Risking for Family

Living with Peace

Last week we talked through and how our peace thrives when we have a heart for forgiveness and thankfulness.

This week we are looking at a passage of scripture that may be familiar to you but is crucial to our process of developing a family that lives with peace.

Mark 2:1–12 The Message

1 After a few days, Jesus returned to Capernaum, and word got around that he was back home. 2 A crowd gathered, jamming the entrance so no one could get in or out. He was teaching the Word. 3 They brought a paraplegic to him, carried by four men. 4 When they weren’t able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. 5 Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, “Son, I forgive your sins.” 6 Some religion scholars sitting there started whispering among themselves, 7 “He can’t talk that way! That’s blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins.” 8 Jesus knew right away what they were thinking, and said, “Why are you so skeptical? 9 Which is simpler: to say to the paraplegic, ‘I forgive your sins,’ or say, ‘Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking’? 10 Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both …” (he looked now at the paraplegic), 11 “Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home.” 12 And the man did it—got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him. They rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”

There are three people we need to learn from in this passage: the friends, the haters, Jesus.

Mark 2:1–13 The Message

1 After a few days, Jesus returned to Capernaum, and word got around that he was back home. 2 A crowd gathered, jamming the entrance so no one could get in or out. He was teaching the Word. 3 They brought a paraplegic to him, carried by four men. 4 When they weren’t able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. 5 Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, “Son, I forgive your sins.” 6 Some religion scholars sitting there started whispering among themselves, 7 “He can’t talk that way! That’s blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins.” 8 Jesus knew right away what they were thinking, and said, “Why are you so skeptical? 9 Which is simpler: to say to the paraplegic, ‘I forgive your sins,’ or say, ‘Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking’? 10 Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both …” (he looked now at the paraplegic), 11 “Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home.” 12 And the man did it—got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him. They rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!” 13 Then Jesus went again to walk alongside the lake. Again a crowd came to him, and he taught them.

The Friends

This man had good friends. they were good friends to him for two main reasons:

1) They didn’t let the man stay in his brokenness

This man’s friends understood and loved him enough to physically bring him to the place where he could experience true healing, Jesus.

2) They didn’t allow the opinions of others to sway their love

This man’s friends had to physically break down a wall to get their friend healing. They didn’t worry about what the people around them would say or think. They valued the health and healing of their friend over their reputation.

The Haters

The haters worked hard to find any reason to disqualify the man’s healing.

There will always be people in your life who will do everything they can to downplay or disqualify the work God is doing in your life.

Your focus has to remain on the people bringing you to Jesus and Jesus himself.

Jesus

There are three things I wanted to pointing out about Jesus in this passage:

1) Jesus didn’t see the man’s healing as a burden or interuption.

2) Jesus not only healed the man, but he defended and stood by him.

3) Jesus honors the faith of a family risking for one another.

Your family is worth the risk and so are you.