Do You Believe In Miracles?

The Pew Research Center reveals that 79 percent of Americans believe that miracles probably or definitely occur, and that belief is growing among people who do not regularly attend church.

Baylor University sociologist, Kevin Dougherty, is quoted as saying he believes the uptick is evidence that our society is not moving toward the secularism that has dominated Europe in recent decades.

Catholic clergyman, Monsignor Patrick Brankin of Tulsa says, "If a miracle occurs, the laws of nature have been suspended. Only God can do that. A miracle is always a sign...that conveys meaning and invites a response."

"It's not extraordinary because it's rare," adds Brankin. "Miracles are a part of the fabric of daily life. It's extraordinary because it involves a breach of the natural order."

Rev. Thomson Mathew weighed in also, saying he believes the increase of people believing in miracles can be attributed to the post-modern world we live in, making the current generation more curious and open to miracles around them.   -Tulsa World, Dec 31, 2012, Teresa Neumann 

What would you say if I told you that I know someone who has restored life to dead bodies? Someone who has given perfect sight to a man who was born blind? Someone who fed 5000 men plus the women and children with them, using only 5 loaves of bread and two small fish – and that he had more food left over than he had at the start? The Bible says this and much, much more about Jesus of Nazareth!

During His own earthly life and ministry, He was a well-known miracle-worker We can even see that in Luke 23:8a Herod hoped to see Jesus work a miracle. Why, probably most (if not all) of you have studied the matter and concluded that Jesus did, in fact, work miracles.

But there are others in our day which doubt it, or perhaps even deny that Jesus preformed miracles. Therefore, I ask YOU the following question, "What about the miracles of Jesus?"

Let's first define a miracle. A miracle is not just something unusual (even highly unusual) or amazing; such as having your car roll over at a high rate of speed and coming out without a scratch A miracle is an event which supersedes the natural laws which govern and control the universe. Here are some miracles performed by Jesus:

a. Jesus superseded the law of gravity by walking on the water;
b. Jesus superseded the natural healing process by healing people instantly, and even raising the dead;
c. Jesus superseded statistical probability by pulling a coin out of a fishes mouth

Note: Just because God does something, or is involved in an event, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a miracle. (e.g. when Jesus overthrew the money-changers’ tables and drove the livestock from the temple, was it a miracle??)

So why do some not believe in the miracles of Jesus (or other Bible miracles?) There could be a number of reasons for this. Maybe it's because they haven't personally witnessed them. Or, there's a faith problem caused by a low respect for the Bible; perhaps instigated by so-called “experts” who claim that accounts of miracles are just records of ‘normal’ things the disciples supposedly exaggerated out of respect for Jesus.Whatever the reason might be, "doubt" is quite evident.

Now, some might be asking this question, "Why should we believe in Jesus' miracles? Here are some reasons we can point to: a) because of the reliability of the Bible has proven itself over and over again to be scientifically, historically, and in every other way accurate. b) because of the sheer number of them ( the number of recorded miracles of Jesus is well over 3 dozen.); because of the variety of them (i.e., healing various infirmities (hemorrhaging, fever, leprosy, paralysis, lameness, dropsy [accumulation of fluid in limbs or abdomen], & others); restoration of life to the dead; c) stilling storms immediately, feeding multitudes with small amounts of food, casting out demons, etc.

Of course, no one has to believe in the miracles of Jesus. But what are the consequences of not believing in them? For starters, Jesus loses His credibility as the Son of God. Refer to Acts 2:22 – it was the miracles that showed that God approved of what Jesus said and did. His “works” proved that He was Who He said He was (John 5:36; John 14:11). OT prophecies predicted that Messiah would work miracles (Isaiah 35:5-6). And, according to John 20:30-31 one great pillar would be knocked our from under our faith. We haven't even begun to scratch the surface here, but you get the idea.

In conclusion, we can be confident that Jesus really did perform the miracles which Scripture mentions, as well as innumerable more not recorded there. Those miracles attest to His identity as the Christ, the Son of God. That identity, in turn, gives meaning to His sacrificial death upon the cross, and to that crowning miracle of all miracles, His resurrection from the dead. He also has the power to save you from your sins, and to raise you from the dead at the last day.

Scripture: Matthew 21:21; Luke 1:35; John 5:36-38; John 1:1; Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 41:4; Matthew 7:7

Prayer: O Heavenly Father, who has filled the world with beauty; Open my eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works; that rejoicing in your whole creation, I may learn to serve you with gladness, faithfully managing your bounty; for the sake of him by whom all things were made, your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

-Thanks to Tom Moore 

May your day be blessed! 

Destry