Of Miracles and Misplaced Zeal
Introduction
After Jesus was resurrected,
He revealed himself to His disciples, twice, and John the concludes chapter 20
with this statement, And
truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are
not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His
name. (John 20:30-31)
If the miracles, signs, and
wonders that Jesus performed were so important, why didn’t John list the
others? In this article, we look at the real purpose of the miracles.
To Confirm the Identity of The Christ
It’s easy for someone,
anyone, to claim that they are The Messiah. We see a lot of that here in the 21st
Century with zero proof to back it up. Even after the church was established
there were some claiming to be The Christ. In Acts 5:34 and following;
Gamaliel, a pharisee, speaks of two men; Theudas and a Judas of Galilee, both
claiming to be someone important and were, ultimately slain.
Jesus could have been seen
the same way but he proved himself when he healed the paralytic man in Matthew
9:2-8, Then behold,
they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He
said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” And
at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!” But
Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For
which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and
walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive
sins” --then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your
house.” And he arose and departed to his house. Now when the multitudes saw it,
they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
If the miracles were the
focus, then why did Jesus simply utter a single word and wipe away every
disease, malady, and illness on the face of the earth? Even during His
ministry, Jesus didn’t heal everyone. But those he did, were for the benefit
of others. Now as
Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked
Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him” (John 9:1-3).
To Focus on the Message Preached
During the Limited
Commission, Jesus sent them out with the power to cast out demons and heal many
diseases. When they returned, they were excited but for the wrong reason. Then the seventy returned with
joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He
said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you
the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of
the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice
in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your
names are written in heaven”
(Luke
10:17-20). He didn’t want them to rejoice about the miracles as they were just
tools used to identify who they were. Rather, they were to focus on the more
important matter at hand as they were doing the will of the Father (Mt. 7:21).
Notice here, that first
command was to preach the gospel. And the final statement in this
passage was that the accompanying signs would confirm the message. They
performed the miracles to prove that they were the “real deal”.
Conclusion
The focus should never be on
the miracles as they were meant to be temporary (1 Cor. 13:8-10). As Paul
writes, For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for
everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. (Romans 1:16). The message
preached is what saves man from his sins, not miracles.
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