AMAZING JESUS

AMAZING JESUS!

Luke 4:33-37

33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,

34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.

35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.

36 And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.

37 And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.

           The New Testament is full of events in which Jesus is acting just like God. People were “astonished” (Greek: ekplesso “to strike out” = it was as if they had been punched) at the teaching abilities and scholarship of this carpenter. He taught as if he were personally acquainted with the writer!

           Jesus had an almost frightful connection to the unseen spirit world. He not only perceived that demons were present but communicated with them. In every case the spirits responded to Jesus as if He were their superior. The people were “amazed” (Greek: thambos “rendered immovable” by astonishment; momentarily frozen in place). Who was this man who could not only speak with the demons but command them? The Pharisees logically, but wrongly, assumed that Jesus was a demon himself and was able to cast out demons by the prince of demons. But the chain of command reached much higher than the prince of the devils.

Matt 9:34

34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.

           Well, the “fame” (Greek: echos “loud uproar and rumor”) of Jesus spread. The result would be the same if the Dairy Queen was rumored to be giving away free ice cream! Everyone wanted their personal problems solved before this curious spell expired and Jesus once again became just a man. There was a rush and a crush.

           Moreover, they wanted to secure Jesus as a franchise. They tried to keep Him for themselves. Verse 42 says that they “stayed” Him (Greek: katecho “to hold down fast” or to restrain from leaving). Isn’t that what we do ourselves? We treat Jesus like a dwindling commodity and we become selfish rather than sharing Him with the “other cities” of the world.

           We are an interesting people. We are amazed when God acts godlike but when He does we want to keep the magic for ourselves. Too often we simply don’t understand that Christ’s mission is to the world and that we are only a very fortunate but small part of His purpose.

Christ Receiveth Sinful Men (Erdmann Neumeister)

Sinners, Jesus will receive! Sound this word of grace to all

Who the Heavenly pathway leave, All who linger all who fall.

Sing it o’er and o’er again, Christ receiveth sinful men!

Make the message clear and plain; Christ receiveth sinful men!

Dear Lord, why am I surprised when you act like the God you are? Help me to share the blessing of salvation with others today. AMEN