Mind Your Heart and Hope
Mark 2:1-12
Have you ever heard someone say to you, listen to your heart and then a Bible thumper will tell you this following verse?
Jeremiah 17:9–10 (NKJV): 9“The heart[1] is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
10I, the LORD, search the heart[2],
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.
In the Hebrew Bible, the brain is not mentioned once! The heart, some scholar has taken the time to count it is referenced 826 times.
In the Bible the heart is considered the seat of life or strength. Hence, it means mind, soul, spirit, or one’s entire emotional nature and understanding. [3]
לֵב- labe – the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything
Mark 2:1–12 (NLT): When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. 2 Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, 3 four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. 4 They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”
6 But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, 7 “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”
8 Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 9 Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? 10 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, 11 “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”
Isaiah 6:9–10 (ESV): 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart[4] of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand[5] with their hearts[6],
and turn and be healed.”
Proverbs 3:5–6 (NRSV): 5Trust in the LORD with all your heart[7],
and do not rely on your own insight[8].
6In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
[1] לֵב- labe
[2] לֵב- labe
[3]https://www.csun.edu/~vcgeo005/heart.html#:~:text=In%20the%20Bible%20the%20heart,entire%20emotional%20nature%20and%20understanding.
[4] לֵב- labe
[5] בִּין- bene- to separate mentally (or distinguish)
[6] לֵבָב- lay-bawb’- understanding
[7] לֵב- labe
[8] בִּינָה- bee-naw’- knowledge (ironically “perfect”)