Amazed by Jesus!

 

            As I was reading my daily devotion this morning, I was struck by the word “amazed”.  Jesus had just healed a deaf and mute man, and the crowds were “amazed.”  According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word amazed is defined as “feeling or showing great surprise or wonder.”  As you read through the Gospels, you will find time after time where the people were amazed at Jesus’ teaching, at His command of the wind and the waves, at His healing power, at His command over the fig tree, at His ability to answer the Pharisees’ trick questions, and at His power over the demons.  They saw a man who did things they could not comprehend, so they were totally surprised. 

Still, the fact that they were amazed is amazing.  After all, they had the word of the prophets who had told them that the coming Messiah would do great things like open the eyes of the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf and make the lame leap like deer (Isaiah 35: 5, 6).  They should have known that the Messiah was anointed to preach the good news, to proclaim freedom for the captives, to release prisoners from darkness, and to declare the year of the Lord’s favor (Isaiah 61: 1,2). Jesus did all those things.  Yet, He still amazed them! 

Unfortunately, that amazement never prompted most of them to follow Him.  Those in His hometown took offense at Him and forced Him to leave (Matt. 13: 54 – 58).  Others were afraid and pleaded with Him to leave them (Mark 5: 15 – 17).  In at least one instance, the Jews were perhaps more shocked than amazed, so much so that they picked up stones to kill Him (John 8: 52 – 59).  The point is that no matter how amazed these people were, many of them were still at the cross crying “crucify Him”!

It’s easy, with benefit of hindsight, to condemn the Jews for their failure to recognize the Savior when He was in their midst.   It makes you wonder. Did it even cross their minds that the Son of God was in their presence?  After the resurrection, did they express amazement at the fact that the God of the Universe would send His only Son to die for their sins?

My question to us is:  When was the last time that you were amazed by God?  When was the last time that you were amazed at how much God loves us?  He’s still performing miracles today but too often we see them as diagnosis errors or the miraculous work miracle drugs.  Who do you think gave the knowledge to create those drugs? 

God is still amazing!  The challenge is to look for the amazing things that He is doing and then respond in awe and thanksgiving.  If He never did another amazing thing during our entire lives, His love is more than enough “amazement” to last a lifetime!

John 3: 16