Daily Readings August 5,2010
Page 1 of 1
Daily Readings August 5,2010
Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith,Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” -Matthew 9:1–2
Christianity’s most distinctive message is the truth that God can forgive sin. The essence of the gospel is that Christ’s atoning death can free people from the penalty of sin. If Jesus can heal diseases and disabilities, He can surely provide cleansing for the consequences of sin. The men who brought the paralytic to the Lord undoubtedly believed this very strongly.
Those with crippling disabilities have always had to endure social stigma and neglect. But in the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day and much earlier, the stigma was especially pronounced because everyone believed chronic ailments stemmed directly from someone’s sin. Bildad told Job, “If your sons sinned against Him, then He delivered them into the power of their transgression” (Job 8:4; cf. 4:7; John 9:1–2).
The paralytic here likely had the same understanding concerning sin and disease, thus he was determined at any cost to see Jesus for forgiveness and a resultant physical healing. Christ saw the determination of his faith as his friends worked through the crowd to get the paralytic in front of Him. That aggressive approach revealed their hearts of faith. In all his physical ugliness and spiritual neediness, the man threw himself upon Jesus’ mercy.
The paralyzed man came to the Lord in true humility and poverty of spirit, which God requires of all seeking hearts (Matt. 5:3). Jesus sometimes healed people of little faith, but He was especially willing to heal those of great faith, as with the men and his friends.
Ask Yourself
Why does God choose to work through our faith? Why would He want to include our cooperation as part of His healing activity? What might He be requiring of you as He deals with a certain need in your life?
From Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, Vol. 1, John MacArthur. Copyright © 2008. Used by permission of Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 60610, www.moodypublishers.com.
Christianity’s most distinctive message is the truth that God can forgive sin. The essence of the gospel is that Christ’s atoning death can free people from the penalty of sin. If Jesus can heal diseases and disabilities, He can surely provide cleansing for the consequences of sin. The men who brought the paralytic to the Lord undoubtedly believed this very strongly.
Those with crippling disabilities have always had to endure social stigma and neglect. But in the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day and much earlier, the stigma was especially pronounced because everyone believed chronic ailments stemmed directly from someone’s sin. Bildad told Job, “If your sons sinned against Him, then He delivered them into the power of their transgression” (Job 8:4; cf. 4:7; John 9:1–2).
The paralytic here likely had the same understanding concerning sin and disease, thus he was determined at any cost to see Jesus for forgiveness and a resultant physical healing. Christ saw the determination of his faith as his friends worked through the crowd to get the paralytic in front of Him. That aggressive approach revealed their hearts of faith. In all his physical ugliness and spiritual neediness, the man threw himself upon Jesus’ mercy.
The paralyzed man came to the Lord in true humility and poverty of spirit, which God requires of all seeking hearts (Matt. 5:3). Jesus sometimes healed people of little faith, but He was especially willing to heal those of great faith, as with the men and his friends.
Ask Yourself
Why does God choose to work through our faith? Why would He want to include our cooperation as part of His healing activity? What might He be requiring of you as He deals with a certain need in your life?
From Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, Vol. 1, John MacArthur. Copyright © 2008. Used by permission of Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 60610, www.moodypublishers.com.
rmsalazar- Level 1
- Posts : 129
Reputation : 2
Join date : 2010-07-06
Age : 32
Similar topics
» Daily Readings from the Life of Christ August 4,2010
» Drawing Near August 5, 2010
» Strength for Today August 5, 2010
» Strength for Today August 4, 2010
» ACM LEVEL UP 2010!
» Drawing Near August 5, 2010
» Strength for Today August 5, 2010
» Strength for Today August 4, 2010
» ACM LEVEL UP 2010!
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
|
|
Thu Jul 18, 2013 8:11 pm by shevsoe
» SPICE (Cobol IDE)
Mon May 06, 2013 5:36 pm by 200730059
» YMCA and Global Services
Thu Sep 01, 2011 2:35 pm by Rene Churchill
» useDelimeter
Thu Jun 23, 2011 11:02 am by ern_andrew
» The City of Cochin
Thu Jun 16, 2011 7:31 pm by GhosnBachelder
» LIFE and LOVE GURU
Sat Oct 09, 2010 1:42 am by kggc09
» Interested to be an Adhoc?
Fri Oct 08, 2010 2:47 pm by rmsalazar
» Meeting! Officers + Members (Open Meeting)
Fri Oct 08, 2010 2:45 pm by rmsalazar
» Indescribable - Louis Giglio
Thu Oct 07, 2010 12:03 am by rmsalazar