Miracles

(The healing miracles of Jesus, following the Sermon on the Mount, and at the beginning of His public ministry)
1. Matthew 8: 1-4, Jesus heals a leper.
2. Matthew 8:5-9, Jesus heals the centurion’s servant.
3. Matthew 8:14-15, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law.
4. Matthew 8:16, Many demon possessed people are healed.
5. Matthew 8:28-34, Jesus drives the demons out of the two men from the tombs of the Gadarenes.
6. Matthew 9:1-7, Jesus heals a paralytic from Nazareth.
7. Matthew 9:18-26, Jesus raises a dead girl to life and heals the woman with an issue of blood.
8. Matthew 9:27-31, Jesus heals two blind men.
9. Matthew 9:32-34, Jesus drives the demons out of a man who was born mute.

There is more supernatural activity recorded in this short, but intense period of Jesus’ life than anywhere else in the Bible. God always has a reason for the things He does, and the order in which He does them. Doesn’t the Scripture tell us that, “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace”? These are not just random events. There is a reason why they happened, and a reason for when they happened. We must look at things in context to see the big picture.

No one would argue that seeing people healed is what we would all like to see at times. Wouldn’t you like to see the people that you pray for healed instantly? I would love to be able to put a whole lot of doctors out of business. Not that I would want them to go broke or anything. It would just be nice if there was no longer any need for their services! Maybe they could learn to program computers or something. On second thought, it would also be nice if there was not any need for computers! I hate to see people sick and suffering. If I had my way, I would just wave my hand and make it all go away. (Maybe that sounds a little too “Bruce Almighty”ish.)

No one would argue that seeing demons cast out of people isn’t a glorious thing. Today, in our “enlightened” times, we tend to shy away from the belief in demons, but that does not make them any less real. I can stand on the railroad tracks all day long and shout out, “I don’t believe in locomotives!”, but sooner or later one of them is going to come along and turn me into a greasy spot if I don’t move! I do believe that there is such a thing as true mental illness, but I also believe that some of what is labeled mental illness in our times is just plain, old fashion demon possession. I have encountered a lot of people in my life that were oppressed, or possessed by demon spirits. Oh, how I wish I could just speak a word, like Jesus, and see people put in their right minds and healed! Wouldn’t you like to be able to do that? I know I would. No one would be sick or troubled if I had my way.

I believe that God can, and does, still heal people and do miracles in our midst even today. I also believe God always has a reason for what He does. Jesus did come healing people’s diseases, but His primary purpose was not to heal everyone’s physical and demonic ailments. If it had been, His earthly mission would have not been completed in the three and a half years of His public ministry. His primary mission was to forgive sin, and make the way to God’s grace open to all. This is the whole point of Jesus’ healing of the paralytic recorded in Matthew, chapter 9. Healing was the means to the end:

(Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own town. Some people brought to Him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven. At this, some of the teachers of the Law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or ‘Get up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”, then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat, and go home.” and the man got up and went home.)

During this period of Jesus’ life there was a huge mob of people that followed Him around. Many times He had to take His disciples, or just go off by Himself, to a mountain somewhere just to be alone for a little while and refresh Himself. There is something in our human nature that is drawn to the out-of-the-ordinary, or the supernatural. It stirs our curiosity. That is probably the reason that so many people were following the Lord and His disciples at that time.

The Scribes and the Pharisees were sending people out after Him because they had no idea what He was going to do next. They wanted to be on top of things so they could find something to use against Him. They wanted to dig up some dirt, like the reporters that follow celebrities around with their flashing cameras. Have you ever known someone that just seems to go out of his or her way to prove that Christianity is a hoax, or that the Bible isn’t true, or if there are some truths in it, that it is unreliable and inaccurate? We need to understand something. We should never see that as a threat. We should look at it as an opportunity. I can recall numerous times in my own life where I have encountered someone, usually someone at work, who is very antagonistic. The fleshly side of me tends to initially get irritated with them, and my tendency is to avoid them. However, God never lets me get away with that for long. It seems like circumstances are always orchestrated where I have to deal with them.
God never intends for us to get away with avoiding difficult people.

Matthew 5: 43-48
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

I have discovered, after time has played out with some difficult people I have encountered, that God was dealing with that person, and had been for a while. When the Holy Spirit brings a person under conviction for sin, it makes him miserable. Often times that is what makes a man so difficult. There is a battle being fought inside of him. From the outside, we do not see that battle. All we see is the behavior, and that is what we judge and base our opinion of the person on. Jesus calls us to go beyond that. He calls us to look into the heart.

If a man tries so vehemently to disprove your faith, or Jesus and the Bible, it is usually because something deep inside him is telling him that it is all true, but he doesn’t want to admit it, because the Gospel confronts our sin. We don’t like that. Sometimes the argument against God is grounded in some sin he does not want to give up, and not a well thought out, logical argument. Let me give you a silly example. I do not believe that unicorns are real. They are a mythical creature that make for interesting artwork and greeting cards. If you want to believe that unicorns are real, I really don’t care. I am not going to waste my time and energy waging an anti-unicorn campaign to prove that people who believe unicorns are real need correcting. However, if I make lots of money that I like to spend on myself, and something inside of me keeps telling me that I need to have compassion on the poor and funnel a lot of my money towards helping them, my selfish nature will try to justify not doing that. I will say things like, “Well, if I help the poor, I am enabling them to continue in their dysfunctional lifestyle.” I will have a tendency to argue against what my sinful nature doesn’t want to change. However, as long as I try to do that, I will be miserable.

The Pharisees of Jesus’ day didn’t hate Him because He said things that weren’t true. They hated Him because He put their so called authority on the spot. He forced them to look at things within themselves that needed changing, and change is painful. It is no different today. That is just basic, sinful human nature. People haven’t changed. People won’t change, but the Gospel changes people. That is the real miracle!

So back to the question of why these miracles happened when they did. If we pay close attention, we see that they are sandwiched right between the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus’ sending the twelve disciples out on their mission to spread the good news of the Kingdom of God. This shows us two very important spiritual principles that we need to learn if we desire to see the supernatural power of God at work in our lives:

Jesus has to be Lord, not just Savior. Most of us would just like to ask God to forgive us of our sins so we can go to heaven when we die, and just leave it at that. Don’t get me wrong. The ONLY way to Heaven is through the Cross. There is no other way. But, in some evangelical circles there is too much emphasis on just salvation as an avoidance of hell and the way to Heaven. But God’s desire has always been to bring us new, fresh life right now. Heaven and Hell are just the end result of God’s life flowing in us, or not flowing in us right now. If we think we can get the end result without the process, we misunderstand the whole thing. The Sermon on the Mount, which comes just after Jesus’ going into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, and at the beginning of His public ministry, spells out for us how God wants us to live. It requires us to be changed, from the inside out. Our whole outlook on life, our whole perspective has to undergo a radical alteration. It requires that we be willing to sacrifice, of our time, of our resources, and most importantly, of ourselves. We can’t have God on our own terms. He is the one who lays out the terms.

One thing that we must understand as we read the Sermon on the Mount is that it is not just a strict list of “Do’s” and “Don’ts” that we have to try to follow to make ourselves righteous. It is not a list of laws. If it were, I would fail every one of them. It is more like a road map, or in modern lingo, a GPS, that we can use to check our position in our relationship with the Lord, and our fellow man. It serves to recalibrate us. If we are off course, we need to acknowledge it and ask for God’s help.

We cannot live the life that Christ spells out for us unless we have Him living inside of us giving us the strength and ability. Jesus has to be our Savior, but He also has to be Lord. The two cannot be mutually exclusive.

Next, Jesus saves us to send us. Remember, the miracles come after the lessons on living. Then the miracles are followed by Jesus sending His disciples into the world to spread the Good News of His Kingdom. God has a job for us to do in this world. We have to let others know the Good News. Paul puts it this way, “We are, therefore, Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.” and, “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant.”

Peter has this to say to the Church, “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” and, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”

Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? If you don’t, then today is the day your life can change if you ask Him to forgive you and take away your sin. If you have asked Him to be your Savior, is He your Lord?

God has a job for you. Some people say, “God has called me to preach”, or “God has called me to teach”, or “God has called me to be a singer”. Those kinds of statements are a bit of a misconception. God has called each of us who name the name of Christ, first to be holy, to love the Lord our God with all the heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbors (everyone on this planet is our neighbor) as ourselves. That is our first calling. Then, He has called us to be His witnesses to the world. That is a true miracle! That God can take a selfish, critical, mean spirited man or woman, and turn them into something beautiful and send them to do His purpose in redeeming a lost world.