Jesus said, "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." He said to the paralytic, "I tell you, get up, take up your mat and go home." He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" Mark 2:10-12
I am using my imagination a little when I looked at verses like this and try and think about what it was like to see Jesus heal a man who was a paralytic like this. I imagine Jesus got tired, thirsty, weakened by the relentless pursuit of the Pharisees and judgment of others on his ministry. There was the constant demand of those sick and those who thought they were well.
I imagine Jesus, looking at the crowd. The Pharisees, the one who should believe him that don't. The hostile glare of their self-righteousness. The bite of their jealous feelings about his success and the attention he got from the crowd that they had never gotten. The crowd, the plan faces of men and women who live around poverty and have no savings. They took the time out to come see him, though the are neglecting fields and animals and jobs to do so. It costs them something to be there, but nobody seems to care. They stand and watch Jesus and are amazed, at his teaching and at his power.
It got to the point at times when the crowd grew that Jesus could hardly find room to sit down. He would ask his disciples for a boat to be ready, so he would have a place to preach from. It also made a handy way to amplify his voice off the waters. These are the same people who followed John the Baptist and heard him preach. Some where baptized by him and now he is in prison. Their hope was in him and now it is in Jesus. But, not all of them are there for Jesus. Some came just to be entertained. It isn't everyday you see someone raise someone from the dead or blast away at the Pharisees. It was entertaining and fulfilling and maybe even you get a free meal out of it. Sounds a little like some churches today doesn't it?
Jesus said from time to time that he knew his own sheep. The fame or glory that he received from the large groups did not go to Jesus' head for one minute. John 2:24 says "But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, but he knew what was in a man." He also knew that despite the crowds, most did not understand his true purposes, nor did his disciples at the time. That is why he often repeated himself that he would suffer, be rejected and die and then be raised up. But, it seems even this was hidden from the disciples until he was raised up. The miracle is that Jesus knew and yet came anyway. He knew that though there would be crowds, only a remnant would remain true. But, he knows his own. He knows those who truly love him and want to follow him. John 10:14-15 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-and I lay down my life for the sheep."
"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God-" John 1:10-12
