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)
Struck with astonishment sounds a little like getting hit by a lightening bolt, and maybe it felt a little like that on this amazing day in Capernaum. When that former paralytic stood up and started walking, everyone there was "struck with astonishment". The two Greek words used here, "lambanō" for struck and "ekstasis" for astonishment are worth looking closer. Lambanō is a prolonged verb form and means to take hold of and not let go. When they were seized, they stayed seized. So should we all. When we are seized by astonishment at the power of Christ, we need to stay seized.
If we look closely at the word ekstasis, we can see it is the root for our word ecstasy and indicates a kind of "displacement of the mind" in which all one's attention/heart becomes focused on that which has seized it. What a wonderful thing to have our heart completely focused on Christ! It's not likely those people were ever the same again. In fact, "lambanō ekstasis" says they were changed forever.
Today, pray that we and our loved ones would experience the lambanō ekstasis of Christ and be forever changed.
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