Miracles Today

by Brandon Jubar

And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I will do it. Be made clean." His leprosy was cleansed immediately. (Matthew 8:2-3)

"It must have been easy for the apostles," she said to the class. "If I had been there to see Jesus perform miracles, I'd believe that he was God too!"

It seemed like a true enough statement, and the rest of the high school students in the religious ed class nodded in agreement. Here we are, trying to have faith in Jesus, who was crucified two-thousand years ago. Wouldn't a few miracles today help us believe that he is the Christ?

They came and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" He said to them, "Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?" Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. The men were amazed and said, "What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?" (Matthew 8:25-27)

There are a couple things we need to keep in mind when talking about miracles. First of all, Jesus is not the only person to ever perform miracles. So the fact that he was healing people and driving out demons was not proof positive that he was the son of God. Even after he calmed a storm, the apostles did not proclaim him the Messiah. They said, "What sort of man is this…?"

There are miracles that occur today, though we don't hear much about them. And even when we do hear about miracles, we tend to be very skeptical. Our scientific minds want to rationalize everything. If something cannot easily be explained, we don't consider it a miracle; we just assume that there is some complex science at work that we haven't yet figured out.

Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. (Matthew 10:1)

The thing to remember about miracles is that what's most important is not the miracle itself -- or the miracle worker -- but the "truth" that the miracle points to. Jesus was an equal opportunity miracle worker. The "truth" that many of his miracles show us is that all people are loved by God. All people are worthy of being healed. And all people are in need of God's forgiveness.

Jesus called his apostles to go out and work miracles in the world. Today, Jesus calls every Christian, through baptism, to do the same thing. Wherever we are in the world -- in school, at work, in an affluent neighborhood or in a poorer community -- Jesus asks us to be healers. He asks us to be miracle workers. He asks us to share the gospel message -- the Good News -- with anyone who will listen.

Miracles are ways that God reveals Himself to us. When you go out and share the love of Christ with people, God is revealed to them through you. That means you are a miracle!

Life Applications:

What is your favorite miracle story from the gospels and why?
What "truth" does your favorite miracle story point to?
How can you go out and be a healer to those around you?

Copyright 2006 by Brandon Jubar
All rights reserved.