Blow-up snowmen on the front yard look really festive at night, but the next day you drive by and, deflated, they look like a heap of old construction plastic, blown onto the lawn.  Doesn’t have quite the same effect.  The word, “awesome,” has become deflated by overuse and now lies, lifeless and ineffective.  Mostly, things called “awesome” don’t begin to fill us with awe.  Likewise, the word, “wonderful.”  Originally, that word meant something that would fill our hearts and minds with gaping wonder!  Something “wonderful” would take your breath away and cause your knees to fail.   When an infant opens her eyes for the first time, when she begins to try to imagine where she is and what is happening, she is seeing something “wonderful.”

Hang on to that full meaning of “wonderful” and read this portion of the Christmas prophecy of Isaiah:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful …” (Isaiah 9:6a)

Lots of people laid eyes on Jesus, but not all of them had the “eyes to see” Him.  His disciple, Thomas, didn’t “see” Him fully until after the resurrection when Jesus invited him to touch His wounds from the cross.  Something clicked for Thomas at that moment.  He saw that Jesus was “Wonderful.”

“Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”” (John 20:28)

Crossing over from looking at Jesus to truly “seeing Jesus,” knowing He is “Wonderful,”  is sort of like opening a valuable Christmas present.  For days you have seen it, wrapped, but you didn’t know what it was or even if you would like it.  Every now and again, you open a gift and discover that what’s inside is beyond anything you might have imagined.  When that happens with Jesus, you will call Him “Wonderful!”

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.