Just a thought on choices.

Romans 3:23 “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”

I want to take you back to the foot of the cross. I want you to imagine that you are the solider standing opposite the cross that Jesus is hanging on and you witness the following dialogue, a dialogue that has two different perspectives and two different outcomes by two people in exactly the same situation:-

Thief 1

“Who are you? You are the Christ aren't you? Ha, what nonsense, you are no different to us otherwise you wouldn't be here hanging on a cross like me. I tell you what, here's a challenge, get yourself off that cross, save yourself if you are who you say you are, Oh, and while you at it, saving yourself, save me as well.”

Thief 2

“Will you just be quiet. We're here for a reason. We did wrong and we are getting what we deserve. Don't you fear God? This man has done nothing wrong. Jesus will you remember me when you come into your own?”

Jesus

“Today you will be with me in paradise”

You then witness the cry from Jesus' lips “It is finished” and then total silence.

You whisper to yourself “This man really was the Son of God”

It is recorded that Jesus said in John 10:9-10 “I am the door and the person who enters through me will be saved and will be able to come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I come to give life, life in all its fullness.”

and in Matthew 10:38-39 Jesus says “whoever is not willing to carry the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who try to hold onto their lives will give up true life. Those who give up their lives for me will hold onto true life.”

There were two thieves and there are two choices. Are we going to be like the first criminal only wanting to be saved for our own benefit? All he wanted was to get down from the cross and continue doing the same things he had been put on a cross for. There was no repentance only regret that he had been caught.

Jesus never responded to this man.

Or are we going to be like the second criminal who saw Jesus for who he really was, not just a man on a cross, but the Son of God. This man realised that there was no hope and having made the public declaration of rebuking the other criminal he asks Jesus to remember him. He felt that it was too late to ask for forgiveness, after all he was going to die anyway.

Jesus responds to this man with the words “Today you will be with me in paradise”

That response still comes today to all those who recognise that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God and the one who gave His life for us all.

The first criminal went to his death full of anger and bitterness, hurling abuse, kicking and screaming all the way to hell. The other criminal went in peace knowing forgiveness all the way to heaven.

What will our choice be today.

Mark 2 Session 9

Well what happened next was truly amazing. There I was right in front of Jesus and in front of these religious men who seemed to be looking on with suspicion. Jesus first of all glanced up at my four friends who were peering down through the hole looking all expectant and gave them some kind of knowing look which said because of your faith I can act.

Looking at me he said "son, your sins are forgiven". Well how did he know that I was racked with guilt because of all the wrong and hurt I had done and caused. I mean I had never met him and too my knowledge neither had my four friends. This, to me was divine revelation. Jesus seemed to know that I needed forgiveness not just to be made well. It was in that moment that something came alive in me, as if something beyond my control was beginning to happen. Just then Jesus perceived the criticism of all those in the room with us and rebuked the people around us for questioning in their hearts that he was able to forgive sins, surely only God can do that and He's not here, is He?  Well what happened next was momentous, you could cut the air with a knife. Jesus just said "Is it easier to say your sins are forgiven or take up your bed and walk?, just so you know that the son of man has power on earth to forgive sins I say take up your bed and go home."

Immediately may legs and back came to life and up I got.

There was a stunned silence while the crowd watched me then there was clapping and great sounds of joy as I made my way through the crowds to the door. It was amazing, to be the reason for so much rejoicing, I can't begin to tell you how I felt. Here I was, one minute not able to walk and the next walking. But despite this great miracle Jesus original words still hung in my ears, "son your sins are forgiven you". I knew that even though Jesus had told me to take up my bed he had actually forgiven me. Something inside me had been touched, I now had a realisation that there was a spirit world and that a heavenly father wanted to have a relationship with me. After all Jesus had called me son. I don't know if any one else picked that up but I certainly did, I mean son, I had never met the man before yet here he was calling me son. That to me meant that there had to be a father and that I now had been bought in, or if you like adopted into a new family. Well the excitement was overwhelming. I needed to find out more. This was not the end this was the beginning and to top it all I could now walk. I had to go and tell someone of the great things that Jesus has done for me. I never returned to my old ways and neither did my friends we all became ambassadors for this new found faith that was transforming our lives.

Just to show how much we were changed we did something we had never done before, we went back and repaired the roof. It felt amazing to be giving rather than taking. All I can say is thank you Jesus.

Mark 2 Session 8

Days dragged into weeks and weeks into months until I did not really know what day of the week it was.

The days seem to drift from one to another and I really have no idea how long I had been lying on the floor of my parents house when suddenly my four 'friends' from days gone by came into the room. My mother was trying to prevent them she was saying "haven't you done enough damage already", "just leave us alone". I had never seen my friends so persistent before, but on this occasion they were persistent. They had bought a make shift stretcher that had been thrown together in rather a hurry, rolled me onto it and began to carry me down the street with my mother crying behind us and me shouting to them to put me down and take me home. I don't know if you have ever been in that situation where your not in control, awful isn't it?

Eventually I realised that there was a crowd, this took my mind off the fact that I was being carried against my will. As we drew closer I asked why the crowd and where were we going?  The answer was "Jesus is in the house". I had heard of this guy, well who hadn't he was big news, not really for what he said, although that was big news because he was claiming he was the Son of God. Well we had heard that God had got a son and that he would send him, I mean we had all heard about these crack pot prophets of old telling us this for centuries. In the end you just glaze over don't you? No, the real big news was that it had been rumoured that this Jesus guy could perform miracles. That was BIG NEWS. No wonder my friends were so persistent.

As we drew near it became apparent that we were not going to get anywhere near this Jesus. My friends were visibly disappointed at this, I suppose that they were convinced that if only we could see Jesus He would heal me. It was evident from their faces and their actions that they really believed that Jesus was the answer. I noticed a difference, I don't know what had happened but they were different, all four of them, they were intent on getting me to Jesus, quite determined, as if to say "what Jesus has done for us He can do for you". In hind sight I suppose you would call it faith, that is in fact exactly what Jesus did called call it, but I am running ahead of myself.

As we were desperately trying to get into the house by legal means, you know through the door, and as it was becoming blatantly obvious that this was a no go area, suddenly one of the four said excitedly "lets revert back to whet we know, up on the roof". Before I could protest one was off to get the tools while the other three started to find the best way through the crowd and onto the roof of the house where Jesus was.

Within minutes number four returned and without wasting any more time we were on the roof. I watched in disbelief as my friends began to dismantle the roof, without a sound. I had given up protesting by this time and just helplessly lay their waiting for the next move. As the hole got bigger and as it became apparent that there was a disturbance on the roof the crowd went quiet.

My friends swung me over the hole and down into the room right in front of this Jesus. I still only knew about him, I mean I had heard stories about him, to me he was just another man who, apparently can heal. I suppose that made him a bit special, but I had no personal experience of that as yet. I had been lying on my back unable to move as a result of my sin and I began to realise that it was not physical healing I needed but spiritual healing. In that moment  I began to understand that I was more than just a body with a spirit somewhere that had been suppressed.  The lights started to go on and I realised that I was a spirit with a body. Something began to stir inside me that wanted to be free of all this guilt that had been bought about through my own selfish desire, this desire that drove me away from God and not toward Him.

Mark 2 Session 7

We had cased this joint for weeks, we had observed the movements, we knew where the dogs were kept at night, we knew how many people lived there and what time they came in and went out. We knew they were wealthy. The house was situated in a prime location, we would be able to get up on the roof relatively undetected, quietly remove the roof, take our loot and be across the roof tops before the alarm was raised.

We were so arrogant it never occurred to us that anything would go wrong, after all it hadn't up till now so why should it now. I suppose you could say this form of living had become so familiar we just did it. We had become so used to doing wrong that actually it seemed right. We had no sense of guilt whatsoever.

Well this night my whole life was about to change, we conducted our business and were just about complete when the alarm was raised, don't ask me how, all I remember was a shout and a command from one of the friends shouting 'leg it'. So off we went over the roofs, my heart was pounding, my head was spinning and my legs went to jelly. I had never been like this before as I had always been in control of the escape situation so was more sure footed. The next thing I remember is seering pain in my back, blood everywhere, legs that would not move and somewhere in the distance dogs barking. Some how I managed to muster enough strength through the pain to drag myself into an alley and wait to die or so I thought.

As I lay there in this dreadful state so many thoughts came flooding back to me, "Oh I wish I had listened to my parents", "Be sure your sin will find you out" they used to quote at me. I had terrible waves of remorse, not for what I had dedicated my life to but for the fact that I was lying here and had fallen  and could be caught.

As day break came I heard, through the semi consciousness, voices. As I opened my eyes I saw the blurred faces of my four friends peering down at me. They talked amongst themselves then lifted me and carried me back to my parents, laid me on a mat and left me. My parents were horrified but never the less they took me back, cleaned me up and tended to my every need. As time went on it became obvious that I was unable to walk. The injury had been so severe that I was now paralysed from the waste down.

This just made things worse, all the remorse that I had not listen to my parents, the guilt that I was now more work for them. It went on and on in my head. What also made it worse was that my four so called friends never came to visit. For the first time in my life I was alone. I could go on and tell you more of how I felt but it would serve no purpose.

I lay there thinking is there any hope? Do I have to live with this situation and this guilt for ever?

Mark 2 Session 6

After reading the account of Jesus in the house from the perspective of the owner I decided that maybe I should tell you my story, how I met Jesus and how he forgave my sins because of the persistent faith of my friends. They believed that Jesus could heal me, I can testify that he did more than just heal me he forgave me and restored my life.

The town was winding down for the night, people where in their houses, kids were being put to bed and the streets were emptying. As you can guess this is not Leeds in the 21st century. My story takes place in 1st century AD in a town called Capernaum.

This was where I grew up, in a loving home, with parents who only wanted the best for me. They were devout Jews, observing all the feasts and high days to a fault. As a youngster this was OK, I could deal with it, going to the synagogue as was our norm. As I began to move into teenage years this ritual became a little too much, after all why should I be made to go somewhere that had very little significance or effect on my life. There was so much more to do out on the streets with my friends, well that's what they called themselves at the time.

All this tension between myself and my parents started to affect my relationship with them. We began to argue and fall out and as a result I started to stay out later and later. My time was taken up with hanging around street corners, kicking a ball or chalking some graffiti on the walls. Yeah we were no different in those days. We had similar pressures and expectations as you kids today. In short we were bored.

In particular I had 4 friends and the five of us used to have a real good laugh. We would get up to all sorts of pranks each time becoming more daring in our endeavors.

Over time our lives just degenerated into nothing more than rebels, taking and using what we actually had no right to do. My parents were becoming more and more distressed until it reached the point that I decided it was best to move out. Well that is a real shock to any teenager, having to fend for themselves and I was no exception. I suddenly found that in order to live you needed money and that it was expected that one had to pay ones way in life.

My four friends were in similar situations and between us we decided that we could either get jobs, beg or resort to robbing houses. It all seemed quite ligite to us, after all life owed us a living, didn't it? The rich of our town had far more than they needed any way so what was wrong with fair distribution?
I suppose in hind sight and with the benefit of maturity on my side I realise that life owes us nothing and that God Almighty is more interested in me as a person than what I can get for myself at the expense of others.

Well over time we were becoming quite the 'cat burglars', up on roofs, able to dismantle a roof without sound, drop into the living space, take what we needed to sell on for survival then up, out and over the roof tops into the night with our booty.

It is quite exhilarating to be leaping from roof top to roof top, you have to be fairly shore footed though as one slip and you are down between the houses and almost certain damage. Little did I think that this would ever happen to me and change my life forever.