Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?
(Mark 2:9 ESV)
First off, what is sin?
Tricky question to answer but here goes anyway. Sin is what you do something that is not perfect. Sin against God would be to say, do, think, etc something that was not perfect to God. We mortals can deal with this stuff easily because we think to ourselves – I sin all the time so I’m not going to worry about the person who does. But is this always true? Don’t we get really upset about some sins – rape for instance or child abuse, etc. We may not be perfect but we know that some things are harder to forgive than others. So then think about the perfection of God. How can God, who is perfect, simply forgive sins? Not so easy as it is for us. So how are they dealt with? Well that’s a bit much for my simple blog post today but lets just say that God has a way and it involves God taking the blame for everything.
So back to our bible reading.
What is easier to say is not always the easiest to say. Surely, it’s easier to say something that no one can disprove. Politicians of course get elected on these very grounds – you can’t prove that they won’t do what they promise – although one of the first things they all say is “it is worse than we thought” which of course means they will not keep the promise they made.
So it is far easier for Jesus to say “your sins are forgiven” than to say to someone who is crippled – walk! Who can check to see if the sins have been forgiven and yet its obvious if someone can walk or not.
So what makes sense to me is to say that although it is actually harder to forgive sins – only God can do that – it is actually harder to SAY to someone: “pick up your bed and walk”. In this way Jesus proves that what he says is actually true.
So is it then possible to know that your sins are forgiven? Well as a good Methodist I believe in the gift of assurance and so do believe that you can know that your sins are forgiven. I believe I have felt this myself.
I guess the bottom line is that Jesus can forgive sins – what a guy!
Jesus, Thoughts
And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
(Mark 1:34-35 ESV)
If you had the power to heal any illness and you were a very caring person wouldn’t you want to heal as many people as you could?
Jesus had the same problem. He had the power to heal anyone but he also had a mission which didn’t involve healing everyone. Jesus had such compassion for people that in this part of Marks Gospel its easy to see that Jesus was tempted to give his life up to healing and forget about his preaching ministry.
He goes away to pray about it all and finds a new strength to carry on with what his Father God wanted him to do.
Some times its important to get away from things and get your mind and heart back on track with what God wants you to be doing in life.
Jesus, Thoughts
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
(Mark 1:14-15 ESV)
I’ve heard many people try to claim all sorts of stuff about Jesus, people are always trying to make out that Jesus is just like them. Perhaps John the baptist could make that claim because when John is arrested Jesus just carries on with the same old stuff that John already said.
Today this message is still important but it has become a very unpopular message. We live in a time where people want to claim that no one ever makes a mistake or is wrong – after all to tell someone they are wrong is putting them down. Claiming that you know a truth that others don’t is also frowned upon – unless you are an atheist scientist of course.
Jesus says in this simple message that we are all doing something wrong – deep down we know this is true despite what others say – deep down we all know that there are things about our life that are not in accord with the way God wants us to live.
But Jesus doesn’t say this to make us feel bad – far from it – instead he wants to expose what is wrong so we can know God’s forgiveness. Repent and believe the Gospel is all about turning your back on the old wrong ways and choosing God’s loving forgiveness.
Jesus, Thoughts
I was at an event the other day where I met a man with an interesting story. He told me how Jesus had saved his life. I won’t mention any names here or even where I met the man because I wouldn’t want to embarrass him if he reads this.
But here was a young man who was living the kind of life that many young men live. However, things went wrong and he allowed alcohol to take over and run things. His life was a mess and getting worse.
It was then that he decided to go to church and there he encountered Jesus. He has now put his life on track. He has a part time job and has an active role in the church he goes to. He openly acknowledges that it has been Jesus working through the lives of Christians that has literally ‘saved his life’.
Jesus christians, church, Jesus, saved
In a letter on the KansasCity.com web site Billy Graham, the international, and well respected, evangelist explains why he believes Jesus is unique.
You can read what he said here …
This is always something that is hard to get across to people without sounding like we are being arrogant and closed minded, but Christians are left little room to think anything but that Jesus is unique.
Claiming that Jesus is unique should never be a reason to put down other people’s ideas. This isn’t a rallying call it is a simple statement of something that we Christians believe. I think this uniqueness of Christ is a challenge to us all. If Christians are right in saying that Jesus is unique then we have to take what Jesus says very seriously indeed. Jesus isn’t just another good teacher who you can take on board alongside everyone else but instead is someone with a unique message about himself that challenges us to think differently.
Jesus jesus christ
Sorry but I’ve been a way for a while and am just getting back to the work.
Easter is a great time for a break from the normal things of life and a chance to get your head right. It seems that finding time to think about life and what it is all about is getting harder and harder in the modern fast paced world. But I think there are some things that are worth spending time over.
If the events of holy week and Easter are true – and I am convinced they are – then life can never be the same again. Ignoring God and Jesus isn’t really an option when you have grasped the enormous impact of Jesus dieing for you and then raising to life again. This isn’t something that happens every day (or even ever, save this one time). How can life be so focussed on trivial things when something so amazing has happened.
Jesus died and rose again – surely this should change your life forever.
Jesus Easter, Holy Week
Once again a large earthquake has killed many people. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those who have lost their lives.
Words always seem inadequate during these times but sometimes words are all we can use to express what we feel.
I know that it can feel odd to talk about a loving God when such terrible things happen. This is not the time to try to rationalise anything and get all philosophical. Such times don’t call for philosophy but for symbols of love.
For me, it is the vision of a suffering and dying Jesus that offers the most comfort when things seem too dark to understand. The willingness of God to suffer in such a terrible way somehow helps me to understand that although there is suffering God still loves me.
Of course, the cross is then followed by resurrection. It is a mistake to think that the suffering of Christ is the failure and the resurrection of Christ the overturning of that terrible mistake, because God achieves his victory both through the suffering and the resurrection. However, the resurrection helps us to see that the suffering has purpose and that in the end there is hope.
My prayers are with the people of Chile.
Jesus suffering, the cross
There is an article on Fox News about an interview in Parade magazine with Elton John. I must commend his efforts of now using his money and talent in a positive way but couldn’t help feel sad when he described his many past relationships.
You can read the article here …
In the interview Elton explains what he believes about Jesus:
“I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems,” John told the Sunday supplement. “On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don’t know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East — you’re as good as dead.”
I think in some respects he is correct. Jesus was very forgiving and it is shameful that people are so cruel. Being gay should not be a reason to execute someone. But I think he is wrong about Jesus being gay. We really have no evidence to support this position other than reading between the lines and assuming that because he was single and had some close male friends he must have been gay. During my time at College I had many close male friends and was single but that didn’t mean I was gay.
The reason I mention this story is because I think it is a great illustration of how people create a “Jesus” that is very much like themselves. In the past the quest for the historical Jesus has simply resulted in many different images of Jesus that turn out to be super versions of the historian who does the exploration. This doesn’t mean it’s not possible to discover the real historical Jesus but just that we have to be very careful to let the evidence speak rather than simply making the evidence fit our own preferred image of Jesus Christ.
Elton’s image of Jesus is distorted to end up looking like a super Elton John. It is very important to discover the true nature of Jesus and just making Jesus fit our own image will not do at all.
Jesus
Lent is a time for giving stuff up and in the UK people like to give up lots of stuff. Some people give up chocolate – to lose weight; some people give up smoking – for their health; other people give up drinking – for their livers sake; etc. What strikes me, though, is that I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyway say that they are going to be trying to get closer to Jesus during Lent.
I’ve heard plenty of Christians who are giving stuff up and plenty that will go to special house groups for Lent but I’m sure I’ve never heard anyone say that they are going to be getting closer to Jesus in Lent. Of course this is just what some of the groups are supposed to be doing but I don’t hear anyone ever say it.
I’m sure this is just because I’m not mixing with the right people but it saddens me every year that so many people seem to think that Lent is a time to give stuff up purely for their own health. This isn’t what Lent is about at all.
Christians have been encouraged to fast in Lent as a way to prepare themselves for Easter. The whole idea being that you get yourself right with Jesus during Lent so that when Easter comes you are in a good place to celebrate it.
So I’m challenging every Christian to not give up Jesus for Lent. Don’t give up anything other than those things that get in the way of your relationship with Christ.
Jesus lent
This one comes in 2 parts (no I’m not cheating). Part 1 is the parable and part 2 is Jesus’ explanation. You can find the real parable in Mark’s gospel Chapter 4 verses 1- 20
The parable
Farmer sows seeds on different soils: hard = birds eat seed, rocky = plants wither, thorny = plants choked, good = fantastic results
The explanation
Soils = Jesus’ message: Hard = message snatched away, rocky = short lived response, thorny = other concerns choke interest, good = success!
Jesus
