The Bible—Just a Bunch of Outdated Stories?

Many people have difficulty reading the bible.  You will hear comments like, “I don’t understand what they are talking about” or “they are just a bunch of old stories.”  

In fact, the bible is a collection of books that express God’s revelation of himself to us.  The events they recall and the messages they unfold through a variety of writing styles, such as poems, analogies, epic narrative stories, and of course, some literal accounts, are all very relevant to you and me today.

For instance, the reading for today, Friday, January 18, 2019, comes from the Gospel of Mark Chapter 2.  It relates the account of Jesus healing a paralytic who sought him out with considerable effort.  There are two types of healings taking place here, the first of which the gathered crowd wasn’t buying at all—that he could forgive sins.  The second was a physical healing, not unrelated to the first.

But let’s put it in today’s language.

Let’s say Jesus said to you, “Susie, don’t worry, I am going to see to it that your sins are forgiven.”  Probably the first thing you would say would be, “Prove it.”  Because what Jesus claims he is doing for you is not visible, you would have a hard time believing it.  

But, what if he did a parallel act that you could see?  Would you believe him then?

The people of the time of Jesus were no different than you and I, in this regard.  They looked at him and said, “Why does this man speak that way?  He is blaspheming.  Who but God alone can forgive sins?”

In 21^st century speak, they are saying, “What are you talking about?  You’re crazy!  How can I know that what you said you did, you actually did?”

Jesus knew what the scribes were thinking privately, so he asked them a question:  “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk?’” (Drum roll please—the answer is A, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’)

In order to show that he did have the power to forgive sins—something that was invisible—he did something that was visible:  He told the paralytic to pick up his mat and go home. Definitely the harder of the two. After the man walked away, everyone was “astounded and glorified God . . . .”

The bottom line is, we can believe in Jesus.  For over two thousand years, the miracles he performed—that people actually saw and told others about, and wrote about—took place.  We are not talking about a couple of isolated events.  We are talking about accounts that sometimes involved thousands of people.

If you are one that has a hard time believing in the power of the words of Jesus, you can look to the hard physical evidence that you can actually see.  Maybe that will help. The testimony of his followers—and even those who doubted him at first—is solid.

And finally, like moving the crowd from his words of forgiveness to his physical sign of healing, Jesus likewise revealed by his very physical suffering on the cross, he came to save us all.

It is but a little step to see the parallel here.  Jesus died on the cross—and rose from the dead—no small act, but indeed very visible—revealing that he truly has the power to save us.  His words and deeds matter; they are both to be trusted.

There is so much more to all of this, especially when you look at the sacraments, but this little bite will hopefully get you thinking as you consider not only your life here on earth, but your hope for the great beyond.

God bless,

Janet Cassidy

janetcassidy.com