Bondservant of Christ

07/23/2023

“When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. And Jesus seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”’
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Mark‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭12‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬
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In this story, Jesus reveals His Deity – God incarnate – and His purpose in coming. Nestled in this story is a beautiful revelation of the privilege we have to approach God to ask for spiritual and physical healing.

First, we see Jesus inside a house teaching and a great multitude of people gathered around listening to Him. Note that wherever Jesus goes, He is preaching and teaching. He has only a short time to proclaim His message to the people, and He doesn’t waste time on the trivial things in this world. He is the perfect example for us to follow. People responded by listening to Him and that’s why we see always great multitude gathering around Him.

Next, we are told that four men bring a paralytic man to be healed by the Master. At first, they can’t reach Jesus because of the crowd and the people around Him. This is our experience as Christians when we try to lead a person to Christ. People will try to prevent that person to come to Christ. We can see this happening to us when we try to win people to Christ and the opposition we experience from friends and relatives.

The four men are not deterred, however. They go to the roof and remove whatever obstacle they can to bring the paralytic directly to Jesus. They know what is really preventing this man to come to Christ is not men on the ground, but barriers from all around – as Paul in Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the powers against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places”.

The author of this book was very careful in mentioning four people in specific that carried the sick man, if it is less than four there will be imbalance and the mission will fail. There are four elements that make our mission effective reaching and bringing people to Christ. First, sharing the gospel with unbeliever. Paul in Romans 10:14 “How will they believe in Him whom they not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” Second, our conduct as Christians must reflect our message. The world can easily discern whether we practice what we preach. Thirdly, prayer – praying for people to get saved, asking God for His blessing, and remembering that all provision comes from the Lord. And finally, the fourth element and the cornerstone of our outreach, the work of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we think our arguments and our knowledge will convince and bring people to Christ. Never! It is only the work of the Holy Spirit alone. Paul reminds us this in 1 Thessalonians 1:5 – “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and full conviction.” It is the work of the Holy Spirit that convicts and opens the eyes of the unbeliever.

In the next phase of the story, we see the sick man in front of Jesus face to face. It is as if everything has now vanished and the paralytic is alone with the Savior. At this moment Christ reveals two of the most important facts in Christianity. Firstly, His Deity that He is God the incarnate, for only God can forgive sins. The second, Christ alone is the vehicle for the forgiveness of sin. Nothing and no one else is needed.

Also note that Jesus dealt first with his spiritual healing before the physical healing. The scribes start complaining about Christ’s forgiveness, but Jesus; answer was a true revelation of His sacrificial work on the cross, saying, “Which is easier, to say your sins are forgiven, or to say pick up your pallet and walk?” Yes, it would be much easier for God through Jesus Christ to heal, because He is the Creator. But it is much harder to say your sins are forgiven, because that requires the Son to become a man, die on the cross and be separated from the Father in order for the sins of the human race to be forgiven.

The last phase of the story is the physical healing of the paralytic man. “Jesus said to the man “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home”. He got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God.” This the true conversion, not the circumstances and your old habits and behaviors to carry and control you and make paralyzed and keep you from not walking. Now as a new creation in Christ we are able to walk with our pallets in our hand. We are in control through the power that was given to us through Jesus. People saw this amazing change and they started glorifying God. So to through our testimony God will be Glorified!

To God be all the Glory for this Amazing Grace.

- Walid

01/08/2023

Proclaiming the Gospel

“Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.” Mark‬ ‭1:21-28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬‬‬

The sequence of events that Mark recorded in his Gospel is very interesting. First, His baptism, then the selection of His disciples, and finally, His public ministry. This sequence of events is also applicable to our Christian walk with the Lord. First, is resolving the issue of sin and being accepted by God. Second, to be part of the body of believers. Third, to go out and declare to the world the message of salvation.

Let’s look at the first part of this passage. It says that they entered the city together and went directly to the synagogue and immediately start teaching the crowd. Jesus didn’t postpone or hesitate, but He immediately start preaching. He didn’t wait for the people to come to be asked to preach to them, but rather He initiated the interaction. This shows the urgency to present the message of salvation to everyone. This is also a lesson to us as Christians followers of Jesus Christ to not wait, but rather to take advantage of every opportunity to spread the Gospel of salvation. We have to have the courage and wisdom to present the Gospel anytime and in any place as long as we are led by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The effectiveness of His message was manifested by the crowd’s reaction. In verse 22 it is said: “And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes”. Authority reflects knowledge and confidence with the teaching He is proclaiming. Knowledge of the message and confidence of its results. When a salesman does not know their product and doesn’t have confidence in it, then they can’t speak with authority about what they are selling. The same principle applies with us as Christians. When we lack the knowledge and the conviction in the life-changing power of our message, then our preaching will reflect the same weakness and lack authority. As a result it is important to grow in the knowledge of God. And so our faith will increase as we grow in our experiences and daily walk with the Lord.

The second reaction to Jesus message comes from a person with an unclean spirit in verses 23 to 26. This unclean spirit proclaims that Jesus is the Holy One of God, and that He comes in order to destroy them. We read this passage and we know that everything that this spirit says is correct. Why does Jesus then rebuke the spirit instead of agreeing with them? Our earthly logic would tell us that we should take every opportunity we can get to find support for our message. But let’s take a simple example - when we hear a worldly musician singing Christian song, our reaction is joy that even non-Christians are proclaiming the name of the Lord. But God’s reaction “I don’t accept or need a witness from the devil or his followers – I accept only a witness from my followers.” Jesus told the spirit to be quiet. These days, some churches invite famous worldly musicians to come and sing for Christmas programs thinking that God enjoys the beautiful voices, but on the contrary God will always say “Be quiet”. Let us apply this to all our daily walk, and remember that God cares not only about the message, but the messenger as well.

When we are genuine in our preaching and our walk with the Lord, then the reaction of the people around us will have the same reaction that Jesus have from crowds which is amazement. Are the people around us amazed about every aspect of our life? The Christian reputation will spread like fire the same way Jesus reputation spread: “And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.”

In Christ,
Walid

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12/31/2022

Thoughts for the New Year...

“As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.” - ‭‭Mark‬ ‭1:16-20‬

Here we see Jesus walking along the sea shore and the disciples in their ships on the other side. In this story, we see the mystery of (1) the providence of God in electing whom He chooses at the same time that we see (2) the free will of man of accepting God’s invitation to salvation. These two mysteries meet in an amazing and perplexing way that exceeds the comprehension of our limited human mind. Of all the people on the shore, Jesus decided to choose four individuals. There was nothing special about them except that, by the grace of God, they were chosen. The response from them, however, was a manifestation of complete free. They were not forced to follow Him. Instead, they were asked. When God opens the spiritual eyes of a man, it is by that man’s own free will that he follows Him. In this way, the providence of God and the free will of man are inexplicably intertwined. This is a mystery that will be explained to the saints in Heaven.

The other lesson we learn from the disciples’ encounter is that there is cost to be paid and a life to be endured. Following Jesus comes at a cost to Peter and Andrew; immediately, they lose their source of income. One moment they are fishermen, and the next moment they leave their nets to follow Him. In the case of James and John, they lose their father and their colleagues in order follow Him. They have to give up their relationships for the sake of following Christ. This is not new in the Bible and there are many examples depicting this. Abraham in Genesis 12:1-2 (“Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.”’) leaves everything for the sake of following God’s command. Ruth has to leave her family behind in order to be with God’s people. Moses in Hebrews 11:25-26 “[chooses] rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he [looks] to the reward.” He leaves all the riches and treasures of Egypt to wander in the wilderness in the hope of God’s promises. In the New Testament we see it in Zacchaeus story (Luke 18:8 – “Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”’) He is willing to lose his wealth for the sake of being with Jesus.

When we are unwilling to lose anything and everything for the sake of following Jesus, there is also a cost. We see it in the rich man who was unwilling to sell his wealth as in Mark 10:21-22 (“Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he [is] sad at this word, and [goes] away sorrowful, for he [has] great possessions.”) The cost of refusing Christ is disappointment, grief, and unfulfillment. ‭‭The Lord promises us that whatever we lose for His sake on this earth will be rewarded to us more abundantly in the life to come. And in this, we take great hope. ‬‬‬‬

In Christ,
Walid

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