By Grant Gaines
On a peaceful Sunday morning on the small Hawaiian island of Oahu in 1941, a young air force private noticed an unusually large blip on the outskirts of his radar screen. Concerned, he called his commanding officer over to take a look. “Don’t worry about it,” first lieutenant Kermit Tyler ensured the young man, it was probably just a pack of American B-17 bombers which were due in later that day from the mainland…
Unfortunately for Tyler and the rest of the soldiers stationed at Pearl Harbor, the large blip on the radar screen was not a group of American B-17 bombers but the first wave of more than 180 Japanese fighters who were in route to launch a surprise attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor. This seemingly small mistake led to what Franklin Roosevelt later called, “a date which [would] live in infamy.”
It’s sad to think that such horrible consequences could be born from such a careless mistake. But I would argue that as Christians, we can often make a similar error when reading the Bible.
For example, we know that Jesus was a pretty even keeled guy – He typically didn’t allow the situations and circumstances of life to drastically alter His attitude. But we do have those rare occasions in the Gospels when our “radar” shows an unusually emotionally-charged Immanuel. At that point we have a choice to make, just like first lieutenant Tyler. We could either gloss over the situation as though it were some sort of random occurrence, or we could heighten our attention in order to understand what really caused such a radical change in the Son of God’s attitude.
Of course, there are several instances that immediately come to mind when we think of a “spunky” Jesus. You probably remember Jesus passionately defending His Father’s house (John 2:12-17) or weeping at Lazarus’s funeral (John 11:35). But here’s one that you might not know – did you know that there are only two instances where Jesus was “amazed” in the Bible? Both cases involve faith.
In one of these occurrences, Jesus was amazed by a man’s incredible faith, and the in the other, Jesus was amazed by a town’s lack of faith. And as you know, faith is a rather important part of our religion—we are saved from an eternity separated from God by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). So as we study these two instances, ask yourself which of these two descriptions more accurately describes your own faith.
First, we’ll look at the bad example of faith found in Mark 6. Jesus had just finished calming storms (Mark 4:35-41), casting out demons (Mark 5:1-20), and raising the dead (Mark 5:21-43) when He decided it was time to make a visit to His hometown. As He walked into town, Jesus must have been excited to see His old friends and family and tell them about all of His thrilling adventures. But apparently, His hometown wasn’t quite as excited to see Him.
After teaching with great authority in the local synagogue one Sabbath, the people didn’t receive His message kindly. Instead, “…They scoffed, ‘He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And His sisters live right here among us.’ They were deeply offended and refused to believe in Him” (Mark 6:3, NLT, bold mine).
The problem with the town’s people is that they were so consumed with the things that Jesus was not (not an earthly king, rich, nor from a family of great influence) that they couldn’t understand who He really was (a heavenly king, rich in love and forgiveness, and the very Son of God). They were so focused on the here-and-now that they were blinded to the promise of eternal life in Jesus. And because of this, “…[Jesus] was amazed at their lack of faith” (Mark 6:6, NIV).
This is the type of faith that had Peter looking at the waves rather than at Jesus (Matthew 14:30). It’s the type of faith that had Thomas looking for excuses rather than looking for faith (John 20:24-29). And it’s the type of faith that has us looking at our bad situation rather than at our victorious Savior. Do you have this type of mis-focused faith?
Hopefully we don’t amaze God with our lack of faith like the town’s people of Mark 6, but rather amaze Him with our incredible faith like the man in Luke 7.
In this situation, Jesus had just finished giving the greatest sermon in history—the Sermon on the Mount—as He entered the town of Capernaum. As soon as Jesus stepped foot in the city, He received news that a centurion’s (a Roman officer) highly valued servant was sick and about to die (Luke 7:2). The centurion’s messengers pleaded with Jesus, “…’ [The centurion] deserves to have You [heal his servant], because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.’ So Jesus went with them” (Luke 7:4-6, NIV).
But when, “[Jesus] was not far from the house…” (Luke 7:6, NIV), the centurion sent more messengers to tell Him a new message. “….’Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof…But say the word, and my servant will be healed…’” (Luke 7:6-7, NIV). Even though Jesus was within minutes of physically touching and healing his servant, the centurion knew that distance was no obstacle for the Maker of the Heavens and the Earth. “When Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him…” (Luke 7:9, NIV).
This is the type of faith David had as he stood toe to toe with a 9’6” giant and declared, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Samuel 17:45, NIV). It’s the type of faith that has us, “… [fixing] our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:2, NIV) rather than our problems because, “[we] consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18, NIV).
Which type of faith do you have? Is it the type that amazes God in a good or bad way? At the end of the day, your faith is determined by your focus. Focus on God and your faith summits. Focus on your circumstances and your faith plummets. Do you want a faith that pleases God? You can if you follow the advice of the old hymn…
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
©Grant Gaines 2013
