Be AMAZED at Jesus!
Various Scriptures
February 12, 2006
Introduction
Did any of you watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday night?
I love the Olympics, because history is often made. And we come away from some of the events simply amazed at what Olympic competition brings out in people.
For instance, in the pairs figure skating last night, the American couple completed some weird triple axle-jump thingy. It was the first time in Olympic history anyone had completed it. It was amazing.
But maybe even more amazing in the same event was a Chinese couple. The guy had ruptured his Achilles tendon just six months ago, but after surgery, therapy, and a ton of practice, he landed a triple jump thingy, in his first competition since the injury. Amazing.
But you know what really amazes me? Why Popeye and Bluto would fight over Olive Oil. Was it money? I don’t get it. It’s amazing.
Debra and I were at our annual District Pastors’ Retreat this last week, and the speaker was Rev. Phil Stevenson, who is the new head of Evangelism and Church Growth Dept. of the Wesleyan Church.
And one of the things that he said was that we don’t think enough about the "wow’s" of God.
In other words, we’re not amazed by God very often nowadays. And I got to thinking that I had to agree.
In my own walk with Christ over the past few years, I’ve noticed that every so often the Scriptures talk about people being amazed at Jesus.
And when you think about it, there were a lot of things about Jesus that are pretty amazing.
We’re going to look at just four of them today. We’re not even going to touch his death and resurrection, as amazing as those are, although they’re foundational to everything else we’re going to talk about today.
But my hope is that you will walk out of here today a little more in awe of our Savior, and that it will lead you to a deeper love and appreciation for him.
Let’s start by looking at the fact that I think we need to...
Be amazed at his teaching.
Luke 4:22 -
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.
We’ve talked about this in the past, so I’m not going to take a lot of time with this.
But I want to point something out. There was no shortage of religious teachers in Israel. There were lots of rabbis, as well as the other religious leaders.
So what was it about Jesus that drew all this attention?
Matthew 7:28-29 -
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
He simply didn’t teach like the rest of them. He taught with an authority that was lacking among the other teachers.
This authority came from the fact that he was the Son of God, and was the Word of God who had come in the flesh.
And this brought amazement to those listening.
So what about you? Are you amazed by the teachings of Jesus?
If not, why not?
Of course, you have to be reading the Bible to find these teachings, so that’s step one.
After that, it takes an attitude that says, "Okay Jesus, bring it on. Help me to be amazed at your words. Make them alive to me, and me alive to them."
And even if you don’t find yourself expressing that attitude, then just ask yourself this question:
"Can I think of anyone else whose words changed as many lives and the course of history as well?"
Folks, that should be enough to bring amazement. So be amazed at his teaching. Next, I want to encourage you to...
Be amazed at his power and authority...
Jesus demonstrated power and authority in a number of areas and over a number of things. I want to quickly look at just five of these.
First, Jesus has power and authority over sin.
There’s a rather popular story about Jesus in Luke 5, where four guys bring a paralyzed man to Jesus. The crowd was huge, and they couldn’t get their friend to him, so they tore a hole in the roof.
When Jesus sees what’s going on, seeing the faith of the man’s friend, he looks at the guy, and what’s the first thing he says to him?
"Friend, your sins are forgiven."
Well, this sends the religious leaders into a tizzy, because they say that only God can forgive sin. And they were absolutely right! But they didn’t recognize who Jesus was, so he starts letting them know. We pick it up in verse 24 -
But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."...Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God.
Jesus has the authority and power to forgive sin.
And that’s good news for you and me, that’s for sure! Anyone here ever sin? The fact of the matter is that everyone here has sinned, and sin separates us from God.
But Jesus has the power and authority to forgive that sin, if you’ll come to him, seeking forgiveness, and purposing to turn from it with his help. No matter the "size" or number, he’s ready to forgive. He can, because he’s got the power and authority.
And if you have been forgiven, then I think that’s cause for amazement.
In fact, let’s stop for a moment and just tell God, "Wow." Everyone: Wow.
Okay, now backward: Wow. Now upside down: Mom.
The second area in which he has power and authority, is over the enemy.
Luke 9:42b-43 -
But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.
Make no mistake, folks, we have an enemy, and he hates you and me with a passion that is impossible to measure.
When he was on earth, Jesus saw the enemy manifested in the lives of people who had been possessed by demons, or fallen angels who had followed Satan in his rebellion.
But the great news is that the enemy and his minions had no power over Jesus then, and they have no power over him now.
His authority over the enemy extends to today, and you and I don’t have to live in fear of him today.
You know, with all the scary movies and stuff that glorify evil, it’s hard to see any real victory, but let me tell you something: the victory’s already been won! We have it now!
He also has power and authority over illness.
Matthew 15:31 -
The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
Jesus was doing this kind of thing all the time. And he’s still doing it today.
Have any of you ever witnessed someone being healed miraculously like this?
I have - and it’s amazing.
How about seeing someone who was mute all of a sudden be able to speak?
Some of you are wishing Jesus would make certain people mute, especially if it’s a brother or sister-in-law.
But here’s something even more amazing: He also has power and authority over death.
John 11:43-44 -
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
A while back we looked at how Jesus exercised that power and authority in bringing a little girl back to life.
But this is a little different. In the first case, the young girl had died just moments before. And skeptics could point to the possibility of the girl just being resuscitated rather than actually brought back to life, although the Bible says that her spirit had left her body. She was dead.
But not in this case. The Bible says that Lazarus had been dead for four days! Sealed up tight in an airless tomb.
And what does Jesus do? He says, "Dead, shmead." And he brought Lazarus out alive.
When Jesus was told that little girl was dead, he said, "Dead, shmead." And he brought the little girl back to life.
And when Jesus was on the cross, and he gave up his life, the enemy looked at Jesus and said, "He’s dead." But Jesus said, "Dead, shmead."
Because not only does Jesus have power and authority over other people’s deaths, he had power and authority over his own. And because of that, he defeated death and the grave - for him and for us.
And this should lead us to awe and amazement of his power and authority, just as we should find amazement in his authority over heaven and earth, which is the fourth area of his power and authority that I want us to look at today.
Matthew 28:18 -
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."
This is kind of self-explanatory, but let me just reiterate the fact that the Father has given that authority to Jesus.
He has that authority now, and it’s on that authority that we are to go out and make disciples in all nations.
And one day that authority will be acknowledged by every living creature on earth, as every knee will bow in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and everyone will finally recognize that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus has power and influence over all things. Should this not bring us to awe and amazement?
Let’s move on and take a look at something else that I think we should be amazed at, and I think it’s that we need to...
Be amazed at his excellence.
Mark 7:37 -
People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
Jesus was no slouch, folks. He not only worked hard at everything he did, he did everything well.
Why is this so important? For a couple reasons.
First, because it let’s us know that Jesus gave it his very best in all things, and that included his sacrifice for you and me on the cross.
He didn’t go half-way about it. He did it and he did it well.
The second reason this is so important is because it should drive us to be excellent in everything we do, so we can be an accurate reflection of Jesus.
In my opinion, God has given everybody gifts, talents, and abilities, that when used, will allow you to be excellent in what you undertake.
But even when we’re in situations where we can’t use those abilities, our efforts should never be sloppy or haphazard. We should always attempt excellence.
Even here at church, we strive for excellence. We’re constantly evaluating and re-evaluating what we do, and looking for ways to enhance our worship and discipleship offerings, so we can be excellent. Not so we can brag, but because excellence reflects Jesus.
His excellence is a reason to be in amazement of Jesus.
And lastly, I think we need to...
Be amazed at his love.
John 10:11 -
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
Huh? What’s this got to do with being amazed by Jesus?
Well, just think about it. Do you really think you deserve the love of Jesus? Hmmmm?
The Bible says that we deserve hell. But Jesus says that he doesn’t want you to go there.
The Bible says that there is no one who loves God on their own. God had to step in just to make that possible.
But what’s so amazing about that? Well, this verse says that Jesus was willing to lay down his life for you.
I’m sure that you have family who would lay down their lives for you. Maybe you have some good friends who would do that.
But what about an enemy? Can you imagine laying down your life for someone who has treated you horribly, maybe even killed someone you love?
That’s what Jesus did.
And because of what he did, there is no sin he cannot forgive, and no person outside of the love of Christ.
Now if that’s not amazing, I don’t know what is.
Conclusion
Okay, so we’ve talked about four areas that should bring us to awe of Jesus. And we could go on for a long time. We could also talk about being in awe of the Father and the Holy Spirit, and about being in awe of God in general.
But here’s a question for us to ponder as we get ready to close: What amazes Jesus?
Did you know that Jesus was amazed at times while he was on earth? It’s true. Scripture tells us a couple things that amazed Jesus. Here’s the first one:
Possession of great faith.
Matthew 8:10 -
When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith."
And he was amazed when confronted with a...
Lack of any faith at all.
Mark 6:6 -
And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
It’s important to understand that these people had a faith in God, they were religious people, and all that.
But they lacked faith in Jesus. They were from his hometown, had seen him grow up, and now when confronted with his power, they can’t handle it, and refused to believe in him.
So what? My point here is that we might think that our "religion" is enough, and that we can get along just fine with a base-line faith in God but not much in Jesus, but we’re mistaken if we think that.
Go to the next level. Don’t settle for just a base-line faith. Decide that you will live a life of awe and amazement in Christ.
And when your life is marked and characterized by awe of Jesus, things start to happen.
Things like a more enjoyable walk with Jesus, which leads to a fruitful life, filled with significance, security, and purpose.
So I hope that you can be someone who possess great faith.
But back to the point of the message for a moment:
Do you live in awe and amazement of Jesus? Do approach the Scriptures anticipating what Jesus is about to do in you, through you, and even in you? The power of his teaching is still here in the Bible today.
Do you look with awe and amazement on the fact that the power and authority of Jesus is still active today, in every corner of the earth?
Does awe and amazement flood your soul when you consider the fact that the things that Jesus did back in the Bible he can still do today?
Does the excellence of Jesus fill you with awe and amazement? Especially considering the fact that he is working in you?
Do you look with awe and amazement at the fact that Jesus saw you as someone he could love and even die for?
If none of this stirs you, then my prayer is that you will be open to the Holy Spirit’s moving in you as you leave here today.
