| Text: Mark 2:1-12 God's
words and works are wonderful and marvellous.
Jesus had moved to Capernaum from His home at Nazareth.
When Jesus came to Capernaum, there was a man with an evil spirit.
The evil spirit cried out, "you are the holy one of God". At that time the
people did not know whom He was but the demons knew. He rebuked the evil spirit and it
left the man.
Afterwards Jesus went to Peter's house, where Peter's
mother-in-law had a high fever. He rebuked the fever and it left her and she was healed.
Afterwards many came to Him with different diseases and He healed
them all.
Then a leper came and fell at His feet, "if Thou will Thou
can make me clean". Jesus was filled with compassion, stretched out His hand, touched
him and healed him, saying, "I am willing" (Mark 1:40, 41).
Zacchaeus also could not get to Jesus because of the crowd, but he
too made a plan to meet Jesus.
The pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, also heard of all
that Jesus did. So when Jesus was in this house, many people gathered together so that the
house was full.
This man needed the help of these four friends to take him to
Jesus. So too we need help to come to Jesus.
A person dead in his trespasses and sins is not only lame but
stone dead. He cannot come to Jesus on his own. God has chosen to use other people to help
a person dead in his sins to come to Jesus.
Although it is impossible for a person to come to Jesus out of his
own, God does sometimes work out of the ordinary and reveal Himself to a person dead in
his sins and give him new life. But ordinarily God has chosen to use human instruments to
bring others to Christ.
If God should use the angels, Gabriel and the other angels, it
would probably be less than a day and the whole world would be brought to Jesus. But that
is not the way God has chosen to work.
These men could not take the paralytic to Jesus because of the
crowd in the house. So there are people that block the way when a person wants to come to
Jesus. But the friends of this man made a plan to overcome the obstacle of the people
blocking the way.
They did something very drastic, and maybe even illegal when they
opened the roof to let down the man in front of Jesus.
As the commotion was going on on the roof and as they broke open
the roof, and the clay and dust fell on the people below, you can imagine the comments and
thoughts of the pharisees and learned people. But Jesus allowed it to happen and said
nothing.
Jesus had compassion on the man who had the need.
Maybe you pray that God would work. So people from the street come
for help, and they make your house dirty, don't know how to behave and sit properly etc.
Suddenly it gets too much and you get upset because things do not work out as you have
thought. You do not realise that the souls of these people are worth much more than these
material things.
Jesus first forgave this man his sins. Divine healing starts in
the heart, in the soul. The physical healing is of secondary importance. This man had sins
that he had done that first had to be dealt with.
This is the problem of many people coming for help. They want to
be healed physically, but when they have received the help they sought, and haven't been
helped spiritually, their lives doesn't change and they remain enemies of God.
The scribes and pharisees, the professors of that time, the
learned people would never have gone this route to cut open the roof to get the paralytic
to Jesus. They would have calculated the cost of the damage to the roof, all the dust on
the people below, etc., and would conclude that it's not the right thing to do.
The Lord Jesus calls Himself the Son of man. He condescends and
humbles Himself to be associated with us. Note that He doesn't call Himself the son of the
Germans or the Zulus, but the Son of man. He is for all people.
Woe to us if we despise His love and compassion and condescension.
These four men are an example to us. Where are the people today
who bring others to Jesus?
This man needed four to bring him to Jesus.
Where are your own children? Have you brought them to Jesus? If
you're not able, why don't you seek help that someone helps you to bring them to Jesus.
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