And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
I remember the ads in the back of comic books for junk with the promise,”Amaze your friends!” The attraction to the amazement of the crowd is what drives entertainers. It is also what drives the gospel. In the second chapter of Acts, the apostles were doing amazing things. They were prophesying and speaking in other tongues, People heard the gospel in their own language from common men with no education. They were amazed.
They were also perplexed. This is a great word that means confused. When someone is perplexed, they are sometimes spurred on to solve the mystery that has confounded them. In this case, it was the mystery of the power of the Holy Spirit. Simon Magus wanted the power to amaze his friends but he was not interested in the source of that power.
We want the people we meet to be amazed. We want even more for them to be perplexed. We want them to wonder how we can endure the hardship we suffer with inexpressible joy. We want them to ask us where this power comes from. We can answer that it does not come from new wine but from a new life. The power that amazed these people was not their own. It came from God to transform them into agents for the triumph of the gospel. They were chosen for that purpose.
So are you if you are a follower of Christ. You are chosen to display the awesome power to go through life with the contentment that comes only through Jesus Christ. Let your light shine. It will…
Amaze your friends!