I’ve been thinking about miracles lately. In the Old Testament, we see a grand display of miracles in the life of Moses and the early exodus story. But once they are on their way beyond the Red Sea, miracles became, in a general sense, more of a immature demand of the people for their survival and something which God did with wrath. The Pentateuch seems to portray a general frustration with the people’s unwillingness to grow up and trust. Miracles, it has been noted, are totally absent from the entire life of David. Some of the prophets, especially Elijah and Elisha, did miracles. But they are scarce in the prophetical and poetical books. In the New Testament, the initiation of the ministry of Jesus is full of miracles and the amazed crowds. But it seems to me, especially in Mark, that the miracles become less prominent in the later part of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Indeed, the crowds start thinning out as the miracles become less frequent and Jesus’ teaching takes center stage. Truth just isn’t as attractive or interesting as miracles. The point seems to be that without relationship there is no miracle. By the time we get to the cross, devoid of miracle, nobody’s there. Then with Paul, his ministry begins with miracles too. The Acts highlights these significant events. But they too seem to fade the further into Paul’s ministry we go. Again, the truth becomes more central. By the time we find Paul under house-arrest in Rome, it is all about theological discussions. No miracle. I suggest he died pretty much alone too. The Pauline, Petrine and Johannine corpus, all shedding some light on the earliest church, are shy to speak about miracles. The Apostolic Fathers carry on this trait. Truth trumps miracles consistently.
So, I’m thinking of miracles. Tomorrow I hope to write about the Dionysian tendencies in our religious phenomenology.
I saw this pic on the friend of a friend’s facebook. Creepy Sheepy!
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David Hayward is an artist trapped in a pastor's body, stripping to the essential.
I biggest miracle that I have ever witnessed… is that I am a believer.
If you knew me, you might agree…that is BIG!
– Steve M.
Great shot!
He got the ‘rock’ and the ‘hard place’ all in one.
I wonder what this sheep is thinking?
(Sheep DO think, don’t they?) ;^)
“I wonder what this sheep is thinking?”
‘I’m in a baaaaaad spot!’
Good one, Steve!
“Dionysian tendencies”? Have you seen this book:
http://www.amazon.ca/Pagan-Christianity-George-Barna/dp/141431485X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210123595&sr=8-1
I just started it. Wow!
great post david. i was going to write a post on the very same thing – especially the messianic secret in mark – but you’ve done a better job than i could have. good timely teaching.
Surely the two greatest miracles of all time are:
(1) The Resurrection of Jesus (without this there is no Christian Faith!)
(2) Salvation (ditto!) (Steve Martin’s comment I think is suggesting this)
The miracles in the Gospels surely have less prominence as the cross gets nearer – surely for that one reason alone – ie so we can focus on the cross.
My struggle would be with anyone who suggests that miracles are not important – particularly if they say so because they are unable to believe in them. Jesus’ miracles were important and clearly continue to be so today.
Take my dear friend Geoff (one of a number of miracles that I can give witness to) for example who was miraculously healed of cancer in extraordinary circumstances:
As people were praying for him, one of the intercessors discerned that God was going to heal him there and then. The cancer was cast out in Jesus name and immediately Geoff got a massive pain in his throat. The pain got so bad that he rushed to his doctor, who sent him straight to hospital. The hospital did an emergency xray and by the time the xray had developed, the cancer had quite clearly disappeared and so had the pain in Geoff’s throat.
This happened about eight years ago and he has been clear of cancer ever since.
This miraculous healing has obviously been important to Geof, but also important to the number of people who have come into a relationship with Christ partly due to Geoff’s testimony.
As John wrote – ‘Believe in me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of miracles themselves.’
in john, jesus own approach to signs is very very ambivalent at best. note how people are rebuked for only looking for signs (john 2:23-25; 4:48; 6:14-16 – jesus rejects the fame which came from his miracle-working) and then, as you point out, he asks his disciples to believe in him – or, for goodness’ sakes, if it takes it, if you’re so weak that you need it, if you don’t trust enough in my character per se, AT LEAST believe on the evidence of the mirackes themselves.
thus, in john, signs are there to be seen always byt the faithful. miracles are ultimately for those with inadequate faith.
when you tell me about someone being miraculously healed, of course my natural skepticism kicks in – i want to talk with the oncologist; i want to see the scans; i want to hear first hand. like many atheists have stated, show me an amputee whose limb has been restored without recourse to surgery. just one. then i’ll believe.
of course i do believe; not necessarily in every single story i hear, but rather in the lord god himself and that he is entirely capable of doing exactly what he wishes at any given time. miracles do happen. they are however only effective apologies (in the strict sense of the word) for the people who are directly involved (and even then, there is always a hermeneutic of suspicion which kicks in – as it should).
we are called not to believe in miracles, but rather to believe in the one sent by god himself – jesus christ, who, it seems, chooses to withold miracles much more readily than granting them. thus we follow him on the unmiraculous path to the cross, hoping against hope, praying against the evidence, daring to leap into the promise of a resurrection.
Shane you are right to point out that Jesus rebukes those who are only looking for signs. As with Simon the sorcerer – there can be an unhealthy approach to miracles and signs and wonders. Not sure though, that you can conclude from the Gospels that ‘miracles are ultimately for those with inadequate faith.’ The Bible is clear that Jesus could not do many miracles in places where there was a lack of faith.