Words

“And at once His fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.” (Mark 1:28).

Christ Sends Demons to the Pigs (Icon)

So many times I listen to something that my children have to say and I am astonished by them.

It sometimes seems to me that only yesterday I was teaching them everything that they knew.  The knowledge that they had was all the knowledge that I had shared with them.  They did not have any other source of truth or information other than the information hat I shared with them myself.  This meant that for a while my children only know what I knew – and a little less than I knew myself…  I could predict exactly how they would respond in every situation and knowing that I could direct them and guide them and I was rarely surprised by the information that they shared with me.

Those days are long behind me now.  Now, my children – who are adolescents – know about things that I have never taught them.  They have learned these things from school or among their friends.  They have learned this information from the internet or television or even from their own independent thinking and space.  My eldest son is a fan of science and chemistry.  The things that he knows in this area are far more than the things I would have been able to teach him, because I simply did not have that knowledge myself.  My second son understand technology intricately.  He knows how computers work and what software is most appropriate.  I will never be as technically savvy as that child is.  My daughter loves animals.  She spends a lot of time at school in the agricultural plot and can dust the chickens, feed the calves and deal with the alpacas in a way that I could never understand.

And I have been thinking about this knowledge that my children have that I could not have given them and I have been reflecting on the story in the Bible where Christ preached in the synagogue and the people did not understand how He had the knowledge that He had…

“And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’ And at once His fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.” (Mark 1:21-28).There was such astonishment with His words.  And this is because they came from a source bigger than those who listened.  And that same Source – God Himself – remains that bigger source.  Knowing that, I am quite overcome because the GIFT of the Son is the WORDS of the Father.  And what a gift it is!  Without those Words, I could never be saved…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.