And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (Mark 2:5-12; all Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version).
A recent television advertising campaign tells viewers that “He Gets Us.” It emphasizes how Jesus loves and accepts people regardless of their lifestyle or choices.
The ads tell only half the story. Yes, Jesus loves, accepts, and “gets” us. However, He does not always approve of our choices, lifestyles, values, actions, or attitudes.
Not only does He get us. He also saves and forgives us. Forgiveness implies that we have done something wrong and deserve to suffer the consequences. He forgives our sins, accepts us, and releases us from the debt, sentence, and condemnation we deserve.
Jesus would usually confront the sin issue first, then address the effects of sin. In Mark 2:5-12, He began by pronouncing forgiveness of the paralyzed man’s sins.
He calls us to repentance. In John 8:2-11, the religious leaders dragged a woman whom they caught committing adultery before Jesus, demanding to know what He thought should be done. The Old Testament law said that the penalty for adultery was death by stoning (Deuteronomy 22:24). Jesus challenged them, saying, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7).
But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” (John 8:9-11).
Jesus forgave her, but He also urged her to sin no more. He “got” her, loved, accepted, and forgave her, but He also called her to repentance. He did not approve of her previous choices.
Jesus gets us. But, because He “gets” us, He calls us to repentance. He also heals, delivers, forgives, saves, and restores us. He “gets” us but does not want to leave us unchanged and broken.
What do you think about the “He gets us” campaign? How do you think Jesus shows us His love? Share your thoughts in the comments area below.
Copyright © 2024 Michael E. Lynch. All rights reserved.
Darkened Glass Reflections 
4 responses to “The Words of Christ—Mark 2:5-12 (With Thoughts About the “He Gets Us” Ads)”
Great take on that advertising campaign. It fosters an incomplete — and therefore misleading — portrait of Jesus.
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Your being too generous. A 15 or 30 second ad isn’t telling even half the story.
But, I like the ads. For a 15 or 30 second moment of your day, they seem effective at causing the public to think, to talk, to react. All in the name of Jesus.
That’s a good thing. Not the whole good thing, and probably there are things wrong with that too. But hey… I’m impressed.
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I guess one good thing is the fact that it gets people talking about Jesus. My concern is that they leave out some of the core truths of the Gospel. Like I said, He loves us, but He loves us too much to leave us the way He finds us.
The “He Gets Us” ad (and much of American Christianity) implies that Jesus loves us and, therefore, approves of whatever floats our boats.
It’s important for Christians to use the media attention as an opportunity to share the full Gospel with those who are seeking to know more about Jesus.
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Full disclosure here… Im not gonna lie, Michael, I don’t get “He Gets Us” for a number of reasons. In fact, I have a kneejerk reaction of distrust and repulsion to the ads. And not due to the content, per se, but due to so much of the surrounding context.
BUT… (and this part is more confessional than anything)
As I sit and think on it, my reasons for disliking the whole thing recede and get very small or completely disappear from view. Not that all my concerns are completely alleviated, not saying that, for I think even then we are on a slippery slope. But just because a slope is slippery does not mean we have yet fallen.
I am troubled first off by the expense in sheer money spent for 15 seconds to talk about Jesus.
Oh, but the world is watching!
Well, yeah. It is. And I see no blaspheme in the ad at all. In fact, I feel a bit of conviction from it. I don’t think it endorses sin, I think it subverts it on a huge public stage! Suddenly it says Jesus cares when a white cop pulls over a black driver.
Hmmm… That’s important, I think.
It sparks conversation, and THAT it certainly has! This blog post is one of millions of fine examples!
I notice the ad makes not lengthy argument in favor of the cop OR the black driver in a push to vote one way or another. It simply calls to my attention that Jesus cares about this kind of stuff, stuff that our culture is struggling with.
I am troubled by the financiers behind this ad campaign. The little I know of them, I expect they have some political and social agendas that I would not approve of – based on previous experiences. But in two super bowls worth of these ads, I have yet to see any of that concern materialize into any problem I am averse to. The biggest complaint I see is that BOTH sides of the political divide are suspicious of this! And Jesus is there in the middle. THAT seems extremely biblical of him.
Lastly, my next concern, and this one is my weightiest, is how this message is NOT brought to us by THE CHURCH – or even A CHURCH. It is brought to us by some wealthy individuals and some “faith based” organizations, but not specifically by the people of God.
Well, people of the world are free to say whatever they want about Jesus. God gives us no control over that. And yet, even if the message is super brief, only the mere seed of a message, it manages to say an awful lot and gets a lot more people talking too.
Perhaps talk is cheap. I often say that. I find it true. Yet I find the message of the ads rings true too. He gets us. I believe that. I think he does. The phrase seems a little too pithy and cheap, but true all the same.
Isaiah 55:11 says God’s word will not return empty. As Gamalial says in Acts 5, if this little movement is of men, it will fail, but if it is from God, we cannot overthrow it. In fact, I wouldn’t want to hinder it.
Jesus presented in a positive light by people who are not even his church… Hmmm… Those not against us are for us…
That’s how I get it. He gets us, and now I get it. Sorta. My first reaction is not so positive, but as I sit with it, I find it’s pretty potent. And until another shoe drops showing blaspheme where praise seemed to be, I will stand back and watch at the least.
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