“The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?”
Mark 6:2
Amazement was typically the response Jesus had on the people who crossed His path. They had apparently evaluated Him, and His words, His wonders and still could not figure Him out. They knew of His youth, saw Him and knew Him to be the son of a local carpenter. There was certainly nothing there to consider or suggest anything more. It was like being the son of the neighborhood mechanic.
He quickly pursues an effort to teach the Word of God, and that becomes Jesus’ platform to announce the Kingdom. It is a small beginning, but suddenly the supernatural shows up. People are getting healed. Amazement obviously follows. Questions get asked, and amazement starts to turn to worship for some. And others, well there is almost always a point were they arrive at in their thinking, but sadly they can advance no further. They will even ask those critical questions; where did this come from? What is causing these miracles to happen, and why is His teaching which is so profound?
Today, we are still trying to figure Him out. So few of us reach through far enough to touch Him. There is a revelation that must happen before we can really see and understand. It is one thing to be amazed, and quite the other to be transformed.
Please do not misjudge Jesus. Do not evaluate Him and pass your verdict on Him, making quick and irrevocable decisions that haven’t really been thought through. Keep asking yourself, “Who is Jesus?” And then listen very closely to the truth that awaits you.
ybic, Bryan
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Broken Believers 
Your comments reflects a major misconception that evangelicals have of orthodox Christians. Lutherans do not believe that baptism is necessary (mandatory) for salvation. Not even the Roman Catholic Church believes this. All the saints of the Old Testament, the thief on the cross, and thousand of martyrs down through the centuries have been saved without Baptism. Baptism is not the “how” of salvation!
Lutherans believe that baptism is one of several “when”s of salvation, it is not the “how” of salvation. The “how” of salvation is and always has been the power of God’s Word/God’s declaration of righteousness.
A sinner can be saved by the power of God’s Word when he hears the Word preached in a church, preached on TV or radio, reading a Gideon’s Bible in a hotel room, or reading a Gospel tract that contains the Word. Salvation is by God’s grace alone, through the power of his Word alone, received in faith alone. In each of these situations, the sinner is saved the instant he or she believes. Baptism is NOT mandatory for salvation to occur.
However, the Bible in multiple passages, also states that God uses his Word to save at the time of Baptism.
It is the work of the Holy Spirit, using the Word of God, that works salvation in the sinner’s spiritually dead soul, according to the second chapters of Ephesians and Colossians, and the third chapter of Romans. Your “decision for Christ” does not save you, neither does your decision to be baptized.
God saves those whom he has elected, at the time and place of his choosing. Sometimes God saves them while hearing a sermon in church, sometimes at home reading the Word, and sometimes by the power of his Word spoken during Baptism.
God does 100% of the saving. The sinner is a passive participant in his salvation. There is no passage in the New Testament that asks sinners to make a decision for Christ. The Bible states that God quickens sinners, gives them faith, and they believe and repent.
The sinner does not decide to be saved. God decides to save the sinner!
Gary
Luther, Baptists, and Evangelicals
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