Mark Reading Plan – W2D1
Week 2 | Day 1 | Mark 2:1-12
Check out all the previous readings here.
Pray
Pause and breathe for a minute. Then ask God to open your eyes and your ears to his Word
Bible Reading (read these verses three times slowly)
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
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? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 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!”
Reflection & Questions
What’s worse than finding a worm in your apple? Finding half a worm of course! In today’s reading, we find out that there’s something even worse than being paralyzed. And that’s being paralyzed with unforgiven sins.
Having gone to great lengths to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus, I’m sure they weren’t expecting him to say, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” But that’s Jesus’ priority. He knows healing will be for this life, but forgiveness is forever. As we think about our family and friends around us who don’t know Jesus, they may have practical needs (which if we can we should help with), but the main thing they need is Jesus’ forgiveness!
- Who is your ONE you are praying for, talking to Jesus about, inviting to church?
- What’s your next step to reaching your ONE?
Pray
Thank God for His forgiveness. Pray for your ONE or if you’re not sure who your ONE is, ask God to lead you to your ONE.
Worship Song
Praise God for his forgiveness through this song:
Bible Reading
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
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? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 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!”
Reflection & Questions
What’s worse than finding a worm in your apple? Finding half a worm of course! (Get it? Because you ate half of the worm already? Gross!) In today’s reading, we find out that there’s something even worse than being paralyzed. And that’s being paralyzed without having your sins forgiven!
This paralyzed man’s friends were such good friends, weren’t they? I mean, they cut a whole in a roof to lower their friend down to a man who MAYBE could heal him! Can you imagine how much work that must have been? And once they do, Jesus’ first thing He does is, not heal him, but forgive the man of his sins! Do you think that’s what the man and his friends were hoping for? Of course not, they wanted him to be able to walk again! But that’s Jesus’ priority. Jesus knows that if He heals the man’s legs, it will only be for this life on Earth. But forgiveness of our sins is forever!
Do you know what sin is? Sin is whenever we do something that is against God’s desire for us and our life. In this life, we all need a lot of things. But there is one thing that is more important than ANYTHING on Earth, and that’s to know Jesus, and to have our sins forgiven by Him!
- Have you ever asked Jesus to forgive you for your sins? If yes, why do you do that? If no, maybe now is a great time to start!
- How can you help others learn about Jesus, so they can know about Him and the forgiveness of sins that He can give?
Prayer
Thank God for His forgiveness to us, and pray about how you can help others learn about it, too!
Bible Reading
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
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? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 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!”
Devo Focus
Mark 2:5 “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Question
We always know what’s best for us!
Or do we? Let’s be real, Sometimes we know what we need, but God knows what we need most.
In Mark 2:1-12 Four buddies carry their paralyzed friend to see Jesus. Once they arrived at the house Jesus is teaching, the line is more packed than a ride at Disneyland. This place is nuts. So what do they do? Climb through a window, yell telling people to get out of the way? Push their way through the crowd, they think outside the box and dig a hole in the roof! Talk about persistence! They wanted their buddy healed. So what happened when they lowered their friend down? Jesus saw him and didn’t heal him, at first.
He looked at the man, noticed he and his buddies had a ton of persistent faith and he said, “Your sins are forgiven.” Jesus offers forgiveness of sins, heals the guy all while at the same time proving that he is the Son of God, because only God can forgive sins!
When the paralyzed guy and his buddies thought they needed a healing, instead Jesus knew what they really needed, forgiveness from their sins. When they thought they needed to get their friend to a healer for the body, they instead brought their friend to a savior, to help rescue the friend for all eternity.
How about you?
- Have you ever thought that the thing you really want is actually different then what God really wants you to experience?
- If you were the paralyzed guy in the story, would you rather be able to walk again or receive forgiveness of sins? Why?
