Awestruck

 

And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men. (Matthew 9:1-8 ESV).

 

The word “afraid” in this translation of our reading is better understood as “awestruck.” Awe is what we experience deep inside us when something overwhelms our sense of understanding. When something is so big, so surprising, so much greater than anything we can produce, we respond with awe. I’ve been to many places in the world, some of which produced this sense of awe within me. I have seen some things that could be attributed to nothing short of a miracle. These things produced awe within me. Sometimes I wonder if we are losing our capacity for awe.

Our reading today takes place in the small town of Capernaum in northern Galilee. Though it was a good town, it wasn’t a place where momentous things usually
happened. But in this story a paralyzed man stood up and started walking! He just stood up, picked up his mat, tucked it under his arm, and walked home. The people had never seen anything like that before. What’s more, the man who had healed him had also said that his sins were forgiven. Imagine seeing all that with your own eyes. In their awe the crowd at Capernaum knew they were face to face with the power of God in the person of Jesus.

We see so many big things today. We have seen momentous events in science and medicine, on television, in movies with special effects that we tend to become overloaded with powerful impressions. When we grow used to such things, we tend to lose our sense of awe. That’s very sad for us. When that happens, we also lose our sense of God and his power, and both our faith and our worship suffer. Perhaps you should start again to recognize the majestic nature of God’s work. Spend a moment or two this evening outside just looking into the night sky. Try to count the stars. Then remember God simply spoke those into existence. That is a small step to being awestruck again!