Amazement

We have had a very rainy summer.
Records have been broken and new records set in the amount of rain that has fallen.
It has been terribly hot and humid.
Not my kind of weather.

I am a fall and winter kind of person.
Fire in the fireplace; reading a book under a blanket.

The excessive rain we have had has made the shrubs and plants explode with growth.
As I was driving, I passed magnificent cornfields.
The corn is incredibly high.

Not too far away, in Amish country, is the Amazing Maize Maze.
It is a corn maze that has been constructed on five acres of farmland.
The maze has over two miles of paths to weave through.
There are clues in strategically placed mailboxes to help you find your way.

Each year the maze is unique, with a different theme.
Since the corn is so high, I am sure this year’s maze will be wonderfully difficult.

Did you ever consider the word “amazing”?
Literally, it means to be lost in a maze.
Perplexed…full of wonder.

The people were amazed at Jesus teaching because He taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. (Mark 1:22)

The disciples were amazed at His words. (Mark 10:24)

Jesus consistently amazed the people in all He did and all He said.

Jesus left there and went to His hometown, accompanied by His disciples. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue and many who heard Him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given Him, that He even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him. Jesus said to them, “Only in His hometown, among His relatives, and in His own house is a prophet without honor. He could not do any miracles there, except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them. And He was amazed at their lack of faith. (Mark 6:1-6)

Lack of faith amazed Jesus.
Every day, He was among the people.
They could reach out and touch Him…yet they still had trouble believing in Him.
Proof doesn’t prove anything…it can always be explained away.

Faith is required.
No empirical evidence.
Seeing with the eyes of the heart.

When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to Him, asking Him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with Him. “This man deserves to have You do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue. So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to Him, “Lord, don’t trouble Yourself, for I do not deserve to have You come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You. But say the word and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one ‘Go’ and he goes; and that one ‘Do this’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him and turning to the crowd, He said, ” I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel. Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
(Luke 7:1-10)

There were two times when Jesus was amazed.
Jesus was amazed at faith.
Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith.

The people in Jesus’ hometown had grown lukewarm towards Him.
They had a, Who Does He think He Is, mentality.
They knew Jesus while He was growing up; He was just like them.
They lacked faith because the object of true faith must be Jesus.
The people were too used to Him.

The centurion, on the other hand, heard about Jesus.
He had the faith to believe that Jesus alone could heal his dying servant.
The centurion did not put himself on the same level as Jesus.
As a centurion, he recognized authority when he saw it.
He did not consider himself worthy to come to Jesus.

The centurion was humble and he acknowledged Jesus’ Authority.
The object of the centurion’s faith was Jesus.
Only Jesus.
His unwavering faith amazed Jesus.

If Jesus looked at our lives, would He be amazed?
If Jesus was amazed, would it be because of our faith or our lack of faith?
Oh, for it to be the former and not the latter!

To have the kind of faith that amazes Jesus.
To have unwavering faith in Jesus alone.
May that be the desire of our hearts.