They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen remarkable things today." (Luke 5:26 NASB)
There are so many terrific lessons in this little verse that it is hard to know where to start, but the beginning is always a good place. We will look later at the "what" of this verse, but for today, we are looking at the "who". The verse says "they were all..." The Greek word here is hapas and it means everyone who was there. It does not mean "generally most people", it means "all the people who were present".
Looking at the people who were present from the preceding verses, the paralytic was already heading home. Jesus certainly wasn't surprised (unless he was surprised by obedience, which, judging by our behavior at times, could certainly be possible). The only ones "all" could possibly refer to are the others present day, which includes the crowd filling the building, the men who brought the man on the stretcher to Jesus, and those least-likely-to-believe scribes and Pharisees. The power of God was so great that day that, even without booming thunder and flashing lightening, the attention of the least likely was quietly captured. In fact, not only their attention was captured but also their hearts. There was no denying that God had moved, no denying that the power had emanated from Jesus, no denying that the one who spoke of forgiving sin and healing the paralyzed could do what He said.
Today, pray that we and our loved ones will join the "all", that we will be among those who are not only present for the mighty works of God but also recognize them for what they are - miraculous encounters with The Divine One. Pray for the capture of hearts as well as attention to such a degree that no room for denials will remain.
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