Today's Readings: New Testament -
Mark 2:1-12
2 Peter 2:17-22
Old Testament -
Job 5
Ezekiel 16
Click on Text Links to Read Online
Focus Verses: Mark 2:2-4
2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 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.
Insight:
The gospels describe a wide variety of encounters people had with Jesus. It wasn’t always easy to get to Jesus. People shouted, climbed trees, pushed, and strained just to get a glimpse of him. Time after time we see people in the gospel stories overcoming social, physical, political, ethnic, and religious barriers in their struggle to get close to Jesus. So motivated were they by the hope and possibility Jesus offered, they refused to give up.
Response and Action:
I am struck by the persistence of the paralytic and his friends. Though they were hindered, they were undeterred in their efforts to get close to Jesus. The four men were willing to do whatever it took to get their friend next to Jesus.
That's the way I want to pursue Jesus. That's the way I want to help my friends get next to Jesus. Because I believe Jesus offers hope, healing, purpose, and understanding for life, I will be tenacious and unwavering in my efforts to get myself and my friends as close to him as possible.
O God, thank you for all you have given through Jesus. My hope and faith and purpose are in him. Help me to get closer to him every day in any way I can. Help me to press on in order to take hold of that for which he has taken hold of me. Help me to know him through the pages of Scripture, through the witness of the church, and through the indwelling of his Spirit. Amen.
Spiritual Formation Verses: Philippians 3:12-14
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Resources:
Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship
by N. T. Wright
