Chadwick: amazed, but not convicted
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Meditation:
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”
And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
—Matthew 13:57-58 (NIV)
Quotation:
It is the custom of unbelievers to speak as if the air of Palestine were then surcharged with belief in the supernatural, miracles were everywhere. Thus they would explain away the significance of the popular belief that our Lord wrought signs and wonders. But in so doing they set themselves a worse problem than they evade. If miracles were so very common, it would be as easy to believe that Jesus wrought them as that He worked at His father’s bench, but also it would be as inconclusive. And how then are we to explain the astonishment which all the evangelists so constantly record? On any conceivable theory, these writers shared the beliefs of that age. And so did the readers who accepted their assurance that all were amazed, and that His report “went out straightway everywhere into all the region of Galilee.” These are emphatic words, and both the author and his readers must have considered a miracle to be more surprising than m! odern critics believe they did.
Yet we do not read that any one was converted by this miracle. All were amazed, but wonder is not self-surrender. They were content to let their excitement die out—as every violent emotion must—without any change of life, any permanent devotion to the new Teacher and His doctrine.
... G. A. Chadwick (1840-1923), The Gospel According to St. Mark, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1891, p. 33 (see the book)
See also Matt. 13:57-58; 9:32-33; 15:31; Mark 1:23-28; 6:2-6; Luke 4:33-36; John 4:48; 12:37; 1 Cor. 1:22-24
Quiet time reflection:
Lord, Your people know Your voice.CQOD Blog email RSS
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Meditation:
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”
And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
—Matthew 13:57-58 (NIV)
Quotation:
It is the custom of unbelievers to speak as if the air of Palestine were then surcharged with belief in the supernatural, miracles were everywhere. Thus they would explain away the significance of the popular belief that our Lord wrought signs and wonders. But in so doing they set themselves a worse problem than they evade. If miracles were so very common, it would be as easy to believe that Jesus wrought them as that He worked at His father’s bench, but also it would be as inconclusive. And how then are we to explain the astonishment which all the evangelists so constantly record? On any conceivable theory, these writers shared the beliefs of that age. And so did the readers who accepted their assurance that all were amazed, and that His report “went out straightway everywhere into all the region of Galilee.” These are emphatic words, and both the author and his readers must have considered a miracle to be more surprising than m! odern critics believe they did.
Yet we do not read that any one was converted by this miracle. All were amazed, but wonder is not self-surrender. They were content to let their excitement die out—as every violent emotion must—without any change of life, any permanent devotion to the new Teacher and His doctrine.
... G. A. Chadwick (1840-1923), The Gospel According to St. Mark, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1891, p. 33 (see the book)
See also Matt. 13:57-58; 9:32-33; 15:31; Mark 1:23-28; 6:2-6; Luke 4:33-36; John 4:48; 12:37; 1 Cor. 1:22-24
Quiet time reflection:
Lord, Your people know Your voice.
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posted by Robert McAnally Adams at 10/08/2013 02:00:00 AM
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