Real Church Part 4 “Real Healing” THRIVE Service Livestream

It’s an optical illusion. Embedded in the picture is a hidden word. The question is, “Can you see it?”

Some people can locate the word quickly; others struggle to see through the lines and shapes and miss it entirely. Some images are not obvious. Some messages are hidden.

In Jesus day, religion proclaimed that human suffering was the consequence of human failure. The widely held belief that someone who was blind, deaf, paralyzed, or diseased, had obviously done something wrong to anger God. To be sick or invalid was to have broken the rules.

Which leads to a confusing scene from Mark’s story.

Jesus is in a crowded house teaching to those who could find a spot to sit or stand. Others lined up outside the house hoping to hear what he had to say. The crowds, by this time, had grown larger and larger. Some people came to hear him teach. Others came with the hope of being healed.

Jesus is the great healer. There are ample stories in the Bible of Jesus healing an individual, 23 of them in fact. They range from curing leprosy, restoring sight, healing the lame, and raising the dead. But if we are not careful, we relegate Jesus to a healer of only physical diseases and maladies. He did more than that. Jesus healed their shame, their loss of identity, their need for forgiveness, their isolation from the community. Real healing is what all of us need. Real healing is what Jesus offers.

Four friends dig a hole in the roof to lower their paralytic friend to the feet of Jesus. They’re hoping Jesus will heal the man who was paralyzed.

But instead, Jesus says, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

They expected healing, but they got forgiveness.

And forgiveness is what he needed more than anything if he was ever to be well again.

Some things are not always obvious.

Some messages are not easy to see.

Some healings are deeper than others.

Real healing is what all of us need. Real healing is what Jesus offers.

Oh yeah, the hidden word in the optical illusion?

It’s the word “SEE.”

According to the story Mark tells, the way to see Jesus is to dig deeper and look past the surface. It’s the only way to discover real truth and the only way to find real healing.