Amazing Jesus (2)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 1/19/2014
The Bible tells us, “On the day when the Lord Jesus comes, all the people who have believed will be amazed at Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:10).
Amazed at Jesus. Not amazed at angels or mansions or new bodies or new creations. Paul doesn’t measure the joy of encountering the apostles or embracing our loved ones. If we will be amazed at those things, which certainly we will, he does not say. What he does say is that we will be amazed at Jesus. It shouldn’t surprise us that Jesus will be the most amazing person in heaven; he was equally amazing on earth.
The scribes and the skeptics were amazed at his teaching. The hungry and hurting were amazed by his miracles. An adulterer and her accusers were amazed by his love. And two millennia later, Jesus is no less amazing.
But last Sunday, I asked the question: “What amazes Jesus?” What might amaze the most amazing person who ever lived? The Greek word translated amazed in all of these instances literally means to stand outside oneself. It’s very similar to our phrase “he was beside himself,” and it has the idea of jumping out of your skin. What could cause God incarnate, to jump out of his skin?
Like I said last week, the Gospels record two moments in the life of Christ when Jesus was amazed. The first is found in Mark 6, when Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth and was amazed at their unbelief. He was amazed by their lack of faith.
But on the second of these two amazing occasions Jesus is amazed for precisely the opposite reason. He had been traveling the Palestinian countryside and just wrapped up his famous Sermon on the Mount, when our story begins in Luke 7:
When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people, he returned to Capernaum. At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death. When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.” (Luke 7:1-5 NLT)
Let’s pause there and take just a moment to get to know this Roman officer. What makes this story unique isn’t that someone came to Jesus for help, but that the person seeking help was Roman. He wasn’t Jewish. He didn’t grow up hearing the stories of Noah, Abraham, and Joseph in Sunday School like you and I did. He didn’t spend a week every summer at Hebrew Camp. He probably never ever attended VBS. This Centurion came from a pagan society—a culture steeped in the worship of countless gods and goddesses. Yet, after being assigned to Capernaum, he must have heard the stories of the Old Testament from local rabbis and overheard the singing of faithful Hebrews lofting through the streets at night during their family devotions. Those stories and songs must have worked their way into his soul. Not only did he embrace this Jewish community that he’d been assigned to sentinel, but he even built them a house of worship.
Archeologists have uncovered the remains of the synagogue this Romans Centurion built in Capernaum. At the highest elevation in town stood a beautiful basalt structure that testifies to us even today of this man’s generosity and kindness. What’s even more amazing is that gentiles, like this Roman Centurion, were not even allowed to enter a Jewish synagogue. So he couldn’t even go into the building he built.
In Luke 4, the Bible tells us that Jesus spent a lot time in Capernaum and taught there in this synagogue every Sabbath. I don’t know about you, but when I picture Jesus teaching in this synagogue, I see a Roman Centurion standing just outside the entry way listening to Jesus. It’s no wonder then that he knew what Jesus was capable of and that he sought Jesus out in his time of need. But even his request isn’t a selfish one. He’s asking Jesus to heal his highly valued slave at time when slaves were not highly valued. I’m blown away by this man already and we haven’t even gotten to the good part.
Let’s keep reading:
So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” (Luke 7:6-8 NLT).
You know, the Bible doesn’t use these words, but you can tell by his heart and humbleness, that this Romans Centurion was amazed by Jesus.
First, he was amazed by Jesus’ strength. He asked Jesus to do what he couldn’t do. My kids do this with me sometimes. They’ll be playing together in the living room and every once in a while someone will lose something under the couch—a matchbox car, a ball, a nerf dart. They reach their little arms under the couch, groping around aimlessly. When they finally realize there’s no hope of reaching it, I hear the call: “Dad!” Little feet thunder down the hallway: “Dad!” I answer and they ask me to do what they can’t do for themselves. So I grab hold of one end of the couch and lift. They’re all amazed by it. Their eyes widen. They think I’m so strong. With the couch off the ground they can see clearly and one of them will call out, “I got it!” And the toy is saved because my kids sought my strength in their time of need. I love that my kids see me as a source of strength. I think Jesus loves is when we see him as our source of strength.
With all the faith of a child relying on his father’s strength, this Centurion asks Jesus to do what he can’t do. His strength is still amazing. Paul once wrote, “I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13 NLT). Not just some things, a few things, easy things, or simple things, but everything! When we rely on his strength nothing is impossible. The Centurion recognized Jesus’ strength.
Furthermore, he was amazed by Jesus’ splendor—his majesty and magnificence. He saw Jesus as being so glorious that he wasn’t even worthy to meet him face to face. I think this is a part of Jesus that we sometimes fail to see. John saw it. Of course, John saw Jesus countless times. For three years, he’d followed Christ. But this encounter was far different from any in Galilee. The image was so vivid, the impression so powerful, John’s kneed buckled beneath him. He describes the event like this:
I turned to see who was talking to me. When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands and someone among the lampstands who was “like a Son of Man.” He was dressed in a long robe and had a gold band around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like bronze that glows hot in a furnace, and his voice was like the noise of flooding water. He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword came out of his mouth. He looked like the sun shining at its brightest time. When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He put his right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid.” (Revelation 1:12–17 NIV)
If you are puzzled by this passage, you aren’t alone. Swords and bronze feet and white hair and sunlight. What are we to make of such an image? Keep in mind that what John wrote is not what he saw. What he wrote is like what he saw. Did you notice how often John used the word like? He describes hair like wool, eyes like fire, feet like bronze, a voice like the noise of flooding water, and a face like the sun in all its brilliance. What John saw was so grand, so glorious that he had no words to describe it. So he stumbles into the storage closet of similes and returns with an armload of word pictures. The implication is clear. The human tongue is inadequate to describe Christ.
This Centurion didn’t have to see what John saw to recognize Jesus’ glory and greatness. He humbled himself at the very thought of standing in the presence of Jesus. Each of us ought to do the same.
Finally, he was amazed by Jesus’ sovereignty. This Roman officer was familiar with authority. He knew that all he had to do was issue an order and it would be done. The same was true of Jesus. He knew that Jesus was the supreme authority on earth. The wind and the waves obey him. Demons, disease and even death obey him. In fact, just about the only things on earth that doesn’t obey Jesus are people. We don’t respond well to authority figures. We don’t like being told what to do.
When Christian Herter was governor of Massachusetts back in the 1950s, he was running hard for a second term in office. One day, after a busy morning chasing votes (and skipping lunch) he arrived at a church barbecue. It was late afternoon and Herter was hungry. As he moved down the serving line, he held out his plate to the woman serving chicken. She put a piece on his plate and turned to the next person in line. “Excuse me,” Governor Herter said, “do you mind if I have another piece of chicken?”
The woman kindly responded, “Sorry, but I’m only supposed to give one piece of chicken to each person.”
“I’m really famished,” the governor said.
“Sorry,” the woman said again. “Only one to a customer.”
Governor Herter was generally a modest and unassuming man, but he decided that this time he would throw a little weight around. “Do you know who I am?” he said. “I am the governor of this state.”
Without batting an eye the woman retorted, “Do you know who I am? I’m the lady in charge of the chicken. Move along, Governor!”
This Roman Centurion realized, despite all his authority, that Jesus was really the one in charge. It’s in light of Jesus’ unlimited strength, unparalleled splendor, and ultimate sovereignty that the Centurion makes his humble request.
And now we come to the climax of the story. The Bible says, “When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, ‘I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!’ And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.” (Luke 7:9-10 NLT).
A Roman officer, who had not been brought up to know a loving God, amazed Jesus by his faith. Unlike the father we talked about last Sunday, he didn’t pray “I believe, help my unbelief.” He simply believed. There’s no “if you can,” in his request. Throughout this entire encounter there isn’t even a hint of doubt, there is only faith—faith in Jesus’ power to do the impossible, faith in Jesus’ place of highest honor, faith in Jesus’ authority over every situation.
What amazes Jesus? Faith.
Faith not only moves mountains; it moves God.
John Bisango knows about that. The Houston pastor was reading in his study when his five-year-old daughter, Melody, came to him asking for dollhouse. He nodded and promised to build one for her, then promptly returned to his book. A little while later, John glanced out the window and saw Melody’s arms filled with dishes, toys, and dolls, making trip after trip until she had a huge pile of playthings in the backyard. He asked his what Melody was doing and his wife said, “Oh, you said you’d build her a dollhouse, and she believes you. She’s just getting ready for it.”
Immediately John tossed aside his book, raced to the lumber yard for supplies, and quickly built that little girl a dollhouse. Later he said, “When I saw her faith, nothing could keep me from carrying out my word.”
I think Jesus responds the same way when he sees faith like that.
Conclusion
It is faith that astonishes Jesus, either its presence or its absence. In one instance, Jesus found no faith where it should have been. In the other, he discovered faith in an unexpected place. Both amazed him. Jesus isn’t impressed with status, wealth, power, or abilities, but he’s amazed when we trust him as we should—and equally amazed when we don’t. The Bible says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV), but apparently you can amazed Jesus with or without it.
Which would you rather do?
Invitation
Is Jesus amazed at your faith today in spite of the difficulties you’re facing? Or is he amazed at your lack of faith in spite of the promises he’s given? No matter what’s going on in your life, or what’ led up to this moment, I want to encourage you to fully trust in Jesus today. When you fully put your faith in Jesus, he will be amazed and so will you.
