About This Devotional Series
I am really blessed to teach at Grand Canyon University. One of those blessings is our commitment to provide helpful ideas and resources to our faculty and staff as they integrate faith in the classroom, in student interactions, in conversations with peers and beyond.
This fall our One Foundation program produced a series of videos that offers 15 devotionals over 15 weeks through the book of Mark. This series explores the story of Jesus as a way of engaging foundational aspects of the Christian worldview. Each installment in the series highlights key aspects of Jesus’ story, drawing out principles and practices to guide and shape our individual stories and shared work as a university.
Alongside some of our other amazing faculty, this video features my contribution to the study of Mark 2:1-12. Check Theology Commons, hosted by the College of Theology
Introduction to Mark 2:1-12
In the early chapters of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ travels throughout the region of Galilee inviting the people of Israel to repent of their sin and prepare for the coming of God’s Kingdom.
Reflection
On one occasion, Jesus enters the city of Capernaum. The crowd gathers inside a home to hear Jesus teach. Out of the crowd emerges four men carrying a paralytic. They hope Jesus will heal the man’s broken body. The crowd is so densely packed that the four men can’t get through, so they tear open the roof of the home and lower their paralyzed friend down to Jesus.
The Big Idea
Seeing the persistent faith of these men, Jesus does something unexpected… he doesn’t answer their request. Instead of healing this man’s paralysis, Jesus says, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” No doubt Jesus’ offer of forgiveness confused the people. Some were upset at his lack of compassion, thinking to themselves, “what practical value is forgiveness when this man can’t walk?” Others in the crowd were convinced that Jesus was a false teacher. “What makes Jesus, the carpenter’s son, think he can offer forgiveness without a Temple sacrifice?” As you consider this story, keep in mind that the error of the scribes was not their theology. Their belief that God alone had the power to forgive was sound. Their error was their inability to accept Jesus as the Son of Man. Jesus, aware of these doubts, heals the man, not as an act of compassion, but as a sign of his authority to forgive sin. The man gets up, picks up his bed, and goes home.
This story, however, is not just about Jesus’ power to forgive, it is also about our Christian mission.
We see people all around us, like this paralyzed man, who are broken. We see people broken by disease. We see people broken by the death of a loved one. We see people broken by wicked governments. Filled with compassion, our instinct is to offer medicine, counseling, or pass just laws. But in this story of the paralyzed man, we learn a crucial lesson about true love for the broken. For God, holiness is greater than healing. This doesn’t mean Christians are free to ignore the physical needs of others. Certainly, there are many commands in Scripture to pray for the sick, show mercy to the brokenhearted, and live as a church outside the corrupt systems of this world. But even an atheist can put a cast on a broken arm. As disciples of Jesus, our mission is to offer something greater, something that only Jesus the great physician can offer. Our mission is to offer God’s healing through holiness.
Conclusion
Christians are called to follow the example of Christ. To heal our broken neighbor, we must invite them to follow Jesus out of their sin and into God’s Kingdom. When the broken come to the church in search of healing, like Jesus we may need to demonstrate God’s power to forgive by caring for the physical needs. But like Jesus we must also speak boldly about our greater mission, the mission of redemption. As you travel through live, be like Jesus. Invite your neighbor to experience the forgiveness of Christ, to walk in holiness, and prepare them for the coming of God’s Kingdom.
Holiness is Greater than Healing (Mark 2:1-12)