20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.
When God is moving in someone’s heart, it might seem strange to those who see that moving! In the above text we see the first ministry after his conversion. Those who heard and observed were “amazed.” This word is used 17x in the New Testament. It is used to describe the reaction to much of Jesus’ ministry. It is used to describe what those who were there on the day of Pentecost thought when they heard the disciples speaking in tongues ... they were amazed. It will be used later in Acts when the church prays for Peter to be released from prison and suddenly he is standing before them. His movement in our lives is something to be amazed about. This is especially true when God has changed or is changing lives of mankind. In this case, God was changing Paul. Paul has, to this point, persecuted the Church and the Son of God. Now he is preaching the Son of God. That is the power of God’s working. Paul, himself, will eventually write words that characterize this very thought:
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
God can make that change so sudden, that is becomes amazing to natural man. We tend to see it as strange. But it should be strange that we are not amazed at God’s work more often.
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