The Reports

“They were extremely astonished and said, ‘He has done all things well! He even makes deaf people hear, and people unable to speak, talk.” (Mark 7:37)

The popular report on Jesus was that “He has done all things well.” People saw no fault in Him, and no guile, and they saw all the good He did in healing the unhealable. They viewed Him as a champion for the poor and the suffering, and people identified with Him. What these folks in the Decapolis region (“Ten Cities Region, east of the Jordan and south of Galilee) expressed represents the view of so many others who witnessed the works of Jesus.

The official report, however, the one held by many Pharisees and Sadducees, was that Jesus had to die. He was upsetting the status quo – their status, in particular. Jealousy was another motivation, because the people identified readily with Jesus rather than with them. They saw Jesus as a threat to everything that was important to them.

Hebrews 2:7-8 reads, “Therefore He had to be like His brothers in every way, so that He could become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, to make propitiation for the sins of people. For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested.”

In our world today, there are many who see Jesus as a threat to what is important to them, but for those who know Him through faith, “He has done all things well.” He has been where we are and has overcome, in order to show us the way. So follow Him we will.

Lord, We thank You for coming to where we are, so that we may go where You are. Amen.