Amazing Jesus

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Rob McFarlane 0:29

The title of my sermon today is Amazing Jesus. The word amazed in the New Testament is also translated as astonished or marveled. And today I'm using the New International Version which uses the word amazed in the verses that we're looking at today. A dictionary definition of amazed is to be astonished, bewildered, and perplexed. It's to be surprised and to wonder about something. And it can be in the positive and in the negative. Today we're going to look at amazing Jesus from the New Testament. And the first we'll see is in the negative and the second in the positive. We'll see that Jesus was amazed at a lack of faith. In Mark chapter 6, verse 6, it says, He was amazed at their lack of faith. Now let's read the full account of Mark chapter 6, verse 1 to verse 6 from the New International Version of the Bible. Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples, and 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's been given to him? What are these remarkable miracles he's performing? 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, A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his own relatives, and in his own home. He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few people who were ill and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Let's unpack this together. We see that Jesus could not perform miracles because the people in his hometown did not honor him. Because they knew him. They knew him as the carpenter, they knew him as Mary's son, they knew his brothers and sisters. And often we can let familiarity or our understanding that someone is just an ordinary person prevent God using them in our lives for our good and God's glory. Do not discount God using people that you know to minister to you. Sometimes familiarity can breed contempt. And we saw that in Jesus' ministry. When he began to teach and share and minister, even though they were amazed at what he was doing, they took offense. An offense cuts off God's blessing flowing towards us. Offense is like closing the tap and forgiveness and humility opens the tap of God's blessing flowing in our lives. Jesus could not perform miracles because he was not honored in his hometown. And I think it's important for us to recognize that even though the Son of God, who was amazing and could could perform amazing miracles, was limited because of the lack of faith that he encountered in his hometown. I found that if we don't honor the leadership that God has placed in our local churches, then we do not enable them to lead effectively, and we can limit the flow of the gift that God has put on their lives to minister to us. I often speak in other churches and I've spoken in different settings around the world, and I find that when I go as a guest minister, it's amazing what God does. People listen intently, people are open to God doing things, and there's a real flow of signs, wonders, and miracles confirming the preaching of God's word. But often in my hometown, in my local church, where people have become familiar with me, the same impact is not always present. And I think it's important for us to be in a church where we get to know the leaders and we we see them through the through you know through through the good, the bad, and the ugly. We see who they are, we're able to follow their example and sometimes sometimes they make mistakes. But let's not dishonor them and uh and limit what God can do through them in our lives. Let's be open, let's honor those that God has placed in leadership in our local churches. Jesus was amazed at great faith. We read this in Luke chapter 7 and verse 9. 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. Let's read the full account of this encounter with Jesus. It's in Luke chapter 7, verse 1 to verse 10, and I'm reading from the New International Version of the Bible. When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There, a centurion's servant, whom his master valued highly, was ill 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. And they came to Jesus and pleaded earnestly with him, this man deserves to have you do this for him, 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 come and he comes, and I say to my servant, Do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, 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. So let's look at what great faith is as illustrated in this event. First of all, we see in verse 2 and 3 that we can come to Jesus on behalf of others. The centurion was concerned for his servant whom he loved, who was ill and nearing death, and he approached the elders of the Jews who then approached Jesus. And great faith is not centered around our needs, but includes the needs of others. And we can come to Jesus on behalf of others. This is often called intercession, a type of prayer where we come and we pray on behalf of someone else. And you know, having an others-oriented life is attractive to God. He calls that great faith. Secondly, in verse 6 and 7, we see he came to Jesus with humility and not with entitlement based on his good life. He was a generous man, he loved Israel, and he built a synagogue for the people in the area that he served. He was a good man, he was known for his good works, but he was humble and said, I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof. I wouldn't even come to you myself, I wouldn't presume to do that. He was humble, he was a teachable man, he was not proud and arrogant. And great faith is based in a deep humility and understanding that even though we do good things, that doesn't earn us points with God. But we come to him with humility and appreciation. Great faith is a humble faith. Next we see in verse 8 that great faith is taking Jesus at his word. Just say the word and my servant will be healed. Faith is simply taking God at His word. It's not trying to hype ourselves up, it's not it's not taking a risk, it's taking Jesus at his word. Just speak the word. And finally, we see great faith is understanding the power of delegated authority. He recognized in his own life the power of delegated authority with soldiers when he said go and they went, and he said come, and they came, and giving instructions to his servant, what his servant would actually do. And he recognized that there is a structure of authority. He recognized the authority on Jesus' life, where Jesus said of himself, I don't just say whatever I want to say or do whatever I want to do, I do what the Father tells me to do. He understood the power of authority, and we need to understand the power of authority in our lives, delegated authority, in order for us to have great faith. We need to understand that in a local church, God has placed authority there to guide to God and to govern, to give direction so that we can grow. So today we saw that Jesus was amazed at a lack of faith, and we see that Jesus was amazed at great faith. When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith on the earth? If Jesus did a faith audit in your life, would he be amazed at the great faith or the lack of faith? Let's be those who develop and grow our faith in Jesus Christ. Remember, it's not how much faith you have, but it's who your faith is in. So let's pray. And as we do, ask the Holy Spirit to show you what he wants you to do as a result of what you've heard in today's sermon. Let's pray. Father God, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ. You love the world so much, you send Jesus Christ so that we can put our faith in him and have eternal life. Jesus, you were amazed at a lack of faith. And help us to honor those that you've placed in our lives so that we could see that them empowered and enabled to lead us, and that you could use them to minister to us in remarkable ways. Help us not to become discount what God can do through people in our lives. Lord Jesus, thank you that you were amazed at the great faith of that centurion who said, Just speak the word and my servant will be healed. Thank you for the lessons around that. Thank you that we can be humble, we can be teachable, we can come to you with an without a sense of entitlement, but in humility and receive from you. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.