Good Friday Reflection

¹A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ²So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. ⁴Since 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. ⁵When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷“Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

⁸Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? ⁹Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . .” He said to the paralytic, ¹¹“I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”

Mark 2:1-11

They recited this verse at our Good Friday Service yesterday. What really struck me was how much I could relate the the paralytic. While I may not carry any physical paralysis, sometimes I do get caught up in thinking about my past life full of selfishness, almost to the point where I'm just flat out ashamed of myself and it just mentally paralyzes me.

This is where Verse 11 really stood out for me. When Jesus commands the paralytic "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." it was almost as if he was talking directly to me. It said to me "You're no longer anchored down by your past. You've been given a new life and another chance. Go." It's such an indescribable feeling to have your burdens lifted off your shoulders and that the past can be buried. That feeling is also rediscovered when you are able to put in words what your heart has been searching to say for a long time. That everything, my hopes, ambitions and dreams I put into Jesus. Thank you Jesus.