DAY 25: RISE: The Chosen 40 Days With Jesus/ "Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic" ...
Good evening … Great is His faithfulness …
I wanted to share this, it was commentary I used from my Orthodox Study Bible earlier today, and a previous study on Deuteronomy 2 …
“God’s gracious promise in the Gospel of Christ either saves people or makes them hard and stubborn … Yet this hardness and stubbornness is of their own free will, for He never forces anyone to respond in faith … But He does make them the offer of peace” …
(Orthodox Study Bible)
DAY 25: RISE
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic
2 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 [a]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. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 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.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
-This healing also mentioned in Matthew 9:2-8: Christ’s focus in coming into the world was to forgive sins – “But that you may know that the Son of Man has the power on earth to forgive sins” – He said to the paralytic, - (v. 10), this was free humanity for its bondage of sin … To forgive sins is a greater power than the physical healing, for, as the scribes correctly ponied out, GOD ALONE can forgive sins – “why does this MAN speak blasphemies like this??? Who can forgive sins but God alone???” – (v. 7) … Jesus is showing an EASIER TASK – (v. 9) is to grant physical healing … Christ is fully God and holds the ultimate authority to forgive, He also condescends to those gathered and heals this man so he can draw people closer to God, whom they glorified …
- “Faith is an indispensable condition for our salvation, meaning it’s collective as well as personal, and was also the faith of the paralytic’s friends that helped in his healing, their faith was beautiful …”
Christ shows us three signs of His Divinity (1): Knowing the secrets of the heart; (2): He – (Christ) forgives sins, a power that belongs to God alone, (3): He heals by the power of His Word …
MOVING FORWARD
1: To take such extreme measures, what must the four men carrying their friend have believed about Jesus??? It was their faith it was extremely beautiful they heard of Jesus, and they believed in their hearts He could heal their buddy … This is the most real thing about what faith truly is, how can one say they believe without ever having to struggle for that belief … It’s our faith that truly makes well, and He heals us in many ways, we just must have the real faith, believe even when it seems hopeless, nothing is hopeless in Christ, it’s a marathon not a sprint …
2: What keeps you from pursuing Jesus with that kind of passion??? Nothing keeps me from seeking Jesus, I have the faith, the passion, the drive to go the distance … I’m here to teach and witness to you all the greatness and goodness of God …
3: If you struggle to value spiritual growth over material, list three to five reasons spiritual growth matters more …
1: Spiritual growth is for the soul, the Spirit, and the body, all three insist on healing us, Christ heals us in all three ways
2: Prayer – meditation: is good it helps to clear my thoughts and helps me to focus on God’s will and not my own …
3: If you aren’t growing spiritually, we will become stuck at some point, I’m speaking from experience, PTSD was only conquered through Christ and my spiritual growth, without that I would not be where I’m at today …
PRAYER FOCUS:
Thank God for forgiving your sins and then ask Him to give you the same kind of reckless faith and the passion as the friends of the paralytic …
Psalm 19 (20) – Part of this evening’s prayer focus
Numbers 6:24-26
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be merciful to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace …”
In Christ love Jared W Campbell