1. What stood out to me from this chapter?
Many people say that Jesus was a great teacher. Many even agree that he was a healer and miracle worker. Neither of those two things usually ruffles anyone's religious feathers. But there are plenty of people who reject the idea that Jesus is God. But passages like this make it VERY clear that Jesus claimed to be God. The reason the Jews wanted to kill Jesus was blasphemy, namely claiming to be God. Only God can forgive sins, but here Jesus openly forgives the man because of his faith. I can see why many wish to believe that Jesus isn't God, though. If he is, we'd have to listen to him and obey him…
2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?
Mark 2:1-12 and Luke 5:17-26 also record the story of Jesus forgiving and healing the paralyzed man. It's fun to hear three different (albeit similar) accounts of the same story. Each has its own insight and angle. Many of Jesus's teachings and miracles are recorded in more than one gospel account.
3. What does this mean for my life?The last section of the chapter highlights Jesus using a farming analogy to teach about the kingdom of God. "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." At first I would expect the next words from Jesus to be, "so get going!" Instead he says, "Ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the field." I'm a doer, so this charge to ask for workers is a hard one. But I need to remember that God is the one who can change someone's heart.
4. What questions do I have about this passage?
In verses 28-30, Jesus comments that according to their faith the men were healed. I've wondered this before. Is Gods physical healing in this life directly proportional to our faith? Can we blame lack of healing on lack of faith?
Feel free to leave your own answers to any of these questions after reading the chapter, or respond to a comment above. Keep digging!
In Christ,
Dan
image from http://brendonfoulke.com/dtotd-20-the-harvest/
The concept of healing is definitely an interesting one. Back in those days they obviously didn't have the medical technology that we have today. Sometimes I wonder if a medical intervention is just as much of a miracle as God healing a person simply by prayer. Or if God uses modern medicine to heal people through our prayers. I think in our day and age skepticism is pretty common, so then I do wonder if we are, at times, "of little faith." It is appropriate to automatically claim healing over someone's life or simply to pray that if it is God's will, that the sick person will be healed. Which shows greater faith? I don't know for sure. I have been to healing services before and they are wild. Maybe the best thing to do is to pray that God would increase our faith to see real physical healing be it through the hand of God or through modern technology and to treat them both as miracles.
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