This morning I wish to speak with you about a common pattern that occurs in many individual relationships with the Lord. The trend that happens over and over, and the one that we will see in our passage of Scripture, is this: An individual will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and grow closer and stronger in their relationship with Him, and become excited about how God is moving and working in their life; but they also become accustomed to certain spiritual patterns, and get used to God working in familiar ways.
When they happen to grow to a certain point in their faith, God will ask the person to do what they’re not used to doing. He might ask them to take a step of faith and do something that doesn’t make much sense; and out of fear of the unknown that person may refuse to press onward and trust God, and refuse to grow any more in their faith. At that point their relationship with the Lord starts to suffer.
For eleven years a man named Merhan Karimi Nasseri was a man without a country. For eleven years he lived in a Paris airport. He had no passport. He had no citizenship. He had no papers that enabled him to leave the airport or fly to another country.
He had been expelled from his native country of Iran. Then he was sent away from Paris, France because he lacked documentation. He said his Belgian-issued refugee document had been stolen. He flew to England but was denied entry and sent back to Paris. When he was returned to the Paris airport in 1988, airport authorities allowed him to live in Terminal 1, and there he stayed for eleven years, writing in a diary, living off of handouts from airport employees, and cleaning up in the airport bathroom.
Then in September 1999 the situation reversed. French authorities presented Nasseri with an international travel card and a French residency permit. Suddenly he was free to go anywhere he wanted. But when airport officials handed him his walking papers, to everyone’s surprise, he simply smiled, tucked the documents in his folder, and resumed writing in his diary. They found that he was afraid to leave the bench and table that had been his home for eleven years.(1)
As we will see today, many of us grow accustomed to where we are in our relationship with the Lord; and then when God asks us to do something different or unpredictable, we can become afraid and remain right where we are, just as Nasseri remained in the airport when given the chance to venture out on his own. So, what happens when we refuse to move ahead and step out in faith? Well, we will soon find out. Let’s all stand in honor of God’s Word, as we read Mark 10:32:
32 Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him.
In this verse we read that as Jesus’ disciples followed Him to Jerusalem, they were all filled with both “amazement” and “fear.” Now, the gospel writer Mark apparently liked to use these two words quite often in his writing.
Throughout Mark’s gospel, people respond to Jesus with amazement and with fear. They were amazed when Jesus healed a man who could not walk. They were amazed when He said that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a wealthy person to enter the kingdom of God. They were amazed when He instructed them to return to Caesar the things that were Caesar’s.
The people were afraid when they realized that a man who had been possessed by a demon had been healed. The disciples were afraid when Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus, and we are told that their fear left them speechless. The people were “amazed” by what Jesus did and said because He challenged much of what they took for granted, and they were “afraid” of the power that He possessed.(2)
“Mark combines the two emotional responses when he tells us that the disciples were both amazed and afraid as Jesus went before them as they journeyed toward Jerusalem.”(3) He does this in a few other places as well. For example, in Mark 5:15, and 20, we are told how people responded to Jesus when He healed a demon-possessed man. These verses say, “Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid . . . And [the man] departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled [or were amazed]” (cf. Mk 16:8).
Mark isn’t the only gospel writer who couples the words “amazed” and “afraid,” for Luke does so as well. In Luke 5:26 we read that after Jesus healed a paralytic, “They were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear [or were afraid], saying, ‘We have seen strange things today’.” When Jesus came walking out on the sea to His disciples, we read in Luke 6:50-51, “But immediately [Jesus] talked with them and said to them, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid’. Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.”
So, we see a pattern emerge from these verses; a pattern that we all tend to follow at some point in our response to Jesus Christ; and I believe we can learn something about our relationship with the Lord by examining why we often react in this way. Since we all become “amazed” and “afraid,” what do these two words mean? The word “amaze” means, “sudden surprise, wonder, or astonishment . . . arising from something extraordinary, unexpected, or unaccountable.”(4) The word “afraid” means, “impressed with fear or apprehension.”(5) So, how and why are we filled with sudden surprise at Jesus, and why does this sometimes lead to fear?
Let’s look at Mark 10:32 a little closer and see if we can gain some insight. The first thing we notice is that the disciples were amazed, or astonished. They knew that opposition was growing to Jesus’ ministry; however, Jesus led them toward Jerusalem, and they couldn’t understand why He would head right into the hornet’s nest. This filled them with astonishment, or sudden amazement.
In application, when we come to know Jesus through a personal relationship, we will become surprised by what we discover. We will be amazed by what Jesus asks and requires, in order to follow Him. He will challenge our way of thinking, and ask us to do things that we’re not used to doing; He will ask us to step out of our comfort zone; and this will cause great wonder and amazement!
One thing that Jesus might ask us to do, which is simply astonishing, is to give up our comfortable way of life in order to follow Him. In Matthew 10:9-10, when Jesus sent out His twelve disciples He told them, “Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.” In Matthew 8:19-20, a scribe told Jesus that he would follow Him wherever He went, and Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay is head.” How many of us are astonished when we realize that following Jesus could require us to live a life of sacrifice?
The second thing we see in Mark 10:32 is how the disciples became afraid. When we come to newfound spiritual truths, many times we get excited. We’re excited that God actually spoke to us and showed us His will, and we’re also excited that His will includes us. However, as time goes by and as we come to grips with the actual challenges that we’ll face, then we become afraid. We become afraid because we think we can’t do what Jesus asks of us. We start looking only at our own inabilities, instead of looking to what God is able to do through us by His power. We face a crisis of belief and we become afraid, and many times that fear will cause us to stop dead in our tracks and refuse to press onward into God’s will.
Churches, as well as individuals, can become both amazed and afraid in their relationship with Jesus Christ. At Church of the Covenant in Boston, Massachusetts, Brent Landau was helping the congregation transition from losing their pastor to receiving an interim pastor, and he preached on what it means to be both amazed and afraid. I want to share with you what he said. Landau stated,
I would suggest that to be “amazed and afraid” is the state of being in which two things are happening. First, a person or community is able to recollect those times in their lives when they felt that God was very present. But, secondly, it is also a time when that person or community stands on the threshold of new, uncharted territory, a future which is hazy and uncertain. That is what it means to be “amazed and afraid.” The passage from Mark’s gospel speaks of a group of people who are somewhere in between their past, of which God was definitely a part, and their future, which is unknown and frightening. [To be amazed and afraid is] . . . a mix of hope and fear.(6)
Whether it be an individual or a church, people will sometimes draw back to those things which are more familiar when God asks them to move onward into new uncharted territory.
In my own walk with the Lord there are times when I look back on those early days in my relationship with the Lord; the days when everything was new and fresh. Things seemed easier back then; and there are times when life becomes difficult, that I wish I could return to those simpler times. However, if I had never stepped out in faith I would still be a spiritual infant, and I would not be pastoring today. We can’t grow in faith by just studying about faith in God’s Word. We can only grow in faith by following and trusting God in those new, difficult, and frightening circumstances.
The last part of verse 32 says, “Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him.” When the disciples became afraid to follow and wanted to stop right in their tracks, Jesus explained in great detail what they were up against, and He likely encouraged them. Notice that Jesus revealed His plans to His disciples. He alleviated some of the element of the unknown that causes so much fear. If we become afraid to follow Jesus where He is leading, then it’s likely that we have not confirmed God’s direction in our heart.
If we are uncertain of God’s direction then it’s probably because we have failed to spend time with Jesus and seek out His will. When an individual spends time with Jesus by reading God’s Word, praying, and fellowshipping with other believers, then he will be more in tune with what Jesus desires. The same thing holds true for churches. If each church member is sincerely seeking God’s heart and will, then we should all be on the same page when God asks us to step out in faith and head in a new direction.
Time of Reflection
When God starts to move in our life or in our church we are filled with amazement. We become excited! However, when God shows up He will soon ask us to follow Him wherever He leads. At this point many of us will become afraid. 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.” I understand this verse as saying that when we have a perfect love relationship with Jesus Christ, then we will come to trust Him no matter what.
If you know Jesus as Savior and Lord, then I want to challenge you to draw nearer to Him and seek His direction for your life and this church. Rededicate yourself to spending time with the Lord through His Word and prayer; and the fear in your life will soon subside.
If you have never believed that Jesus died for your sins on the cross and rose again from the dead to conquer sin and death on your behalf, and if you have never publicly confessed Jesus as Savior and Lord, then you are not a Christian. If you are not a believer but you still attend church, then you have probably been amazed on many occasions.
I am sure you were amazed when you saw someone else step forward to confess his or her faith in Christ. You were probably amazed when you heard Jesus speaking to your own heart to accept Him; however, that amazement usually turns to fear when you start considering what other people will think of you should you go forward to receive Christ. That amazement turns to fear when you think about the commitment that will be required of your life.
If you will just surrender and allow Jesus’ perfect love to come into your heart, then all of your fears will cease.
NOTES
(1) Ray Moseley, “At Last, Airport ‘Prisoner’ Gets His Walking Papers,” Chicago Tribune (September 21, 1999); Suzanne Daley, “11 Years Caged in an Airport; Now He Fears to Fly,” New York Times (September 27, 1999).
(2) Kerygma, Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, Irving, Texas, April 2000. Taken from the Internet May 2003 at http://www.redeemer-irving.org/ker04-00.htm.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Noah Webster, 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language (San Francisco: Foundation for American Christian Education, 2002).
(5) Ibid.
(6) Brent Landau, “Amazed and Afraid,” taken from the Internet May 2003 at http://www.churchofthecovenant.org/sermon/2000/001022-amazed.txt.
