Lent Gospel is a campaign for people to read through the whole of Mark’s Gospel during Lent, in 40 short readings. Helpful notes on each day's reading are available from www.usefulbible.com/lent-gospel; and you can download the whole series in PDF or Kindle format (it's free - just right-click on the links then select ‘save as...’ to download). Of course, it doesn’t have to be for Lent... why not begin now?
Last part: Mercy – Day 3 – Mark 1:29-45
· Read: Mark 2:1-17
One of the most important qualities for a doctor is empathy – the ability to identify with someone else’s feelings.
For example, if a paralysed man was brought to you, would you know if his deepest need was God’s forgiveness? If you saw a crowd of well-known ‘sinners’, would you be able to tell whether they were really seeking God or not?
Clearly, the ‘teachers of the law’ (really, experts in religion) did not. When Jesus acted in empathy, they thought that they heard blasphemy. When they heard his words of forgiveness, they thought that only God could speak such words. Ironically, they were right – these were God’s words.
The teachers had no empathy with the crowd of tax-collectors either. The teachers considered the tax-collectors greedy, money-making, and unscrupulous. And perhaps they were right. But as Jesus told them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.’
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Next part: Liberty – Day 5 – Mark 2:18-28 |
© 2012, Keith Simons.