Mark 2:1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
What? The guy needs to walk first…then maybe we can talk about his sins… He didn’t come for that! He came for healing. But Jesus knew there was more to it that what meets the eye. And then something else happens.
Mark 2:6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Again, there is more than meets the eye…even with the teachers of the law.
Mark 2:8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . .” He said to the paralytic, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Jesus understood fully the situation and the needs. He didn’t just look at a paralyzed man hanging there. He looked and saw someone so weighed down with guilt that he couldn’t move in the spiritual realm either. So entangled in their own guilt and shame that they were spiritually paralyzed. Ever known anyone like that? So Jesus goes for the real need first. And the man instantly knew that Jesus understood him and it freed and bolstered his faith, which would take him through the first test of faith. “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”
To help kids today, we have to take the time to enter their world; To understand the story underneath the external. To hear the cry of their hearts and respond to that first by helping get them to Jesus where their souls can be set free and true healing can begin. Unless we recognize that EVERY kid has a story beneath the surface and seek to understand that story, we will never truly be effective with them. They are continuously talking...are we listening?
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