Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. Isaiah prophetically declared
the reaction of men to the person and work of Christ, saying, Behold,
my servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled
and be very high. As many as were astonished at
thee, his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form
more than the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle many nations.
The kings shall shut their mouths at him, for that which had not
been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard
shall they consider. He said they were speechless
in His presence. They are overwhelmed at His doctrine,
and they are agape at that which He has performed, even though
they have no understanding of the import of it, nor any respect
unto Him. When the Lord Jesus began His
ministry in the temple at the age of twelve, He fulfilled this
prophecy in part, and all that heard Him were astonished at
His understanding and answers. Even His parents were amazed,
and He replied, How is it that ye sought Me? wished ye not that
I must be about my father's business, and they understood not the saying
which he spake unto them. Mary pondered these things. The
Greek word which is translated in the text in Luke 2.47 as astonished
could be translated as became insane or out of one's mind.
It carries with it the notion of extreme agitation and wonderment. This is the reaction of all men
to the Savior. It is impossible to be neutral
in regards to him. He is the King of kings and Lord
of lords, worthy of all praise, and is the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. To supposedly be indifferent to him is to ignore God, the
same as being against him, and is a rejection of him as Lord.
The person and work of Christ is the dividing line between
those who are saved and those who are lost. Some are astonished
at his doctrine and rise up in rebellion against it, hating
not only its content but its messenger. Others are astonished
at his doctrine and are compelled to bow down before his feet,
confessing, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. This
is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, as they are given the
gift of faith. Many pay lip service to being
his followers, like the multitudes which followed him when he was
performing miracles openly and feeding them with loaves and
fishes. Yet the day came when those same multitudes were astonished
at the content of his message. From that time many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. That message which
astonished them was this, No man can come unto me except it
were given unto him of my father. Many of them said his doctrine
was a hard saying, since it clearly revealed that salvation was totally
of grace and not based on any sort of merit or carnal standing.
This response is not surprising since the same reaction takes
place today when the very message that Christ set forth is preached.
Religious men will follow Christ for any number of reasons, yet
when they hear the truth of his electing grace, plainly spoken,
they will reject it, saying, this is a hard saying. To reject
the message which the Savior preached is to reject the Savior.
Did he not say, if you love me, keep my commandments? And why
call you me Lord, Lord, and do not, or love the things which
I say? One of the most astonishing aspects of the Lord's teaching
was that He spoke with authority. He is the eternal and living
Word of God, and every word which He spoke was with power, and
not simple religious sayings which comfort the carnal mind.
The words which He spoke were powerful and smoked men in the
heart. The Pharisees often tried to
trip him up with questions which they felt would overturn the
truth that he preached. Yet this was all to no avail,
because his word cannot fail to accomplish the very thing
which he sends it to do, whether it is a word of deliverance to
those in bondage, or a word of condemnation to those who are
satisfied with their religion. He is an astonishing Savior because
He despised the righteous and accompanied with sinners. For
I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He
is an astonishing Savior because He gained His greatest victory
by dying. And having small principalities
and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. He is an astonishing Savior because
He was wounded in the house of His friends and died to save
those that despised Him. But God commendeth His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
He is an astonishing Savior because He embraced death and destroyed
it in one fell swoop. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. Is he your hope? If you would
like a free transcript of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor
at windstream.net.