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If you read through the Gospels carefully, you’ll discover that people respond to Jesus in a number of different ways. Some were attracted to His teaching. He showed tremendous care and compassion toward those who were beat down and despised and they eagerly listened to His teaching. Others were more ambivalent. They had likely heard a number of good teachers throughout their lives, yet didn’t have a strong desire to listen to or apply the principles from the teachings they heard.
But there was another group of people who responded to His teaching quite harshly. They believed that Jesus was breaking God’s laws and not upholding them. Following and obeying the law was most important to them.
Jesus, however, never did break God’s law. Instead, He practiced living out the principles of God’s law in the manner it was intended to be lived out. Not as a checklist, but as a path to overcome the consequences of sin and death. The result is extraordinary. Jesus healed people of their physical and spiritual pain. And their lives were never the same again.
READING & JOURNALING:
What sticks out to you from this passage?
What areas of your life do you consider to be healthy? Do you have any you consider to be sick (Mark 2:17)? What steps will you take today to be in good health emotionally and spiritually? Be specific.
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, it’s clear from the Gospels that Jesus was, and is, One who heals. The healing He provides may be physical, but the real healing is a spiritual one. Today, I simply ask that You help me to remember that I’ve received a tremendous spiritual healing and I can cling to it in every circumstance. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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