GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 2:8
What are You Thinking
The human mind is an awesome thing. The word “mind” is often used to describe the activity of the brain. The mental activity relies upon neurons, of which there are approximately 86 billion in the human brain. In the brain itself, higher-order thinking and decision-making take place in what neuroscientists call the cerebral cortex, in which there are 16 billion neurons. I’ve never seen, touched, or smelled a neuron, and yet they are apparently working as I type this sentence. Is it any wonder that one is amazed at the way it works?
Several centuries before the existence of neuroscience, Jesus brought up the issue of the mind’s process, at the time called the “heart.” “And then Jesus, knowing personally in his spirit that they were reasoning in themselves in this way, said to them, ‘Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?’” (Mark 2:8) Skeptical scribes, Pharisees, and teachers of the law heard Jesus announce the forgiveness of a paralytic’s sin and reasoned among themselves that Jesus had committed the blasphemy of doing only what God, Yahweh, could do: forgive sin. Knowing they were reasoning in this way, he asked why they were “thinking these things.” Part of the answer is obvious: our brain stores our training, our experience, and our teaching and uses this material to make decisions, often habitual, through what some call “carved neural paths.” These skeptics had a lifetime of teaching and experience that ran counter to what they had just seen and heard. It’s hard, usually very hard, to overcome a habit or break with tradition.
So, when one asks himself, “Why did I think this thing?” he should be assured that his question is not unique to himself.