3. Amazed by Jesus During His Hometown Rejection

3. Amazed with Jesus During his Hometown Rejection.

“Life without wonder – radical amazement – is not worth living. It is the beginning of our happiness. Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement… get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible. Never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed. Just to be is a blessing! Just to live is holy!” (Abraham Joshua Heschel).

I Stand Amazed | Celtic Worship ft. Steph Macleod

Jesus Christ engaged in a ministry of amazement, astonishment, wonder. Everywhere He traveled, He left people astounded and in awe. He caused a big stir wherever he went, and people left in His wake were amazed at who He was and what He was able to do, whether from His unusually wise teaching, His authoritative exorcisms, His unprecedented healings, His clever and insightful conversations, His dramatic miracles. It seemed everyone marveled at Jesus, despite His best efforts sometimes to be off the radar.  There are three Greek synonyms that mean complete astonishment or radical amazement: ekplesso, thaumazo, and existemi. The differences between these three words, though, are fascinating. Are those of us who follow Jesus now, are we also amazed and astonished with Jesus?

“And the people were astonished (“ekplesso”) beyond measure, saying, ‘Everything He does is beautiful (“kalos”), and is done with excellence!” (Mark 7:37).

(1.) ASTONISHED: “ekplesso”; a strong Greek word for astonished; amazed; dumfounded; awestruck; overwhelmed at something extraordinary; struck out of one’s senses; takes your breath away, even to the point of panic. There were at least fifteen gospel events in which the Greek superlative “ekplesso” was used to communicate a radical amazement, astonishment, wonder at Jesus. Jesus was met with overwhelming astonishment after His Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:28); by His hometown friends as they rejected Him (Matt. 13:54); after His teaching on the inadequacy of wealth (Matt. 19:25); after His conversation with the Sadducees about heaven and the resurrection (Matt. 22:33); at His synagogue exorcism (Mark 1:22, 27); after His healing of the deaf and mute man (Mark 7:37); after He whipped the moneychangers in the Temple (Mark 11:18); at His brilliant level of understanding with the rabbis at just 12 years of age (Luke 2:48); after casting out a demon with just a word (Luke 4:32, 36); at the exorcism of a demon-possessed boy (Luke 9:43).

“And behold, a man from the crowd shouted out, ‘Master, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child! A spirit seizes him and suddenly he screams out and it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth! It mauls him and will scarcely leave him!’ Jesus answered, ‘Bring your son here to me.’ And even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him down to the ground and completely convulsed him. But Jesus severely rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the child, and then restored the boy to his father. And all were completely astounded (“ekplesso”) at the evidence of God’s mighty power, His majesty and His magnificence. While they were all marveling (“thaumazo”) at everything Jesus was doing…” (Luke 9:38-43).

(2.) MARVELED: “thaumazo”; another strong Greek word that means… marveled at, astonished by; amazed at; filled with wonder to the point of being bewildered; being awestruck in admiration. There were forty-four passages in the gospels in which people were greatly amazed by Jesus, astonished to the point of awed by Him. Included in the group of people who were completely amazed, “thaumazo’d” by Christ: the shepherds, Mary and Joesph, the disciples, the Pharisees, various crowds during His ministry, and even Pilate himself was astonished by Jesus and marveled at Him. People were amazed by everything from the angelic baby announcement, to various prophecies in Jesus’ young life, to the calming of the storm and the withering of the fig tree;  from His miraculous exorcisms and healings to His teachings that always were on point and what were needed at the time.

“Then a blind and mute man under the power of a demon was brought to Jesus and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the crowds of people were overwhelmed with astonishment, stunned with amazement and practically out of their minds with wonder (“existemi”), and said, ‘This cannot be the Son of David, the Messiah, can it?” (Matt. 12:22-23). 

(3.) FLABBERGASTED: “existemi”; an extreme word that means to be out of one’s mind with amazement; crazy with wonderment; a stunned astonishment so strong that one is beside oneself; to be overwhelmed so as to be bowled over; literally, to remove from a standing position. This word is used seventeen times in the gospels, including when Jesus healed and forgave the paralyzed man dropped through the ceiling of Peter’s house; when Jesus raised a young girl from the dead; when Jesus calmed the storm and casually climbed into the boat with His disciples; on the road to Emmaus when the disciples heard about the empty tomb from the women. Existemi is also used when the family of Jesus thought He was crazy, going out of His mind.

I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)

“So Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. And when He opened the scroll, He found the place where it was written…” (Luke 4:16-17, paraphrasing Isaiah 61:1-2; also refer to Matthew 13 and Mark 6).

Anointed from the Very Beginning. In other words, Jesus could well have been saying… That’s right, the Holy Spirit of Yahweh has anointed me, your home town boy! Yes, I am the Messiah, the “Anointed One.” The Spirit fell on me at my baptism not long ago, and that was my official anointing for this ministry of the Lord. In fact going back to the beginning, I was even conceived by the Holy Spirit, right here in Nazareth! It was a miracle. And so in many ways I have been anointed since birth, and the Father has simply been waiting for the right time to send me on my mission. So the time is now! The year of God’s grace has come! Yahweh has accepted this time period as the one “when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.” (Amplified Bible).

Jubilee. So listen to me now, everyone… This is the time for the spiritual Jubilee! This is the reality of what God hinted at back in Leviticus 25 with the Jubilee year: the time when debts were cancelled and slaves went free. The time when prisoners of war were released and everyone is freed from their oppressive burdens. I am the Messiah, and I have come that you may have your spiritual Jubilee, a time when you are set free by a gracious God to start over with Him in the spirit of redemption and blessing.

The prophet Isaiah has defined my mission well:

1. “To preach the Good News to the poor.” In Isaiah 61:1, “poor” means humble or meek. So I am giving words of hope to the poor in spirit, those who are spiritually bankrupt, hopelessly poverty-stricken in their spirits. In fact, I hereby promise that the poor in spirit, the empty and helpless, will receive the Kingdom of heaven and become spiritually rich. I am here to tell the lowly that they will be held in honor, and will receive all the blessings of God’s new world. I will seek out the humble to tell them that they will be raised up to a new life of fullness and new-found strength.
2. “To proclaim liberty to the captives.” In Isaiah, “captives” referred to prisoners of war, or by extension anyone in bondage to sin because of our ongoing spiritual war. I will minister unto those who are casualties of our war with Satan and with sin. I will release all those who are battling their demons and those who realize they are in bondage to their sinful nature. I will grant a full pardon to all these victims of hidden warfare, to these prisoners held captive by the enemy. During this time of favor and blessing, all prisoners will be liberated from sin and Satan. “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” (John 8:32-36). If you are in bondage to sin, you indeed are a slave to sin, you are imprisoned by sin. And in this spiritual Jubilee, I will release the slaves and set the prisoners free.
3. “To heal the brokenhearted.” Some historical manuscripts omit this phrase from the Luke passage. But the original Isaiah 61:1reference includes this phrase, so in keeping with some NT translations and the Isaiah reference, this phrase will be included here. As Messiah, I will heal those who have had their hearts broken by rejection, by loss of loved one, by shame or guilt or failure. I will bind up those who are broken by the state of the world and its presence of sin and wickedness and pain. I will mourn with those who mourn, and my heart will be broken by whatever is breaking your heart as I come alongside you. I will personally bring the Good News of salvation and healing, and so we will mourn as those with hope. My tears will absorb your tears as I offer my comforting and healing presence to your misery.
4. “To proclaim recovery of sight to the blind.” This phrase was added to the passage in Luke, and is in the spirit of the spiritual Jubilee. To all you who are spiritually blind, I will open your eyes to see the truth and goodness of the Lord and His Kingdom. Since you are helpless to take off your blinders by yourselves, I will remove your blinders personally. You simply can’t make yourselves see without my help. I will open your eyes to see the reality of God and His love. And to make sure this important truth is understood, I will heal every physically blind person who comes to me in my ministry. All of these physical healings of the blind will be a sign of what I will do spiritually to those who allow me to do so. I will cure your blindness to the depravity of sin, to the depth of your sinful nature, to the hope of God’s salvation. And then finally, you will truly see and believe. “Everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness.” (John 12:45).
5. “To set free those who are oppressed.” The “oppressed” in Isaiahis intended to include anyone who is downtrodden, burdened by life’s difficulties, bruised by the system, broken down by some calamity. I will deliver you from these spiritual bruises, from whatever may be weighing down your spirit. I will come to encourage you and help you rise above life’s travails. If you feel oppressed in any way, I will deliver you and set your spirit free. “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29). So come to me during this acceptable time of blessing and favor, all you who are oppressed in some way, and I will be your liberator.

“Then He rolled up the scroll, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’ So all bore witness to Him, and were astonished as they marveled (“ekplesso”) at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:20-22).

“Coming to His hometown, Jesus taught in their synagogue so that they were amazed (“ekplesso”) with bewildered wonder, and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And do not all His sisters live here among us? Where then did this Man get all this?’ And they took offense at Jesus. They were repelled and hindered from acknowledging His authority and it caused them to stumble.” (Matthew 13:54-57).

“And in His hometown synagogue in Nazareth Jesus began to teach, and many who listened to Him were utterly astonished (“ekplesso”), saying, ‘Where did this Man acquire all this? What is the wisdom, the broad and full intelligence, which has been given to him? What mighty works and exhibitions of power are wrought by His hands!’ And they took offense at Him and disapproved of Him, and they were caused to stumble and fall.” (Mark 6:2-3).

Concealed Divinity. Apparently, the divine nature of Jesus was well-hidden while He was growing up in Nazareth. His old friends and neighbors simply couldn’t believe that the Jesus they had come to know was the long-awaited Messiah. They were convinced they saw nothing special in the young Jesus, and that therefore He is not only just a fake and a liar, but a blasphemer! They completely rejected Jesus and His claims to be the Messiah. They thought they knew Jesus, that they fully understood Him, and were extremely skeptical, to say the least. What appeared to begin as an openminded audience turned hostile quickly, and even attempted to  execute Him right there in Nazareth. According to rabbinic sources, it was biblically acceptable to kill someone for committing blasphemy, but only by throwing that person off a cliff and finishing the job by stoning that person till death. So, that’s what they turned into…  a friendly hometown became a murderous mob.

‘And when they heard these things, all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage. And rising up they pushed and drove Jesus out of the town, and laying hold of Him they led Him to the upper part of the hill on which their town was built, that they might hurl Him headlong down over the cliff. But passing through their midst, Jesus went on His way to Capernaum.” (Luke 4:28-31).

So it appears that being amazed and astonished by Jesus doesn’t necessarily lead to faith in Jesus. They thought they knew this man Jesus, and completely understood Him, and therefore they limited Him to their faulty perception of Him. Jesus claimed to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s ancient prophecy. He claimed to be a prophet of God like Elijah and Elisha. But they would not accept this new understanding of their old friend. And now it was Jesus’ turn to marvel… “And Jesus was not able to do even one work of power there, except that He laid His hands on a few sickly people and cured them. And Jesus marveled (“thaumazo”) because of their unbelief, their lack of faith in Him.” (Mark 6:5-6).

Dwelling on His Beauty. For those of us who are seeking to follow Jesus… Are we amazed by Him, or do we instead take Him for granted? Are we astonished by His character and compassion, or has He instead become predictable and like a tamed lion? Do we marvel at His power and greatness, or do we instead take Him casually? Is the Good News still leaving us dumfounded and astounded, or has it instead become old news? It’s not enough to simply remain in amazement, or admire the beauty of Christ. Instead, we need to fix our eyes with wonder and awe on Jesus and His beauty, to gaze upon Him in astonishment and worship His beauty, to allow His beauty to be formative in our lives. David exclaims in Psalm 24:7 that he has ‘one thing’ he wants more than anything else, there is ‘one thing’ that would help form and direct his life… “to gaze with complete focus upon the sweet and delightful beauty of the Lord.” There’s a good chance that centering our life on the astonishing beauty of Christ, of worshiping His astounding beauty, of allowing His amazing beauty to change our lives into one like His, is indeed our ‘one thing most needful.’

How Marvelous (LIVE) | Austin Stone Worship – YouTube