We all need a few close friends who will stick with us during the best of times & the worst of times! Fair weather friends are a dime a dozen! Who needs that? I have been blessed with an abundance of wonderful people who are closer to me than my 'family.' They have been with me in the valleys as well as the mountaintops!!
In this passage of scripture, Jesus is having a time of fellowship & is inside a place where He is inaccessible to the outside. Well, there was a man who absolutely couldn't walk on his own...he had to carried by his friends. So these "cRaZy Friends" decided to climb up on the roof & cut a hole so that they could lower him to Jesus.
Can you imagine being at a bible study & suddenly some guy on a cot is lowered thru the roof?? Well as of today, when I am asked to intercede for someone, I am no longer "Lifting them UP"!! I will be LOWERING them to the Master so that He can forgive their sins (1st) then HEAL them of all afflictions!! Get ready to get up, carry your mats & walk away~
And YES I will definitely be one of your closest CrAzY friends!!
The MESSAGE version:
Mark 2:1-12
A Paraplegic
After a few days, Jesus returned to Capernaum, and word got around that he was back home. A crowd gathered, jamming the entrance so no one could get in or out. He was teaching the Word. They brought a paraplegic to him, carried by four men. When they weren't able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, "Son, I forgive your sins."
Some religion scholars sitting there started whispering among themselves, "He can't talk that way! That's blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins."
Jesus knew right away what they were thinking, and said, "Why are you so skeptical? Which is simpler: to say to the paraplegic, 'I forgive your sins,' or say, 'Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking'? Well, just so it's clear that I'm the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both . . ." (he looked now at the paraplegic), "Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home." And the man did it—got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him. They rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then praised God, saying, "We've never seen anything like this!"
***This I know!
***This I know!
T"The Heart Gate" by Phillip Simmons
Master Blacksmith & a National Treasure!
