St. Mark 2: 1-12

Dec. 3, 2021

And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.

2And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.

3And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.

4And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

5When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

6But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,

7Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?

8And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?

9Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?

10But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)

11I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

12And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

Every day life has always been difficult. With all our technological advancements, we still have all we can do to accomplish each day’s list of things to be done. It was no different in the days when Jesus walked the earth with us.

So many people were surrounding the house from which Jesus was teaching and healing that late arrivees, so to speak, had slim chance of catching His eye or waving Him over. They all had homes and jobs and things that needed to be done but they went, instead, to see, hear, and learn. They flocked to where He was.

When Jesus was born, all the angels in heaven gathered overhead and sang praises. Shepherds, ‘watching their flocks by night’, came to the stable to see Him whom the angels sang. It’s not stated in the Bible but we know something of shepherds; we know they not only steer the sheep to good grazing ground, but they also protect them from wild animals and thieves. They would not have left their flocks unprotected to see the Child the angels sang – they would have brought their flocks with them. Flocks. We are the ‘sheep of His pasture’. Perhaps we can think of the flocks as representative of those who will become believers.

This Baby is the Shepherd; He drew the shepherds and their flocks at His birth. In His manhood, he drew flocks of seekers and believers. Looking forward and looking back. They merge in Advent, this forward and back. Jesus is never one thing – He is always all good things together. All times. Everywhere.

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