Day 3: Going to Extremes
Mark 2:1-4
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers 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 paralyzed man, 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 by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 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?” 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 this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 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!”
For Reflection
You’ve probably read the story about Jesus and the paralyzed man many times. It’s the perfect Sunday school story because it’s filled with excitement, action, and—best of all—a miracle. But it’s also a very familiar story. Maybe we’re so used to hearing it that we don’t stop to consider how crazy it really was. Think about it: these friends carried their paralytic companion through a huge crowd, struggled their way up to the roof of a stranger’s house, tore apart that roof, and then carefully lowered their friend to the floor at Jesus’s feet. As for Jesus, did you notice who he was sitting with? Teachers of the law. They were important, influential people in Jesus’s day. The friends of the paralytic man barged in on a jam-packed, momentous event, maybe like a major city council meeting or a rather exclusive private party. What those friends did was dangerous and rather extreme. Their wild act of love was crazy, ridiculous, even risky!
What are you willing to risk for love? How far would you go to help a friend find healing or reach out to someone in need? Often, we aren’t asked to put our own lives or livelihoods in danger, we’re just asked to sacrifice a little. Maybe that means letting our friends think we’re “weird” because we choose to be kind to the outcast. Maybe that means we have to dial back our spending or give up some free time to reach out to someone who’s hurting. Maybe God is asking something of you that might push you outside of your comfort zone. Just how brave are you?
Consider this: the friends in this Bible story risked big. But the reward they reaped was even bigger. They were firsthand witnesses to the power of God in the life of one of his children. They witnessed a miracle—the restoration of the life of someone they loved. What a gift!
For Discussion
Can you think of a real-life example of someone “going to extremes” for love? Have you ever done something risky or extreme for the sake of another?
Do you think God is asking you to love someone in a big way? What might that look like?