Luke 9:37-44 ~ a man from the crowd

Luke 9:37-44

37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38 And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39 And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. 40 And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” 41 Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43 And all were astonished at the majesty of God.

But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, 44 “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”

We all have something only God can do and it causes us to marvel. I am astonished when I fly in an airplane at night and see lights on the ground - houses - cities - and God knows each of us as a light, loves us, created us and knows us better than a first name basis - intimately.

Today, I was thinking about what Jesus said when another man from the crowd asked Jesus a question and phrased it, "Good teacher." Jesus replied, "Only One is good."

Imagine having an extremely unusual work day. So unusual, in fact, that Moses and Elijah drop in. And it.... scares your co-workers to death....they start talking about building another office for them. Your co-workers are so scared, they start mumbling really funny little ideas. At that point, are you supposed to listen to your famous visitors or take care of the co-workers who are as afraid as if they'd seen a ghost? In the middle of this amazing time, you've got a balancing act, instead of a precious memory.

Let's add another component to this really unusual day and say that you've also come to terms with a diagnosis of being terminally ill with something very painful. So, you've got a lot on your plate. After your famous visitors leave, you are trying to come down from this mountain. You've got a lot to think about, but one of your many clients, a situation your employees should be able to routinely cope with, comes in with a very serious problem with the client's son.

Wouldn't you like to tell them all to just leave you alone for a minute? Or even rage at the incompetence of these blunderers. Or even something like this gritted teeth reply, "Excuse me, I have to go take care of an important call." And that would be a mild reply.

And all were astonished at the majesty of God.

We love a God who has made time for us when He is busy..... A God who is honest enough to say, correctly, we are faithless, when He could have said many more hurtful things and stayed well within honesty. We love a God who cared when we pushed our hurting child forward....

We are never a face in the crowd to God, but sometimes we put God far away in our crowd.
We love a God who would die for us. We love a God who redeems us, at an enormous cost to Himself.

Thank You, Father God, You have time for me. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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