1 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”
4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 Then the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.
God is saying to me: “Jer, I want you to live free…holistically free…freedom for your body, soul, and mind. I want you be become completely unhindered so that you can walk…so that you can dance!…in My rhythms for the good of the world. I stopped and will stop at nothing to free you from the insidious chains that warp your heart and leave you incapable of walking in the Way of Jesus for the good of the world.”
Here’s what I’m going to do, today, with what God is saying to me: I’m going to embrace my liberation I’m going to walk away from the familiar piles of chains that Jesus has set me free from. Today, I’m going to walk in my freedom into the life of a captive other…and I’m going to participate with the Holy Spirit in His work of reconciliation, restoration, and righteousness.
Jer Swigart, Pastor
The Open Door Community – Walnut Creek
8″When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.”
What I see is that they were amazed at the authority given to man…a man fully surrendered to the the will of the Father and fully submitted to the King. Later He gave His disciples that same authority and then in His last address said,
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
What I am hearing is “repent and believe for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
John 5:20
For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.
John 14:12-15
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
Acts 8:13
Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.
My prayers today (tomorrow, the next day…) will center on being more fully submitted and surrendered to Him; to repent and believe; to be transformed by the renewing of my mind; to walk in humility and authority.
Father, may men today be amazed by Your great and mighty works and give You all the glory.
Hey Jer! You invite me to see myself as the paralyzed man. I have physical as well as spiritual sickness. Jesus comes with healing for my whole self–ills of my body, ills of my spirit. Today, when it is tempting to just lay back down on my “mat,” to get lost in some amusement, distraction, inactivity, or self-pity, instead I have the challenge to get up and walk (hear and obey the Lord’s direction) because of the healing touch that only He can bring.
I was moved by Jesus saying “Take heart son, your sins are forgiven.” That had to be pretty encouraging. I’m going to intentionally go out of my way to encourage people I interact with today. Maybe it will lead to a chance to pray for healing.
There’s a lot of words there that strike me: authority, faith, awe, praise. But what speaks to me is the image of the men bringing their paralyzed friend into the presence of the one they knew could heal him. My challenge is to find a paralyzed friend (not physically paralyzed, but spiritually paralyzed) and bring him to Jesus too.
My challenge is also to overcome my own paralysis, which I confess, still hinders me from time to time. I seek worldly relief from stresses and aggravations at work, which I know will never come. Only the gentle hand of Jesus will lead me through this wall. I’m tired of beating my head against it. It’s a slow, difficult process handing over that trust, but I’m getting there.
“Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?” Jer’s words about freedom are inviting as I consider the captivity of my own godless thoughts that are all too similar to the side-line skeptics in this Bible passage. My do is to rebuke the evil lure of skepticism that lurks in my heart and embrace all that God is doing around me. That should keep me busy for a while.
I hear God saying, “Sean take heart your sins and the sins of others are forgiven.” I am taking great comfort in that today. Lent has created this space in me to see areas of my appetites, ambitions and need for applause that if they are not fed start screaming like children “feed me”. What I am going to do these 40 days and hopefully beyond is live into His authority in my life and trust that as I starve those voices Jesus will fill me with His presence and i will get up and walk.
So much in this passage! Before I read this – I had spent some time in prayer for a sick friend and kept getting this picture of us carrying her on a mat and laying her before Jesus. How awesome that this is our passage for today!
The teachers in this passage were so quick to jump to a negative assessment of what was going on – “Why do you entertain such evil thoughts in your hearts?” My prayer today and always is that the Lord would heal me – spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally – SO THAT my thoughts, emotions and actions are inline with His.
My do today is to really listen and guard my reactions and thoughts. These teachers didn’t say anything aloud – but Jesus knew. Just as today – I may not say my thoughts out loud – but Jesus knows my every thought. Lord – help me to see what You see. Guard my heart and mind.
I hear God saying that the healing of sins being forgiven is more important than the healing of the physical body. Praise God He knows our needs and does both, for our benefit, and His glory. Jesus acted when he saw the faith of those who brought their paralyzed friend to him. Today I pray for that same faith, and for the Spirit to rid me of anything that causes it to be less.
God is saying to me ‘take heart, my son, you are forgiven’ so ‘get up…and go home.’ My Father forgives me so I move towards my true home in God. This is good news. And I believe God is telling me to share this good news with someone over this upcoming weekend so I am expecting a ‘divine appointment’ or two this weekend.
Like a lot of us what I take from this verse is that I can take heart because my sins are forgiven. I feel that I have been spiritually paralyzed or even dead for the past week and a half. Struggling with past sins and/or chains that have wrapped around my heart and causes me to be inactive or be in a deep state of self pity. Today a song was in my head as I read this this verse and here is part of it which is my prayer for today:
I’ve been restless on the inside
wondering about this heart of mine
I’ve been desperately trying to find
a way to prove that I’m still alive
Has the love I speak so loudly of
quietly grown cold
Is my life been an empty voice
what I sing needs to be seen
I need to step out and make the choice
to let go of everything
Would you reignite this heart spark here in the dark
Bring love to life inside of me
I too take heart because my sins are forgiven, but am very concerned with how easy it is for me to drift into an unforgiving spirit. As much as Jesus has forgive me for I should never be unforgiving. Thus I pray that Jesus will help me to always be quickly convicted when I have an unforgiving spirit.
I’m like the paralyzed man. Jesus has already told me that my sins are forgiven. (Yay!) But now he’s addressing my paralysis and telling me to just get off my mat and walk. It should be easy, but it’s not. Today I will live in faith — and walk in faith.
I’ve noticed that whenever Jesus comes across someone lame, they’re laying on a mat. That speaks to me. What could that “mat” represent? Is it a place where we sit comfortably? Where we accept things as “the way it is?” The first thing Jesus says to them is, ” Get up, pick up your mat and walk!” I think I’m laying on a mat. Lord, help me to see that!
I sense the Lord graciously letting me know that my ultimate healing isn’t found in the physical but because of what has taken place in the spiritual dimension of my life. I concur with Jer — because of that I to can dance due to the Master’s touch. Today I’m going to reflect on the joy of MY sin forgiven and share this with the people I’m meeting with.
In this I hear about the authority to forgive sins…this hold great meaning to me in light of a resent conversation with my sister who is a SELF Proclaimed “narrow minded”christian stating that i am too liberal for her and that the path I have walked for so many years was wrong….
I could only respond with thank you for your honesty but my past does not define me and i have seen great things(miracles) in my life and the lives of those around me….My views may not be as extreme as hers but I accept her and love her because the God of my understanding is almighty and he sees beyond the lost place I came from to the inner child he longed for…
Needless to say Today I am trusting in the authority of my Father who welcomed me with open arms so that I might return to him and be a testimony of his love. Today I will hold my head up and not be discouraged by what was but be excited about what God has planned for me
I’m hearing “friends,” “their,” and “son.” Here is a guy in a “bad way.” Yet, he has “friends” who act out “their” faith in seeking to help their friend and bring him to Jesus. When Jesus sees “their” faith He addresses the one in need as “son.”
I think the “do” I’m getting here relates to acting out my faith with my friends, trusting that as I do they will find themselves face to face with Jesus.