Amazed with Jesus: Introduction
Amazed with Jesus: Introduction.
“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.” (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)
Astonished at the Beauty of Christ’s Good Works. “Jesus of Nazareth was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and with great power. He did wonderful (“thaumazo”) things for others in His acts of kindness and divinely healed all who were under the tyranny of the Devil; He traveled through the country helping people, doing good, and healing everyone who was harassed by the Devil.” (Acts 10:38). Everything Jesus did in His ministry was beautiful, excellent, and profoundly useful to everyone He touched. His ministry to overlooked children, unappreciated women, and His unerring ability to touch the untouchables all revealed a ministry of beauty and grace. The beautiful life of Christ also included His exorcisms, healing and storytelling, all of which left those around Jesus captivated by Him, in awe, radically amazed by who He was and what He did:
Exorcisms. He powerfully and effectively cast out demons with grace and kindness, so that each exorcism resulted in a person transformed, spiritually whole, and changed for the better. Many scholars have noted that Jesus conducted more exorcisms than any historical figure on record. Casting out demons seemed to take up just as much of His time as physical healings, and in fact, His ministry usually included both forms of healings together. “That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons…” (Mark 1:32-34). Jesus beautifully revealed His authority over physical ailments and over spiritual possession. In the spiritual realm, not one demon ever successfully resisted the commands of Jesus. As soon as the demons saw it was Jesus, they knew their days were numbered. It is a beautiful sight, to see that Jesus was just as concerned with the spiritual world as He was the physical world.
Healings. It’s clear that, from the start of His public ministry, Jesus was a healer far beyond what the people had ever seen. The beautiful and effective healing ministry of Jesus reflected His inner beauty of love, of wanting the best for people, of wanting to make it personal and productive. His inherent nature is pure compassion, so He gravitated to love-in-action. If He sees someone broken, He jumps at the chance to bring wholeness. Healing was His natural form of self-expression as the Anointed One of God. “Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and preaching the Good News about the kingdom. And He healed every kind of disease and illness.” (Matt. 4:23). Jesus proved that God is not distant or abstract. Through Jesus, God is intensely personal and in the flesh. He didn’t just want to talk about love, He wanted to beautifully demonstrate it. Jesus proved that long-distance interaction with God is no longer sufficient. And healing was the most kind-hearted, most personally helpful thing He could do. Jesus was all about making things whole, and healings of the body was a good place to start. And the people were left in awe and dumfounded.
Storytelling. The master teacher, Jesus loved to express His vivid and inspired imagination whenever He could. He was excellent and effective at storytelling, and so He loved to tell stories, all kinds of stories, depending on the audience and the situation. At one point in His ministry, He evidently told nothing but stories to the crowds (Matt. 13:34). His favorite method of teaching seemed to be through parables, extended metaphors. These parables included simple, everyday realities, which had universal appeal and drew the audience in, wherever He was, whoever He was with. Jesus intended His stories to be provocative, and to shrewdly slip in a main point, or many main points. Sometimes His stories were like firecrackers, the indirection thrown into the midst of the hearers in order to stir things up, pointedly aimed at people who need to take the story personally. Other times, the story hits more like a smoke bomb, the main point being clouded over and confusing, forcing the hearers to dig deeper and try to figure it out. “Jesus was a metaphorical theologian. That is, His primary method of creating meaning was through metaphor, simile, parable and dramatic action rather than through logic and reasoning. He created meaning like a dramatist and a poet rather than like a philosopher.” (Kenneth Bailey). Some of His stories were simpler than others, but all of his parables were rich with kingdom meaning, and were in Bailey’s words, “serious theology.” Therefore, parables are deep theology, learned indirectly, through a divinely inspired imagination and a winsome, compelling personality. Jesus proved to be a seriously playful theologian who beautifully and effectively used His imaginative stories to teach the truth, throwing them into the mix of people he encountered.
“On one occasion, a leper came and threw himself down in front of Jesus, pleading for his healing, saying, ‘You have the power to heal me right now if only you really want to!’ Being deeply moved with tender compassion (splagchnizomai), Jesus reached out and touched the skin of the leper and told him, ‘Of course I want you to be healed – so now, be cleansed!” Instantly his leprous sores completely disappeared and his skin became smooth. Jesus sent him away with a very stern warning, saying, ‘Don’t say anything to anyone about what just happened, but go find a priest and show him that you’ve been healed. Then bring the offering that Moses commanded for your cleansing as a living testimony to everyone.’ But no sooner did the man leave than he began to proclaim his healing publicly and spread the story everywhere.” (Mark 1:40-45).
splagchnizomai (splawnk – NITZ – oh – mi). Don’t let that strange Greek word put you off. It turns out to be one of the most meaningful ideas in the gospels, and it describes Jesus to a T. Most Bible versions translate this word to mean “moved with compassion.” But somehow that translation doesn’t quite do it justice. One might even say it doesn’t go deep enough. The literal meaning of this word is “to have one’s bowels yearn,” which makes sense since the root word for it is “intestines.” Since the innermost organs were considered at that time to be the seat of human emotions, and since love is the emotion being implied, splagchnzomai could be understood as an experience in which true compassion has its beginnings from down deep in the gut. This word points to an intense emotional experience that is felt in the pit of one’s stomach. This profound compassion is not superficial by any means, not casual, not distant. This compassion is immediate and so deeply felt that it demands action. This compassion is so visceral that it must find an outlet, a target, in doing something physical and helpful. It’s no wonder why Jesus left people completely astonished and amazed after encountering Him. Someone so full of love like that was hard to believe.
The Messianic Secret. Now here comes the irony of what is known as “the messianic secret,” in which Jesus deliberately concealed his role of messiah, and He implores the people not to tell anyone else about this miracle. The Gospel of Mark is known for this secret (1:44, 3:12, 5:43, 8:30), but He is also recorded as saying this in Matthew (16:20) and Luke (8:56, 9:21). Since Jesus made a big splash wherever He went, leaving people astounded, astonished, full of wonder, did He really expect for all these dumfounded people to keep Him a secret? There has been much speculation about this messianic secret of Jesus. Perhaps He didn’t want to attract too much attention at the early points in His ministry, so the crowds wouldn’t hamper His growing ministry. Maybe He didn’t want to be known merely as a miracle worker but also as a preacher and teacher and bringer of salvation. He no doubt didn’t want people to follow Him just to watch Him do exciting magic tricks. Maybe He didn’t want to be known by the religious authorities quite yet and the undue publicity might hasten a confrontation between them that would lead to His Passion earlier than He wanted. Certainly He didn’t want any premature confrontations with the Roman authorities, or to be considered as a political king in any way. Jesus wanted to be known for more than His supernatural power, but also his desire to seek and save the lost, and even to suffer and sacrifice Himself to death. Jesus was sensitive to the Father’s timing in His life and ministry, and didn’t want anything to be done before its time. Whatever the reason for His messianic secret, we can trust that Jesus knew what He was doing, and that the timeline for Jesus is all clearly understood between Him and the Father. And in the fullness of time, He gave Himself over to the process of death, resurrection and ascension for the salvation of the world.
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.’