Are you amazed? Intro Sometimes I think it is hard to amaze me anymore. I wonder if it is the same for you.

We can see so much on TV and movies. Magical things and places and they look pretty real. As a kid, I always watched the magicians hands. Occasionally, I caught them reaching in a pocket or flipping the platter over before the audience could see the bowl was glued to the surface. And once I got the chance to learn that the levitating lady was actually connected to a firm platform supported behind the curtain. As a kid I always wanted to know the trick. In a way I wanted magic to be real. I wanted to be amazed. I wanted to be surprised and wow-ed. Opening Today I am asking the question, Are You Amazed? But are you really amazed by anything anymore? I did some more research, this time in the Bible, and looked at the passages where the people were amazed or astonished in meetings with Jesus. There are 16 events in the Gospel of Luke where those words are used to describe peoples responses to Jesus. I - The Teachers of the Law Luke 2:46-52 Luke 2:47 Y todos los que le oan, se maravillaban de su inteligencia y de sus respuestas. According to Luke, the boy Jesus ends up in the temple instead of heading home with his family after the Passover. For us this is the one boyhood story about Jesus.

In this snapshot of Jesus Life we hear how the scribes, the teachers and other the people present were AMAZED at his understanding of scripture. I dont think that we can automatically assume that He was there teaching an interpretation of the scriptures. I dont think the was expanding the understanding of the educated men of the temple. As highly educated men they would never have been amazed at the teaching of a child. But, they could have been impressed at how much this boy from a distant village, with a high mixture of Jew and Gentile residents knew of the Law and Prophets. Perhaps, he was able to quote blocks of scripture in response to the teachers questions about what Isaiah said or details about Solomons wisdom. For the teachers in the temple to be ASTONISHED, I do wonder if His answers to their questions were too good. Too grownup. Too well thought out for a boy of 12. I wonder if he was able to explain the meanings and usage of words like atonement, or maybe how animal sacrifices worked to cover sins and/or other difficult concepts. So, the amazement of the crowd is connected to his dialog with the scribes and Pharisees. But, I am amazed by something else in the scripture. The last half describes a 12 year old boy going home and being obedient to his parents. God being obedient to earthly parents, with normal worries and concerns, Normal people that have to get their work done in order to eat. Normal parents that would never want anything bad to happen to their son. II - The People from Town Luke 4:31-37

Luke 4:36 Y estaban todos maravillados, y hablaban unos a otros, diciendo: Qu palabra es esta, que con autoridad y poder manda a los espritus inmundos, y salen? They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Jesus had no formal training, no seminary or rabbinical school. He was about 33 and what was different about his preaching was that he spoke with authority He talked as if He understood the deeper meanings of the scriptures. He did not quote famous rabbis that were considered to be experts in the scriptures and the law. He explained the scriptures directly. This was unusual, as most of the rabbis never proclaimed their own understanding of scripture. They were lay people and they were afraid to offend God by misinterpretation so they quoted others without using their own judgment I suppose so they could explain to God, well that is what they taught me. For the Jews of the day, to have a preacher speak with personal authority was pretty amazing. It was a bit pushy. It was on the edge of being blasphemous. III - The Fishermen The next scripture I want to look at is Luke 5:1-11 Luke 5:9 Porque por la pesca que haban hecho, el temor se haba apoderado de l, y de todos los que estaban con l, Jesus had asked the men that were repairing their nets, to let him speak to the crowd from the boat.

When the teaching was over, Jesus instructs them to put out to deep water and let down their nets for a catch. Peter seemingly agrees only out of respect for the teacher. I can understand the hesitation of a tired man. However, they do as instructed and they catch not one boat load of fish but two. A catch like this had never been seen on the Lake of Gennesaret, Sea of Galilee. An amazing fish story. A fish story that will never really be believed except by the people that were there. Peter is astonished not because there were so many fish or that a rabbi would be able to tell him how to fish but, because he recognizes that the divine, someone that represents the power of God, has entered his boat. He is a sinful man, unclean by the nature of his work. Because of his observation, his life is changed. Because of the presence of God he and his partners will walk away from their fishing business and follow Jesus. IV- The Disciples Luke 8:22-25 Luke 8:25 Y les dijo: Dnde est vuestra fe? Y atemorizados, se maravillaban, y se decan unos a otros: Quin es ste, que aun a los vientos y a las aguas manda, y le obedecen? Jesus demonstrates two things in this passage. The first one is that he can sleep when there is a storm. He is at peace when experienced boat operators are scared of sinking. And second, he has the ability to control nature. His disciples are amazed not with his ability to stay calm but with his control over a real life storm.

All kinds of people are drawn to the Jesus and amazingly touched by Jesus. Jew and Gentile alike receive healing of the physical body and teaching of the grace of God. Jesus amazes all the crowds with his availability. V - Summary Just four simple events where Jesus amazes people: Educated religions people Gentile Crowds Simple fishermen Disciples Do you think that people that witnessed these events sat around wondering, Whats was the trick? How did he do that? I am sure that in reality that most people did. It was something neat to experience: Some found Jesus to be intellectually stimulating. Some were impressed with his knowledge of God. Some were called to spend more time with this amazing man. Some liked what they heard but they were busy people. Others were ecstatic over receiving healing or other blessings, and a free meal but life moves on. Conclusion But are we amazed by any of them? Are we amazed by any of the stories of the Bible anymore? Has familiarity with the stories made them to be like old game show reruns? The outcomes happened a long time ago and dont impress us at all anymore? When we want to be amazed or astonished we can watch a movie, a TV show and even the news and see things that just a few years ago were not possible. -People regularly go into outer space to work. -We can have light whenever we want it with a flip of a switch.

-We can see people that are healed after horrible accidents and illnesses. or do we go back in our memories and reflect on the BIG things God has made with us? So how in the world can the story of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel- God with us ever get the attention of mankind again? Real Amazement comes for the realization that not a one of us can qualify to enter into to the presence of God That nothing we do can come close to comparison with the actions of Jesus in the cross. With magicians there is always the worry that it is some sort of magic trick. Some sort of catch. That somehow we have been fooled and we sit back and look for the flaws in the plan the loop holes in the awards program. And when we do, we are giving up on faith. We are failing to trust God. Let me make my point simply as I can. When we are not amazed at what he has already done and is doing in our lives then we start to live earthly selfish lives. We stop sharing the Good news. We stop having visitors. We stop going to any special trouble to glorify God. In the Gospels the biggest things that amaze me are the numbers of people that Jesus touched, healed, blessed; the number of people that are faithful enough to face hardship and risk death because of what they witnessed.

What happened to the ones that were walking on their own two legs for the first time, or the ones that could see after years of darkness? What has happened to you? Have you lost your amazement? Have you lost the astonishment of being in the presence of God? If you answer yes, then you need to remember that God did not change. Jesus gets Amazed Doubtfulness Mark 6:6 Y estaba asombrado de la incredulidad de ellos. Y recorra las aldeas de alrededor, enseando. Faith Luke 7:9 Al or esto, Jess se maravill de l, y volvindose, dijo a la gente que le segua: Os digo que ni aun en Israel he hallado tanta fe.