21 They
went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and
began to teach.
22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out,
24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!"
25 "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!"
26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching--and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him."
28 News about him spread quickly over
the whole region of Galilee.22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out,
24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!"
25 "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!"
26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching--and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him."
Lee Stroble in his book “A Case for Christ” details how in
vowing to disprove the Messiahship of Jesus came to be a most ardent
believer. The circumstantial evidence
was overwhelming. One piece of that
evidence is Biblically amazing; it is more likely, a greater probability (possibility) that 7 billion people on this earth would be struck by lightning at the same time than a person could
accidentally satisfy over four dozen prophecies of the Old Testament (*1).
The words 'amazed' and 'astonished' are two of my favorite words in the New Testament and especially the Gospels. In the Gospels, NIV, 'amazed, 'amazement', 'astonished', and 'astonishment' are used 47 times. These words go beyond what we think when we use these words in everyday speech. We are 'amazed' when a magician makes a beautiful woman turn into a lion or makes the space shuttle disappear. But the amazement is is how we are fooled and us wondering how it was done.
In the Bible, the word goes far beyond that with much greater meaning. These words mean to be
astonished, dumbfounded, in wonder of, in awe of, and most important, as if to have a
new, never thought of meaning. When
people, the disciples, or other followers were amazed, it was due to something
totally new and unconditionally different from anything ever seen before.
So to it is with Jesus. When Jesus fully comes into and fills our lives, He calms our storms,
relieves our burdens, removes our worries, and so much more that we are amazed
at how we have been changed. It is right that we should be amazed when God fully fills us with His Holy Spirit. It is something totally new and unconditionally different from anything ever felt before.
But, in reality, God's perfect work is not really Biblically amazing and we should not be amazed with His work in this world, but only at the resulting beauty and wonder of his work such as a sunrise. What we see in His work is what He does everyday! After all, He created just by speaking everything into existence! God spoke and Bang! it happened. The amazing part is we should be equally and Biblically amazed and dumbfounded at ourselves, that we do not more fully seek, see, and more greatly desire God's wondrous work though us each and everyday! We should daily seek God, praying that He fill us with His Spirit to do more of His work in us and through us to more fully expand His kingdom!
God filled Jesus with the Holy Spirit, likewise the disciples. In our acceptance of Jesus as Savior, we too have the Holy Spirit. To achieve what we can amazingly do through God's work in us, to complete Jesus' work here on earth, we, just as Jesus was, must be amazingly filled in the Spirit; to be Filled, we must humbly pray and pray and pray.... everyday.
God filled Jesus with the Holy Spirit, likewise the disciples. In our acceptance of Jesus as Savior, we too have the Holy Spirit. To achieve what we can amazingly do through God's work in us, to complete Jesus' work here on earth, we, just as Jesus was, must be amazingly filled in the Spirit; to be Filled, we must humbly pray and pray and pray.... everyday.
Thanks Be to God!
lonnie
(c)
*1
The actual probability of a person accidentally fulfilling four dozen prophecies of the Old Testament is
1
----------------------------
10 to the 117th power
or
one chance in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion,
trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion,
trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion,
trillion.
Reference:
Stroble L, "The Case for Christ",
Chapter 10 - The Fingerprint Evidence,
Section - "The Coincidence Argument"
Paragraph- 3.
Publisher- Zondervan
©
Lonnie Coggins
==============================
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Publication 0097
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