We Never Saw Anything Like This

I was reading from Mark 2 the other day and couldn't help but be mesmerized by the story of the paralytic healed by Jesus in verses 1 through 12. His friends carry him to Jesus, and when there seems to be no way to reach Him, they take him to the roof, tear the roof apart, and then lower him down to Jesus.

I was struck by the similarity that this story shared with my own life. Jesus came to give us abundant life (cf. John 10:10) and yet there I remained, as motionless as the paralytic. It took a move of God to bring me to himself and his breathe, the Holy Spirit mobilized what was unmoving and lifeless. Once removed from the bondage of paralyzation, I and the paralytic became responsible for Christ's commission to us, to go.

This transformation didn't happen in a corner, Jesus is much more a fan of the biggest stages (cf. Acts 26:26). The paralytic immediately leaps up, hears the words of God, and responds. Naturally, the crowd responds to the miracle of full, uninhibited life with amazement saying "We never saw anything like this!"

My question to us, and to myself is this: how does the world respond to my new life? Does the transformative work of Jesus cause a reaction in the world around me? If I jumped up and went just as Christ had commanded there is absolutely no way that those actions could have gone by unnoticed. Miracles (like our salvation) must create a ripple effect of people who are amazed by what they have seen.

People become status-quo Christians by forgetting the changing power of Christ and choosing to rely on what the culture and the church define as appropriate and normal rather than embracing the Word for themselves. What do people say about your life? Are they amazed, or do you blend in with the rest of the woods? I pray that we would all be challenged to radically move in obedience towards Christ in ways that this world will simply respond saying "We never saw anything like this!"

-matt