysis (vv. 5–12).
Finally, it is clear that these four men were quite ordinary. They disappear from the stage of human history as quickly as they appeared without even having their names mentioned. They are forever obscured in the sea of anonymity.
This passage opens the door for us to
http://www.founders.org/FJ54/article1.html
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