Archive for the ‘Miracle’ Category

Day 149: John 5:1-16 — Do you want to get well?

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

When Jesus saw [the man] lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” John 5:6

At first glance, this may seem like an odd question — certainly one that we might have every reason to believe is rhetorical. Of course the man wanted to get well. Wouldn’t anyone? Not necessarily.

We know very little about this man. Here’s what we do know:

  • He had been crippled for 38 years. (John 5:5)
  • He was lying on his mat near the pool of Bethesda with others: the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. (John 5:3)
  • He’s not the one who made the first contact; Jesus is. (John 5:6)
  • It  wasn’t until after the second contact with Jesus that the man publicly expressed his faith in Him. (John 5:15)

That’s about it. What don’t we know about this man?

  • We don’t know how he made a living. He may have been a beggar or he may have been supported by relatives.
  • We don’t know if he was a true, life-changed believer after his healing, or if his public acknowledgment of Jesus was merely a reporting of facts.

So let’s not speculate. So what about Jesus’ question? Why did He even bother to ask? Wouldn’t anyone who’d been crippled for 38 years want to be well? Again I say, not necessarily. Let’s cut to the chase — why is this story even in Scripture, and what does it have to do with us?

I can think of several reasons for its inclusion in John’s gospel, but let’s consider only one — it’s very much a parallel to all sinners, and how we can be (and are) changed by contact with Jesus.

When people looked at this man, they could see immediately the change Jesus had made in the man’s life. When people look at you, do they likewise see immediately the difference Jesus makes in your life?

None of us will be healed of our addiction to sin unless we want to get well. That’s why Jesus asks us as well, “Do you want to get well?” Either the message of the cross is foolishness, or it is the power of God unto salvation (1 Corinthians 1:18). There is no middle ground.

Do you want to get well?

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Jesus, John, Miracle | Comments Off

Day 148: John 4:46-54 — Look at who Jesus is!

Friday, May 28th, 2010

This story (John 4:46-54) raises the question of the relationship between signs and faith. Everyone wants a great miracle. We want to see the power of God. We want great spectacular special effects or the whole thing is a dud. For John the person who interprets a miracle solely as a miraculous act will remain focused on and limited by the act itself. To forever be wondering why they or a loved one can’t experience the same miraculous performance. Do we just see water turned into wine, a deathly-ill boy revived, a miraculous feeding with bread? I think there is more. All this makes Jesus a great miracle worker. We can proclaim, “Look what Jesus can do.” Yet, the gospel is more than what Jesus can do. The gospel is about who Jesus is! He is the giver of abundant gifts (John 2:1-11) and the giver of life (John 4:46-54). Jesus points to who God is and there is the foundation of faith. To see God in Jesus’ actions of healing is to recognize the truth of the confession of John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and lived among us.”

The official approached Jesus with only one thing on his mind. He was worried about his son. His son was at the point of death, and Jesus might be the one to heal him. His reasons for seeking Jesus were desperation and basic need. Yet he ended up receiving much more than he could have hoped for and, indeed, much more than he knew he needed. He received the gift of his son’s life and the gift of faith in Jesus. The official’s faith was evoked by Jesus’ love and the fact that the “The Word became flesh and lived among us.”

Tags: , ,
Posted in faith, Jesus, John, Miracle | Comments Off

Day 72: Mark 10:46-52 — Blind Bartimaeus

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

Jesus heals blind BartimaeusIsaiah prophesied the blind would see (Isaiah 29:18), and Jesus fulfilled that prophecy more than once — more than once in fact, on the same trip to Jerusalem in which today’s reading is set (see also Mark 8:22-26).

As Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho, surrounded by the crowd, Bartimaeus calls out twice to the “Son of David” to have mercy on him. This title sets the stage for the greeting Jesus would receive in Jerusalem (Mark 11:10), but it’s the response Jesus gave the man that I think is interesting. “What do you want me to do for you?”, Jesus asked.

This may sound to us like a rhetorical question. After all, the guy was blind. If you were blind, wouldn’t you want to see? Not necessarily, though I used to have a Christian friend who was blind, and he very much wanted to see again. We don’t know if Bartimaeus was blind from birth, or if he had been struck blind in an accident or from disease. Matthew and Luke don’t shed any additional light on this (Matthew 20:29-34, Luke 18:35-43).

Jesus not only had compassion on the man’s condition, but respected his wishes. Bartimaeus did, after all, make his living because of his blindness. If he wasn’t blind anymore, he’d have to get a job. There’s no indication at this point that this man was motivated by money, but the people didn’t know that (although Jesus did).

Clearly, Jesus “did the work” of healing Bartimaeus, although He tells him “your faith has healed you” (Mark 10:52). Jesus has also “done the work” of healing our sin-sick souls, but in the same sense that faith healed Bartimaeus, faith heals us as well (Hebrews 11:6). As Christians, we don’t need to call out to Jesus “have mercy on me”, as the blind man did. Jesus has already done that, and shown us great mercy. What we need to do is to receive His mercy with gratitude, being thankful every day that we have been healed from our spiritual blindness.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Jesus, Mark, Miracle | Comments Off

Day 65: Mark 8:1-8 — “How many loaves do you have?”

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

loaf of breadToday’s miracle is similar in many ways to the miracle of feeding the 5,000 that Jesus had performed not many days earlier in Bethsaida (Mark 6:30-44). Once again there’s a crowd nearby, hanging on every word. Having been with him for 3 days, they have nothing to eat (Mark 8:2).

Wait a minute Master — we’ve been without food for 3 days too! I nearly forgot! We’re out in the middle of nowhere; where can we get enough food to feed this stadium-sized crowd?

I can nearly see the look on Jesus’ face. When are you guys ever going to get it? No, I doubt He was really thinking that, but that’s what I’m inclined to think. We knew Jesus instead had compassion — on the crowd too, but He no doubt had great compassion for His closest 12 as well. He knew they didn’t understand yet. He was, after all, on a mission to seek & save the lost (Luke 19:10), but if they were to carry on His mission after the resurrection, this was of necessity a 3-year teaching mission too. Yes, Jesus had compassion on the crowd, but He also had great compassion — and patience — with the 12.

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. (Mark 8:5)

Oh yeah, we do have bread; we can e…

Uh. Psst. Thaddaeus? I forgot totally about when Master fed the 5,000. You think He knows we forgot?

Such a subtle hint. He could have come up with a line that was at once hilarious and at the same time put the apostles in their place for having such short memories. That’s what I would have done, but that’s not Jesus, and that’s clearly not the appropriate response here. He had both compassion and patience. He showed His great love for the crowd by tending to their immediate physical need, but He showed even deeper love for His apostles by tending to their physical need while nurturing their even deeper spiritual need to see the true Jesus and to understand Him who feeds the sparrows.

So, how many loaves do you have? Have you seen the true Jesus, or are you blinded by things that get in the way?

Tags: ,
Posted in faith, Mark, Miracle, Trust | Comments Off