“The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19, NASB)
Some find Jesus’
miracles hard to believe. To them, the Gospel accounts sound like fantasy or
myth, or at least superstitious exaggeration.
But look at the
incredible natural wonders all around you. Our world overflows with miracles we
would never believe if we didn’t see them for ourselves, or if scientists
didn’t assure us they were so. Couldn’t the Being who created all this also easily
do the miracles of Jesus?
Jesus turned six
large jars of water into wine (John 2:1-11). But the Creator does that on the
vine every day.
Jesus healed many
people sick with various illnesses and conditions. But that’s a small thing to
the Creator. He designed each of our bodies to continually heal themselves.
Right now your body is healing and restoring itself in thousands of ways
without you even being conscious of it.
Jesus calmed a
raging storm on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:23-27). But picture our globe
from the Creator’s point of view, with storms stirring and subsiding constantly
around the world. To calm one storm is nothing for Him.
Perhaps the hardest
miracle for us to accept is raising the dead. Jesus raised a widow’s only son
(Luke 7:11-16), a twelve-year-old girl (Luke 8:41-56), and His friend Lazarus
after he had been dead four days (John 11:1-45). Finally Jesus himself was raised
from the dead.
All myths?
The Creator brought
human life into being from the “dust of the earth”, that is, from the
natural elements found on this planet. Now that’s a miracle! Could not such a
One also resuscitate life whenever He chooses?
Look at a garden on
a bitter day in winter. If we knew nothing of seasons, would we ever believe
that same garden just a few weeks later, in the full bloom of spring?
Look at what rain
can do to a desert that seems utterly barren. It is transformed to a garden of
life – life unimagined just hours before.
Tiny seeds,
seemingly dry and hardened, will blossom to life when conditions are right. In
Japan, a single seed was excavated from an ancient settlement about two
thousand years old. The seed was planted, watered, and brought to life.
Further, it apparently proved to be a type of magnolia thought to be extinct
for a thousand years.
Look around. Is it
logical to believe that the One who created all this could not have done what
Jesus did? Is it logical to impose human limitations on a Being who can speak a
universe out of nothing?
The more we learn
of our world, the more we recognize in Jesus the same power, the same
astonishing wisdom, the same tender, intimate love.
That is what amazes
me most about Jesus’ miracles – not what He did, but how He did it. He didn’t
heal as we might expect a “god” to heal. He didn’t heal from a
distance. He wasn’t detached or “professional” or condescending. He
was moved with compassion. He gave of himself in deep love. He healed
face-to-face, not just with absolute power but with a personal touch and a
gentle word.
He loves us. The God
of all the universe loves us. That is the miracle.
The disciples discovered that
limited resources and
the forces of nature
were no challenge for their Master.
Which of your challenges are
no challenge for Him?
Hymn: See the Father Walk among Us
