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!”
-Mark 2:1-12
Your spiritual life, that is your relationship with God, is far more important than your physical earthly life. Notice that Jesus heals the spiritual condition of the paralytic first and then he heals him physically. He does this to remind everyone that the spiritual condition is far more important than the physical. Think of this way, ultimately this paralyzed man did die from a physical death due to old age or otherwise. He’s definitely not physically alive today in 2020. But if he has a relationship with Jesus, his spirit lives on forever.
During my time with the Capernaum ministry, I met a guy named Mark who has spina bifida, a deliberating condition that confines him in a wheelchair and causes a lot of medical complications. He’s always going in and out of the hospital. A few years ago at Capernaum camp, Mark gave his testimony—his story of what God has done in his life. He said he would rather have spina bifida and know Jesus than to have a normal body and not know Jesus at all. People were brought to tears. My friend Mark understood the truth behind this passage—knowing Jesus if far better than anything this world can offer, even a normal healthy body. We all need to more like Mark.
Are you so worried about earthly things like grades, relationships, friendships, where you’re going for college, and whatever else that your relationship with Jesus takes a back seat? Take some time today to meditate on this passage. Ask God to help you love Him more than you love anything else in your life. Only then will you begin to enjoy the sweetness and joy of being in a relationship with Jesus.
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