Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Mark 2:3-7 (NIV)
As Easter approaches, and in Melbourne (where I live) with many converging for the global atheist convention and the Christian-run response to the atheist convention, the Reason for Faith Festival, I'd like to think that there are people around the world thinking about whether God exists or not as well as why Jesus' life, death and resurrection are so important that millions celebrate Easter every year.
The question of who Jesus is and was has been asked for thousands of years, not least of all by the Pharisees and teachers of the law, the pinnacle of "religious learning" amongst the Jewish people. When they heard Jesus graciously forgiving the paralysed man of his sins, they are shocked and indignat that anyone would presume to have the power to forgive sin, something which only God could do. They think to themselves, "Who does this Jesus think he is?!?!" And I'm
afraid that this is an attitude which many have held, and still hold,
since the time of Jesus' ministry.
As believers, our response to Jesus is, and should be, very different. We should take joy in and be thankful for the fact that God offers us forgiveness of our sins through Christ's work on the cross. We should have faith in Jesus, like the friends of the paralytic did, and acknowledge him as our saviour. We should seek to be witnesses of the gospel in every aspect of our lives and we can also pray for others, that they may come to know Jesus as the lamb of God and the king of kings. This is by no means an exhaustive list of how Christians should respond to Jesus, but I pray that it may encourage you in your walk with our saviour.
Deb - Two Cheeky Monkeys and Domum Vindemia
Comments (7)
HE LIVES...indeed....thanks for sharing Deb...♥
Monika
Wonderful article, thank you so much for sharing. ^_^
Thank you for including me in this great feature! Thank God for being washed in the blood of the lamb, HE LIVES indeed!
Thank you for including my Ichthys, Christian Fish, in your blog today. While reading your post, a thought came to me...people who are of no faith, indifferent to all faith, why do they acknowledge Easter? What do they see it as? Is it just another day to buy pastel colored candy, boil and color eggs or think of bunnies and chicks? For many... is it just the gateway to Spring? The first time they feel comfortable wearing white shoes and pastel colors in public? Do they even wonder or speculate who Jesus is and why their Christian friends celebrate what non Christians consider a death? Yes, Christ died for our sins, but He lives again. (PRAISE GOD) I wonder just what do they know and understand about Easter? What is Easter to non Christians?
Thank you Deb.
Easter is a day for us to be reminded that He is Risen.
♥♥♥
Sue
Whenever I think about the things Jesus did on this earth I'm amazed. Not only by Him, but how he did it so simply and how others rejected Him and he was right there!!! And then I think how amazing it is that He still heals and helps us everyday even though we are sinners. Wonderful post and lovely Etsy finds!
We definitely have to be intentional in representing Christ in our every day life!