The paralytic had been lowered into Jesus’ presence, and all eyes were on Jesus. Would He choose to heal an obvious sinner? Would He speak a word to rebuke the illness?

How does Jesus go about healing the paralytic? What is the first thing Jesus does for him? Read Mark 2:5-12.

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Because we are often unaware of a disease until we notice the symptoms, we often think of the disease as merely the symptoms. We think that getting rid of the symptoms means healing. Jesus approaches disease differently. He knows the root of all suffering and disease and wants to treat this first.

In the case of the paralytic, instead of immediately treating the obvious effects of his disease, Jesus goes straight to the root of what is bothering the man the most. The paralytic feels the weight of his guilt and separation from God more severely than he feels his disease. A person resting in God is able to endure whatever physical suffering may befall him in this sin-sick world. And so, Jesus goes straight to the root and offers forgiveness first.

The religious leaders are shocked when they hear Jesus pronounce forgiveness. In answer to their unspoken accusations, Jesus poses a question.

Read  Mark 2.8-9. What challenge is Jesus giving to the scribes there? What issue is He really dealing with?

Talk is generally cheap, but not when God speaks. By God’s powerful word, all things came into being (Genesis 1). Although forgiveness is not something that we can see, it is costly. Forgiveness cost the life of the Son of God on the cross. Everything else is secondary. To demonstrate the power and reality of forgiveness, Jesus then chooses to heal the paralytic.

God wants to cure us on the inside first. And then sometimes He chooses to bring us immediate physical healing, as with the paralytic, or sometimes we will have to wait for resurrection morning to experience physical healing. Either way, our Savior wants us to be able to rest in the assurance of His love and grace and forgiveness even now, even amid our suffering.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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If ever there is a time that we need rest, it is when we are sick. We need the physical rest so that our bodies can rally our immune system.

And we often need mental rest, too. Sometimes it is just something non-life-threatening like a cold or a migraine. We lie there and try not to think about all that we should be doing but simply can’t.

Sometimes, when it is something potentially life-threatening, we lie awake and worry about what the medical test results will be. And then often we start to wonder why. Has that unhealthy lifestyle finally caught up with us? Was it the drugs we took 20 years ago? Was it the extra weight we have been carrying for the past few years? Is God punishing us for that secret sin that no one else knows about?

Read Mark 2:1-4. What was happening here?

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For the paralytic in this story, it was an obvious case. In The Desire of Ages (pages 267-271), we get the background. The paralytic had done some things that he was not very proud of. His sinful life caused this sickness, and the spiritual experts drew a straight line from cause to effect. He had brought this disease upon himself by his sins, and there was no cure.

This attitude can be very typical. We often seem to be obsessed with who did it. If some crime has been committed, someone must pay for it. If there is an accident somewhere, someone should be sued. But assigning blame does not bring healing or wholeness to the one who is sick.

God’s original design did not include pain, disease, and suffering. Sickness came to this planet only with the entrance of sin. That’s why God gives us health guidelines — so that we can enjoy a better quality of life now. But as long as we are in this sin-sick world, there will be no guarantees of health, no matter how diligently we follow healthful principles.

The good news is that God can give us rest whether we are sick or healthy; whether our sickness is a result of our own doing or someone else’s neglect, our genes, or just a byproduct of living in this sinful world. God knows how to give us rest.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Mark 2:1-12, 1 Kings 1:1-46, 1 Kings 19:1-8, Matthew 5:1-3, Isaiah 53:4-6, 2 Kings 2:11.

Memory Text: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).

Many of the people Jesus encountered in His earthly ministry were sick, sometimes even unto death. They thronged to Jesus for healing and for rest from their sufferings. And they always received it, too.

Sometimes He just spoke a word, and they were fully recovered. Sometimes He touched the sick, and miraculously, they were healed. Sometimes He sent them off, and healing took place as they went on their way. Jesus healed men, women, children, Jews, non-Jews, rich people, and poor, unassuming people. The worst cases of leprosy and blindness were not beyond His reach. Indeed, He even healed those with the worst “sickness” of all — death.

This week, we look at two very different examples of healing. In the one, the sufferer was so ill that he could not even come to Jesus on his own. His symptoms were clearly visible to everyone. In the other case, there were no obvious visible symptoms. In both cases, healing came in God’s time and way.

As we explore the topic of rest from pain and suffering, we will also contemplate the question that all of us, at some point or another in our Christian walk, have experienced. And what happens when our prayers for healing aren’t answered?

How do we find rest then?

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 21.

Sunday–>

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Prepare to Meet Thy God

By Jessica Cebuhar Atwell

My 6-year-old son, Asher, approached me at home in Bangkok, Thailand.

Image © Pacific Press

“Mom, I want to hand out flyers to people,” he said.

After some questioning, I figured out that he wanted to distribute a small Thai-language tract called “A Love Letter From Jesus.” My heart skipped a joyful beat as I realized that my little boy wanted to share his love for Jesus.

Image @ Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

But Friday didn’t seem like a good day. The Covid-19 pandemic was keeping people indoors. In addition, I was preparing for the Sabbath.

During my devotions on Sabbath morning, I remembered Asher’s request and felt impressed to take him out with the tracts. But I didn’t.

That afternoon and evening, I watched Sabbath sermons with a friend. One preacher ended his sermon with an appeal from Ellen White: “As a people who believe in Christ’s soon coming, we have a message to bear, ‘Prepare to meet thy God’ (Amos 4:12).” The passage came from Gospel Workers, page 52. “That’s exactly what I want to tell Thai people!” I thought.

On Sunday morning, I opened the EGW Writings app to read that day’s scheduled devotional message. Guess what I read? A passage that included Amos 4:12: “Prepare to meet thy God.” I was cut to the heart.

At breakfast, Asher gazed at me longingly. I promised that he would hand out flyers no matter what. After he memorized Amos 4:12 in Thai, we left.

My husband, Brian, and I had to make a delivery of fresh bread from a bakery at an urban center of influence that we helped establish after arriving from the U.S. state of Washington in 2014. Usually Asher rides around on his bicycle during deliveries, but he announced that he would be too busy. “I’ll walk and hand all these out,” Asher said, referring to the tracts.

We began the 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) walk to the neighbor who had ordered the bread. Asher chased down everyone he saw. “Prepare to meet thy God!” he exclaimed in Thai, extending tracts to passersby. Despite Covid-19 worries, no one could refuse the earnest boy.

He was ecstatic when we returned home two hours later. He had distributed 100 tracts. “I want to do this every day!” he declared, smiling.

God truly wants the great city of Bangkok — and the people of the other big cities of the world — to be ready. “As a people who believe in Christ’s soon coming, we have a message to bear, ‘Prepare to meet thy God.’”

This story illustrates a key component of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s “I Will Go” strategic plan: “Increased number of church members participating in both personal and public evangelistic outreach initiatives with a goal of Total Member Involvement”(KPI 1.1). Learn more about the strategic plan at IWillGo2020.org.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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Further Thought:

“As Joseph was sold to the heathen by his own brothers, so Christ was sold to His bitterest enemies by one of His disciples. Joseph was falsely accused and thrust into prison because of his virtue; so Christ was despised and rejected because His righteous, self-denying life was a rebuke to sin; and though guilty of no wrong, He was condemned upon the testimony of false witnesses.

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And Joseph’s patience and meekness under injustice and oppression, his ready forgiveness and noble benevolence toward his unnatural brothers, represent the Saviour’s uncomplaining endurance of the malice and abuse of wicked men, and His forgiveness, not only of His murderers, but of all who have come to Him confessing their sins and seeking pardon.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pages 239, 240.

“Nothing can justify an unforgiving spirit. He who is unmerciful toward others shows that he himself is not a partaker of God’s pardoning grace. In God’s forgiveness the heart of the erring one is drawn close to the great heart of Infinite Love. The tide of divine compassion flows into the sinner’s soul, and from him to the souls of others. The tenderness and mercy that Christ has revealed in His own precious life will be seen in those who become sharers of His grace.” — Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 251.

Discussion Questions:

<–Thursday

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