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Mark 2:6-7
In Mark 2:6-7 we have the reaction of some of the scribes that were present when Jesus said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you” (Mark 2:5). The Bible teaches us that they were “reasoning in their hearts” (Mark 2:6, NKJV), and is a reflection of our hearts being the center of our being where our innermost thoughts and desires are derived from. This is why God says in Jeremiah 24:7, “Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.” And in Jeremiah 29:11-14a God declares, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD.”
This is an example of our hearts being the center and soul of our being, controlling our deepest thoughts and feelings.
I would reason to believe that if we were present that day in witness to Jesus saying to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you” (Mark 2:5), we most likely would have reacted in the same fashion as did these scribes, questioning the power and authority of Jesus to forgive sins. We are quick to condemn others as it is an attempt to make ourselves look better in our own view of our sinful selves; it is the work of the sinful nature that is at work in us all. These scribes would most assuredly have known of the promise of the coming Messiah (Daniel 9:25), and we have proof that this was a well-known expectation as Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother exclaims in John 1:41, “We have found the Messiah”. The difference between these two attitudes of the scribes, being doubtful, and the first called disciples of Jesus was the condition of their hearts – one not being open to receiving the promise, and the other being joyful to be a part of it in receiving Jesus in their lives – the Savior of the world! (John 3:16-17).
Dear LORD,
We have a choice to make in our own lives today; to be open and accepting of our Savior Jesus – the Savior of the world to enter our hearts and cleanse us from sin and make us a new creation as the Apostle Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Please let it be so LORD in all our lives – in Christ! In Jesus name I pray, amen.