This week as I was looking at this text, something grabbed my attention. The paralyzed man’s friends had to go to all this trouble to get near Jesus, even to the point of breaking open the roof, because of the crowd.
I'd like us to turn our attention to one of the minor characters in the passion story. He remains speechless, and appears in only one verse. Yet this character is the one closest to Jesus as Jesus walks the road to the place of crucifixion.
Jesus’ came with the message that says not only is this life temporary, but that change is unavoidable, and more than that — change in this life is GOOD and NECESSARY and should be sought out as if we’re looking for buried treasure!
Sermon Mark 2:1-12 Always Yes By Dr. Randy L. Hyde “The honeymoon is over.” You’ve heard that expression before, haven’t you? I’m sure it applies to other areas of life, not to mention marriage, of course, but it’s a common term in my profession, let me tell you. Every pastor dreads when that fated [...]
Easter begins with fear. Easter is terror before it is amazement. The women who came to the tomb were coming to anoint Jesus’ dead body. They were in mourning. Yet they were also thinking in practical terms: “Who will roll away the stone?”
A group of four friends approached the building where the people were jammed in the door. The men were a little late in getting there because it took awhile to get their friend, the fifth man in the group, ready to go find this Jesus. Their friend, you see, was a paralytic.
CURT TILLERAAS was ordained an Old Catholic Priest and is now serving as a Lutheran pastor at North Immanuel Lutheran Church, a rural church outside of Pelican Rapids, Minnesota.
If you’ve ever experienced grief you will know that heavy feeling, a feeling of disbelief (this cannot be happening to me!) and you will know that what you do is wake up the next day, like they did, take one foot and put it in front of the other, keep doing what you have to do. Period.
Who in our story has the authority to forgive sins and take paralysis away? Who has the authority to re-shape, re-form, re-configure reality? The good news is that God acted in Jesus Christ not only to forgive our sins but also to relieve us of the paralysis that keeps us frozen in our sin.
Why Galilee? Of all the places Jesus could have gone... why Galilee? You’d think Jesus would have wanted to head straight back to Jerusalem and show those folk over there a thing or three. Just rub it in their noses.