Sharing the Excitement

Solar Eclipse 2017

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   How many of you remember the solar eclipse of 2017? Karen and I were living in Keizer at the time, and this placed us right in the zone of totality. We heard stories of people traveling from all across the country to places in Oregon where they could view the total eclipse. As the time approached, we put on our special glasses and looked up. Slowly, the moon began to cover the sun, the sky gradually became dark, and the temperature began to drop. Initially, the only sound was from confused crickets who evidently thought it was nighttime. After a moment or so, we could hear the ohs and ahs of amazement throughout the neighborhood. For months afterward, you could hardly go anywhere without hearing someone talking about how incredible that event was.

   Mark 1:21-28 records an event that took place early in Jesus' ministry that was even more incredible to the people than the solar eclipse of 2017. Jesus comes into the synagogue in Capernaum, teaching with an authority that was unlike anything the people had ever heard before. Enter a demon-possessed man who disrupts the service, announcing he knows who Jesus is and asking, "Have You come to destroy us?" Jesus commands him to be silent and to come out of the man, and immediately, the demon complies, fighting all the way. Again, the people are so astounded by what they saw that Mark says, "...the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee."

   As Christians, we know as well the amazing work of Jesus. We know all that God desires to know about His life and ministry through the witness of the Gospels. We may not have witnessed firsthand the miracles of Jesus, but 2 Peter 1:19 says, "So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts." Why, then, are we not as excited to talk about Jesus as those of us who witnessed it were to talk about the solar eclipse? Let us pray that God would give us the excitement to spread the news about Jesus to all the areas around us, that others might know Him as well.