In studying the Bible, I am aware that
true miracles, things unexplained by human reason, can only occur when Jesus
does them. Consider first the Pharaoh’s wizards and advisors. When
Moses came before Pharaoh with the ability to turn a rod into a snake, Pharaoh
countered by having his advisors do the same. Pharaoh did not attribute
the “miracle” to Yahweh. When Moses, at the prompting of God, had locusts
enter Egypt and eat the harvest, Pharaoh was perplexed because he could not
explain the influx of locusts, but it did not trouble him. When Moses said
God would kill the first-born of every household that did not smear the blood
of an untainted lamb on the doorposts (believers of Yahweh did this), Pharaoh
scoffed, but did not do it. Pharaoh believed the next morning because he saw
the might of Yahweh. Until physical miracles affect the spiritual side of
a person, they are not true miracles. In other words, a physical miracle must
instill the awe of God in the person so the person believes God actually did
the action and worships Him.
Let us consider a few miracles Christ
performed while He was doing His ministry on earth. First, look at the
story of Peter’s mother-in-law in Mark 1:29-31. When Jesus, John, James, Andrew,
and Peter arrived at Peter’s house, Peter told Jesus his mother-in-law was sick. Usually
women prepared the meal or other food and drink for guests. Peter
explained his mother-in-law was unable to serve them. Peter’s wife would serve. It
does not appear Peter asked Jesus to do help his mother-in-law, but Jesus
showed the disciples He has power to heal the sick. He just showed He
could remove demons from a person (a spiritual need). Now Jesus showed He could
physically heal a person. He offered no fancy words for Peter’s
mother-in-law to hear to help her trust Him. Jesus took her hand and
helped her arise from the bed. The mother-in-law had to believe Jesus for
her body to be able to stand. No words passed between them, but their
spirits connected. She trusted in who Jesus is.
Consider, too, the man with leprosy in
Mark 1. This man came to Jesus. He accepted Jesus was able to heal people.
The leper just had to be in Jesus’ presence to ask for healing. He asked
for Jesus’ blessing of healing by saying, “If you are willing, you can make me
clean” (Mark 1:40). Jesus willingly healed the leper’s body and thereby
made him ritually clean. Having leprosy in those times made a person unclean
in the religious sense. The Mosaic laws disallowed him to go to the
synagogue. Being unclean meant lepers lived outside the city/town as an outcast
away from other people. Yet, this leper had such faith in Jesus he presented
himself, though unclean, before Jesus and asked for healing. This was the
prelude to Jesus’ ministry on earth. Jesus came to make sinners clean so they
can be in God’s presence for eternity. He healed this man’s body and
cleansed him spiritually.
Consider now a nobleman’s child. In
John 4:46-54, a royal official walked from Capernaum to Cana (about 27 miles)
to meet with Jesus. He asked Him to go to his house. The nobleman
believed that if Jesus came to his house, He could heal his child. Theologians
and historians consider this nobleman was a courtier of the king. Others understand
he was the king of a small location, like a tetrarch. Still others figure this
nobleman was a centurion under Herod Antipas. Whatever he was, he was a
Roman royal subject. It says a lot that a Roman would hear of and trust
Jesus, a Jew, could heal his child. This Roman believed good could come
from the Jews and Jesus could heal his child. His faith, though, was not
complete. The Roman asked Jesus to go to his home and heal his
child. Jesus confronted the Roman’s unbelief when he said in verse 48,
“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” He
challenged the Roman’s faith and required him to believe. The Roman still
did not trust and requested Jesus to come with him in verse 49. In verse
50, though, Jesus commanded him, a Jew commanding a Roman, to “Go; your son
lives.” At that point, the Roman believed and returned to his home. Before
he arrived home, his servants met him on the road and told him his son no
longer had a fever. The fever broke when Jesus proclaimed the Roman’s son healed. Jesus
rewarded the Roman’s belief. The physical miracle met with spiritual belief
and a true miracle occurred. A new believer was born.
Jesus healed many people during His
ministry. He touched many people and many people touched Him. Some
people Jesus did not touch, but commanded. His ability to command
obedience among the Jews as well as among the leaders of the country is
astounding considering He was a carpenter’s son. This showed God’s Spirit spoke
to the person’s spirit affirming who He is. Cleansing, healing, and
becoming children of God could not occur without the person’s belief. For a
true miracle to occur, a spiritual belief along with a physical blessing must
occur. When only physical occurrences happen, it cannot necessarily be
said the miracle came from God. When we automatically give glory to God
for a physical blessing, then we acknowledge a true miracle. This sounds simple,
but if it was simple, why were the Hebrews, particularly the Jewish leaders
(Pharisees and Sadducees), unable to believe in Him? Part of the reason is
like the reasons people state today; they do not want to give control of their
lives over to someone else, especially to some personage "out there”. People
want to “see to believe,” about which Jesus challenged the Capernaum Roman
nobleman. Jesus challenged Saint Thomas on this point, too. Thomas did
not believe until he saw the nail prints in Jesus’ hands and feet. Jesus,
at that point, told the disciples, blessed is he who believes without
seeing.
Miracles occur nowadays. We observe
them every day when healing occurs to cancer patients. When these
occurrences affect our spiritual life, then they are true miracles. Jesus’
miracles affect both the physical and the spiritual aspects of life. God
blesses us when we believe without seeing. He blesses us with faith if we will
ask Him for this gift. Believing is not hard to do. We must be willing to
accept God is real and He has an eternal gift for us – faith - that leads to
belief in Jesus Christ. The question we must each ask ourselves is will we
believe God is. On this hinges not the stuff of our lives and our
eternity.
