"Being Astonished at the Teaching of the Lord"

Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark were in Paphos, teaching the word of the Lord. They met there a proconsul named Sergius Paulus, "an intelligent man," Luke tells us (Acts 13:7). But where the message of God goes, so follows false teachers. A Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus (or, more popularly, Elymas), "withstood them (Paul and his companions), seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith" (v. 8). Paul then rebuked him strongly and performed a notable miracle--Elymas was struck blind, "and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand" (v. 11).

You would think seeing something like that would be very impressive and awe-inspiring--even in Biblical times, miracles were rare and performed only for specific purposes. And Sergius Paulus might indeed have marveled at what Paul did. But that isn't what really amazed him: "Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord" (v. 12). Truly an intelligent man.

You see, it wasn't the miracle that astonished him. It was the fact that the Lord could save a wretched sinner like Sergius Paulus. Or you and me. That is truly an amazing thing, much, much more amazing than any miracle that God ever performed. There are people today who get so wrapped up in the miraculous that they forget that the true wonder is the grace of God, that He would stoop so low as to send His only begotten Son to die for contemptible, unworthy rogues like us.

The "teaching of the Lord" is indeed an astonishing thing.