Miracles

I think we often question why we don't see "miracles" happen today the way they happened during Jesus' ministry on earth. He healed the lame, helped the blind see, raised the dead, and calmed the sea.

Could it be that the purpose of these "signs" was to help the people of that time, in that context, realize who Jesus really was and what his message was really about?

Today, technological advancements could reproduce any one of these "miracles". There are more miracles per capita today through modern medicine than anything Jesus produced during His earthly ministry.

Look at the story of Jesus' healing of the man who was lowered through the roof. That is one of those stories many non-Christians have heard. This man was sick, and word was out that Jesus could help him. But the crowd was huge. So the man's loyal friends believed Jesus could help so much, they pulled off the roof and lowered the man to center-stage seeking healing.

Jesus was so impressed by the faith of this man and his friends, he cut straight to the most important need the man had--he forgave the man of his sins, a fatal disease unto itself.

This enraged the religious leaders.

The Pharisees, who were in the crowd watching, were more upset about Jesus' forgiving of the man's sin than the physical need of the man. They made Jesus' blasphemous granting of forgiveness of sin a huge deal--a bigger deal than this poor man's medical well-being.

Jesus then turns the situation on its head. On top of the spiritual miracle that had just taken place, Jesus asks a question. Which is harder: healing the man spiritually or physically?

If you were a Pharisee, how would you answer that question?

I think the Pharisee's never gave much thought that a physical healing was in the cards for this guy. At this point in Jesus ministry, His reputation as miracle-worker had yet to be developed.

The Pharisee's were more concerned with deflecting the political threat that Jesus' offer of forgiveness posed to their monopoly on atonement. After all, Jesus' offer of forgiveness threatened to shatter the paradigm of the temple--the paradigm on which the Hebrew culture was based, as well as the Pharisee's power.

From the crowd's perspective, the offer of forgiveness is just so many words--not that impressive, right?

So Jesus plays the wild card and heals this man, in what is the most public miracle he performs early on in His ministry. Jesus' trumps the Pharisee's concerns about his claim to be able to forgive and ups the ante with a very public, physical healing.

Again, this healing is truly miraculous in that culture and context. This man is described as a paralytic. We don't know what that means, but we must admit that his condition may be something modern medicine could cure easily. Not so "miraculous" to us, but in the culture and context of Luke 5, a spectacular, major sign that Jesus was who He said He is.

So if Jesus used signs relevant to the culture and context of his time on earth to point to His true identity and mission, I am pressed to ask what type of signs would achieve that goal for us today?

..........more to come on this one.......