Luke 5:26

Has God ever moved in your midst? Have you ever known for certain that an occurrence was the direct result of the movement of His hand? That very experience is what this verse relates to today. God still moves in ways that only He can bring about. Not only does He do this, but He delights in doing it! He loves an “impossible” situation! Surprise...I am reminded of another verse! 26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matt 19:26 (NIV)
With these moves of His hand, glory can only be ascribed to Him. God has a profound interest in His name being glorified among people; as John Piper states: “God has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the fame of His name among the nations.” His name is particularly glorified whenever His hand does only what God can do! A perfect example is found in Psalms 19: 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalms 19:1 (NIV)
Have you ever noticed how quickly and easily humans take the credit and praise? Isn’t it refreshing when God acts so clearly that it leaves no room for human bravado – I love it when God moves in such a way! Jesus had just healed a paralytic in the presence of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. He stated to the paralytic that his faith had healed him and that his sins were forgiven. Jesus instructed him to get up, take his mat and go home. The verse today is the reaction of the people present at this healing. I think you will enjoy the Greek definition of a few of the words used here. The word rendered “amazed” is made up of two Greek words the first being “Ekstasis” meaning astonish, amaze, bewilder. It is a sense of breathtaking and profound amazement coupled with exquisite dread at the sight of something remarkable, incredible, strange or supernatural; the gripping fascination with some enthralling phenomenon which drives one from his powers of reason in order to encounter it. The word portrays someone as being carried away out of mind, being so psychologically and emotionally moved by some fantastic sight that he loses all sense of his present situation. He is held captive by it and falls under its sway because it is beyond his power to impose rational controls on the object of wonder. The second Greek word used to make up this word is “Lambano” meaning any strong affection or emotion to seize, to fall upon or to come over someone. In other words, when God’s hand so clearly moves, it simply blows us out of the water! We are left with two choices – He is to be glorified or it was merely random chance or happenstance. Hmmm – I wonder which takes greater faith to believe??? These people accepted this miracle from His hand and gave Him the due glory. When it states that they “gave praise to God” it depicts the action of bestowing glory, honor and recognition on that which is excellent and highly impressive. The idea is to speak highly of the greatness and excellence of someone. No wonder they were filled with respect and honor (awe) they had seen distinctly with their own eyes something beyond their expectations – a miracle! It was a God thing. Do it again, Lord!