Skip to main content

Astonished Beyond Measure

What would it take to completely and totally astonish you?  And, if you found out that some others were astonished beyond measure, would you be curious to know why?


Before we get to the why, take a look at some other similar words that have been used to describe their experience of being astonished:


  • Astounded

  • Overwhelmed

  • Amazed

  • Surprised


But there’s more.  Surrounding those powerful words are some descriptive words that indicate the level or intensity of what they experienced:


  • Thoroughly

  • Completely

  • Overwhelmingly

  • Extremely

  • Exceedingly

  • Utterly

  • Totally


All those words are part of how different Bible translations present Mark 7:37 to us. The ESV puts it this way:  


And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”


The “He” is Jesus.   


The “they” were the crowds who had been observing Jesus.  And what they saw, among other things, was that He did all things well.  This was a huge contrast to their observations of the religious leaders.  The religious leaders kept putting burdens on people while Jesus told people to put their burdens on Him.  The religious leaders were quick to point out sins and avoided sinners while Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with them.


But probably what astonished them most was watching Jesus perform miracles.  Jesus had miraculously made the deaf to hear and the mute to speak and such was astonishing beyond measure.

 

So how could all this apply to us?  As we read the Bible, purposely look for Jesus.  As we see Jesus, look for the incredible things that He said and did.  Both changed people’s lives then and are still changing people’s lives today!  And that’s even more than astonishing! 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excel Still More!

To excel, according to some of the meanings from a few dictionaries, is to surpass others, do extremely well, outdo, do something better than anyone else. In 1 Thessalonians 4:1, we find the phrase “excel still more”.   It prompts the question:  if we are already doing something better than anyone else, why would we be encouraged to do even more? Perhaps it would be helpful to see the wording that other translations use for “excel still more” to see why we would be encouraged to do so.  Here is a sampling: • abound more and more • to keep doing so more and more • but try even harder • live that way more and more. • that you progress even more. • that you increase more and more in how you ought to walk Maybe it would also be helpful to see some other verses where the word “excel” is used: “Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which when translated means Dorcas); this woman was excelling in acts of kindness and charity which she did habitually.”...
Post a Comment
Read more

Value Proposition

Value proposition:  it’s a marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should buy a product or use a service.  It should clearly and concisely communicate what customers can gain from selecting a particular brand over that of its competitors. In a value proposition, you don’t want your product to be viewed as being worth less than what your competitors offer.   But even worse, in a bit of a quirk of how letters and spaces can fall, if you take out the space between “worth” and “less”, you get “worthless”, which means something of no value.   If that word is used in conjunction with how your product is viewed by customers, it’s a word that will likely kill your brand. In the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul, in a sense, communicated some value propositions. In chapter three, he starts off with describing the value of some things that many considered as extremely valuable in that day and age.   They had to do with status and achievement in the reli...
Post a Comment
Read more

Can't Get No Satisfaction

One of the songs that were popular in my youth was not particularly upbeat or helpful but it probably did express some of the angst of my generation.  It was not one that particularly resonated with me but as I recently read the book of Haggai, it did come to mind, well, at least some of the lyrics did.  It was the Rolling Stones song with the lyrics “I can’t get no satisfaction”.  Take a look at the chorus of that bleak song:   I can't get no satisfaction; I can't get no satisfaction; Gonna try and I try and I try and I try; I can't get no - I can't get no –   Now take a look at Haggai 1:6 – “ You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” It sure sounds like the people of Judah couldn’t get any satisfaction with the things of life that normally should have brought some type of s...
Post a Comment
Read more