Discipleship in unexpected places (notes from Pastor Phil Steiger of Living Hope Church in CO)
Read Mark 1:40-45
The untouched and untouchable comes and speaks with Jesus: “If you will…”: Lev 13:45-46
• What does Jesus do with the untouchable?
• Jesus commands silence, the leper speaks; Mark 7:35-36
• The result: Jesus has traded places with the leper: Is 53:4-6; Romans 3:23-26; Gal 1:4-5; Heb 9:13-14
(In a very salient, powerful way, Jesus shows in this instance, by touching this "unclean" leper, that He became unclean in order to make us clean and bring us healing. His restoration is always holistic, touching us in every part of our being--this physical healing also brought social restoration, for ex.)
We then read and discussed Mark 2:1-12
We shared what aspects of this wonderful, beautiful and heartening story struck us most: the love, determination, and tangible support of this man's friends; the reality of all those jostling people in the house and the roof being slowly torn open to create a way to Jesus for the paralyzed man...
We noted how Jesus surprised everyone by going to what He saw (and sees) as the core human need: forgiveness, reconciliation with God.
So much effort and fuss to get this man into a place where he could receive physical healing--but Jesus speaks to his need for spiritual healing, first and foremost. Wow...do we understand that as our deepest, truest need?
We also noted the recognition by the religious leaders that Jesus was speaking as (if he were) God, as only God can forgive sin. Jesus was not coming as Prophet, only; He was coming as the incarnation of God--a forgiving God, a God who interacts with the creation and wants to bring wholeness.
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