Belonging - Day 13
Mark 2:10 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, 11 “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”
I love the end of this story. Jesus doesn’t just answer their questions, but he actually gives them a lesson in underestimating him. Jesus was going to not only convince them with his words, but he was going to show them with his deeds the power that was at play through him.
This was a “put up or shut up” moment for Jesus, and he did just that. Have you ever had one of those moments where you have said enough and it is just simply time for action? I can remember when I was a senior in High School and was playing on the Volleyball team. We were down two games and about to lose the third game, and thus the match. I came into the huddle, and as team captain, the words that I was saying needed to backed up by some serious actions!
The game starts and we go on a quick run, so we are finally up. Side out, side out, and I am up to serve. Luckily, I was a pretty consistent server, so I helped us push the run a little higher. We won that game, and as the momentum changed, we ended up coming all the way back and winning the whole match.
I met the coach of the other team about 20 years later in the grocery store, and he still remembered my name and remembered those games. He was gracious enough to say that he thought it was the greatest comeback he had seen while coaching. That was sweet of him, and certainly made me feel pretty good about things.
The truth is, if I had not helped by my actions, my words wouldn’t have meant too much. Jesus showed them what power really was by healing and forgiving the man, and showing all of those who were there what it means to belong to the kingdom of God and have access to all of that power.
12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”
I love the end of this story. Jesus doesn’t just answer their questions, but he actually gives them a lesson in underestimating him. Jesus was going to not only convince them with his words, but he was going to show them with his deeds the power that was at play through him.
This was a “put up or shut up” moment for Jesus, and he did just that. Have you ever had one of those moments where you have said enough and it is just simply time for action? I can remember when I was a senior in High School and was playing on the Volleyball team. We were down two games and about to lose the third game, and thus the match. I came into the huddle, and as team captain, the words that I was saying needed to backed up by some serious actions!
The game starts and we go on a quick run, so we are finally up. Side out, side out, and I am up to serve. Luckily, I was a pretty consistent server, so I helped us push the run a little higher. We won that game, and as the momentum changed, we ended up coming all the way back and winning the whole match.
I met the coach of the other team about 20 years later in the grocery store, and he still remembered my name and remembered those games. He was gracious enough to say that he thought it was the greatest comeback he had seen while coaching. That was sweet of him, and certainly made me feel pretty good about things.
The truth is, if I had not helped by my actions, my words wouldn’t have meant too much. Jesus showed them what power really was by healing and forgiving the man, and showing all of those who were there what it means to belong to the kingdom of God and have access to all of that power.
- Do you think you belong to the kingdom of God? What makes you believe that?
- How can you show, by your actions, what it means to belong to the kingdom of God?
- What is the best thing anyone has done to help you know you belong?
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