Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, 'We have seen remarkable things today.' This comes after Jesus heals a paralyzed man and tells him his sins are forgiven.
The people's response is described as fear and awe and amazement. Not just gratitude or happiness. Something about witnessing God's action creates that complex response. I've noticed in my own spiritual experience that the moments where I've actually encountered something transcendent don't leave me just happy. They leave me humbled. Changed. A little frightened. In awe. Luke honors that complexity. Real encounter with the divine isn't pleasant and comfortable. It's awesome in the original sense—full of awe, full of trembling recognition that something greater than me is real.
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