If you watch Bear Grylls on Man vs Wild you would see a guy who is always quick to find what he needs. Whenever I watch I have noticed that he always finds water, food, fire and shelter wherever he can. Along the way he faces a lot of challenges and problems, whether it be a treacherous crossing or a fast flowing river but because he knows what the problems are, he knows how to deal with them.
But what is interesting about Bear Grylls is that he realises he has a greater problem. The same problem that the paralytic man below has. But as you read on below can you work out what is his greatest need?
17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
What is the paralytic mans greatest need? Isn't it obvious? It is that he needs to get rid of his paralysis. Not all of us are as tough and athletic as Bear Grylls. But we all love to walk, kick a ball, jump around and have fun. But can you imagine if you could never do any of those things again? Can you imagine having to be carried around on a stretcher by people everywhere you go. This is what life was like for the paralytic man. Of course his greatest need is to be able to walk.
But Jesus doesn't see it this way. As soon as the paralytic man is put in front of Jesus, Jesus doesn't heal him. He says something very strange. He says, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." It is strange for two reasons.
The first reason is that the man wants healing of his body, not forgiveness. Surely Jesus is giving him a good solution to the wrong problem. It would be like Bear Grylls trying to start a fire with water. Water is helpful to the problem of thirst but not to the problem of staying warm.
The second reason it is strange is because Jesus is forgiving his sins. How can Jesus forgive this guy? You can only forgive people for what they have done against you. What has this paralysed man ever done against Jesus? If you stole my car, you are sinning against me. It would be strange if your friend from school came up to you at recess and said, "I forgive you for stealing Brendan's car." It just wouldn't make sense. Only the person who is wronged can forgive. So what could this guy have ever done to Jesus?
The problem is we are forgetting someone. Every time we sin against another person, it is not just a sin against them. They belong to someone else. God made them. King David had an affair with Bathsheba and had her husband killed. He sinned against her, against her husband and against the whole Jewish nation by not being a good King. So how could David write this part of Psalm 51 after he did all that?
"For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge." (Psalm 51:3-4)
David is saying against God only he has sinned. Isn't that just wrong? But what David wants us to see is that because God made all of us, all sin is PRIMARILY against him. We can still sin against other people but God is the one who we have most offended and most hurt by our sin. Remember God is the one who gave us the command to love one another. If we don't do it, we are rebelling against our maker.
So here is what is interesting. When Jesus forgives the paralytic man he is saying two things. First, I am God, you have sinned against me. Jesus is saying that he is God. Who else can forgive sins but God? For Jesus to do this he must believe he is God. But the second thing Jesus is saying is that the paralysed man's greatest need is forgiveness. You can spend a lifetime cripple but it is nothing compared to an eternity cut off from God. We need to get our priorities straight and see what our greatest need is. Jesus believes it is his forgiveness.
Bear Grylls is someone who sees this as well. In a interview Bear described his Christian faith (trust in Jesus) as the "backbone" of his life. It is the thing that holds his entire life together, supports it and strengthens it and enables him to walk on. Bear also said:
'My faith is quite simple in the sense that for me Christianity is about being held; it's about being forgiven; it's about being loved; and it's about being strengthened."
For Bear, being forgiven by Jesus is the thing that holds his entire life together and makes it work now and after death. This is what Jesus wanted to show to the paralysed man as well.
In the end to show he was God and had the authority to forgive sins Jesus did heal the paralytic man. But he wanted to show those watching that our greatest need is to be forgiven by Jesus. When that happens we get life as it should be. We are changed people. Knowing Jesus becomes the backbone of our life, it holds and supports us in everything. The paralytic man got healed, but because he is forgiven, he gets to spend eternity with God without the paralysis, death, tears or mourning. This is far better than being healed.
So to finish we need to ask ourselves, what is our greatest need? Well it depends on what your greatest problem is? We may think it is a sickness, a lack of popularity, bad grades, not having the best computer games or needing a bigger download limit. But Jesus wants us to see that all these problems mean nothing if we don't have forgiveness from him.
Questions to Think About
1. What do I think is my biggest problem? Is that what I treat as my biggest problem?
2. Do I think I am a sinner who needs forgiveness?
3. Do I think Jesus can really forgive ALL my sin?
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.” (Luke 5:17-26)
But Jesus doesn't see it this way. As soon as the paralytic man is put in front of Jesus, Jesus doesn't heal him. He says something very strange. He says, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." It is strange for two reasons.
The first reason is that the man wants healing of his body, not forgiveness. Surely Jesus is giving him a good solution to the wrong problem. It would be like Bear Grylls trying to start a fire with water. Water is helpful to the problem of thirst but not to the problem of staying warm.
The second reason it is strange is because Jesus is forgiving his sins. How can Jesus forgive this guy? You can only forgive people for what they have done against you. What has this paralysed man ever done against Jesus? If you stole my car, you are sinning against me. It would be strange if your friend from school came up to you at recess and said, "I forgive you for stealing Brendan's car." It just wouldn't make sense. Only the person who is wronged can forgive. So what could this guy have ever done to Jesus?
The problem is we are forgetting someone. Every time we sin against another person, it is not just a sin against them. They belong to someone else. God made them. King David had an affair with Bathsheba and had her husband killed. He sinned against her, against her husband and against the whole Jewish nation by not being a good King. So how could David write this part of Psalm 51 after he did all that?
"For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge." (Psalm 51:3-4)
David is saying against God only he has sinned. Isn't that just wrong? But what David wants us to see is that because God made all of us, all sin is PRIMARILY against him. We can still sin against other people but God is the one who we have most offended and most hurt by our sin. Remember God is the one who gave us the command to love one another. If we don't do it, we are rebelling against our maker.
So here is what is interesting. When Jesus forgives the paralytic man he is saying two things. First, I am God, you have sinned against me. Jesus is saying that he is God. Who else can forgive sins but God? For Jesus to do this he must believe he is God. But the second thing Jesus is saying is that the paralysed man's greatest need is forgiveness. You can spend a lifetime cripple but it is nothing compared to an eternity cut off from God. We need to get our priorities straight and see what our greatest need is. Jesus believes it is his forgiveness.
'My faith is quite simple in the sense that for me Christianity is about being held; it's about being forgiven; it's about being loved; and it's about being strengthened."
For Bear, being forgiven by Jesus is the thing that holds his entire life together and makes it work now and after death. This is what Jesus wanted to show to the paralysed man as well.
In the end to show he was God and had the authority to forgive sins Jesus did heal the paralytic man. But he wanted to show those watching that our greatest need is to be forgiven by Jesus. When that happens we get life as it should be. We are changed people. Knowing Jesus becomes the backbone of our life, it holds and supports us in everything. The paralytic man got healed, but because he is forgiven, he gets to spend eternity with God without the paralysis, death, tears or mourning. This is far better than being healed.
So to finish we need to ask ourselves, what is our greatest need? Well it depends on what your greatest problem is? We may think it is a sickness, a lack of popularity, bad grades, not having the best computer games or needing a bigger download limit. But Jesus wants us to see that all these problems mean nothing if we don't have forgiveness from him.
Questions to Think About
1. What do I think is my biggest problem? Is that what I treat as my biggest problem?
2. Do I think I am a sinner who needs forgiveness?
3. Do I think Jesus can really forgive ALL my sin?
No comments:
Post a Comment