We Never Saw Anything Like This!

If Chapter 1 of Mark gave me a sense of urgency.  Chapter 2 gives a sense of awe and wonder.  In this prayerful reading, I notice that Jesus heals people.  He can even heal leprosy, which was incurable at that time, and reverse paralysis, something we can’t do today.  He forgives sins.  He turns the usual ideas of holiness upside down by associating with sinners, and neglecting to fast.  People were rightly amazed.  They glorified God, saying:

“We never saw anything like this!” Mark 2:12b

So, I wonder, why aren’t we equally surprised?  Why don’t our hearts pound, when we read about the miracles Jesus performed?  Maybe we’re too used to all the biblical stories about Jesus, so they cease to astound us.  My husband has a film clip he once showed the teenagers at church,  in which a youngster being interviewed reported, “Jesus was just a regular guy who could do miracles.”  Our young people laughed, of course, but isn’t that the way we all think sometimes?  Or maybe we even believe His miracles were invented by His followers, or exaggerated.  It’s too much to wrap our minds around, so we find a way to just ignore or minimize it.

We shouldn’t do this.  We should let ourselves dwell on the fact that Jesus wasn’t a regular guy.  Although He was human in all ways, and could identify with us, He was and is more.  More than a good example to follow;  more than a great teacher;  more than an important historic figure who started a new religion.  Jesus was and is God.  He can do what no other man or woman could do.  He can not only heal us, He can save us.  He is the alpha and omega, the answer to all of our questions and all of all problems.  We’ve never seen anything like this!