What About Miracles?
Bible Study
Hope For Tomorrow
What Jesus Would Say Today
Object:
It is, therefore, inaccurate to define a miracle as something that breaks the laws of nature. It doesn't.
-- C. S. Lewis
* * *
By order of the King, God is hereby forbidden to work miracles in this place.
-- Sign erected in Paris graveyard by order of King Louis XV
What About Miracles?
"You ask me for a miracle? No!"
-- Matthew 12:39
Did Jesus really walk on water? Did he actually change water into wine? Did he heal all those people? Did he bring a friend back from the dead? Do we have to believe those reports in the Gospels? The answer is "no -- and yes." Before trying to make sense of the miracle stories, though, let's take note of an encounter Jesus had with some doubters as reported in Matthew's Gospel (12:38). Some lawyers had decided to make Jesus look bad by challenging him to perform a miracle. They probably were fairly sure he couldn't do it and hoped to show him up as a fraud to the listeners. However, Jesus saw through their game and refused. With a flash of irritation he said, "How evil and godless are the people of this day!" Then addressing their request, he said, "You ask me for a miracle? No!" Jesus had no intention of doing what would have been little more than magic tricks to win converts. Clearly, he depended on the sheer power of the truth he came to proclaim to convince his listeners.
* * *
I'm convinced that Jesus may very well have healed many people, drawing upon perfectly natural laws about which you and I know nothing as yet. Isn't it possible that at times, through prayer and faith, we tap into higher powers?
* * *
Let's get some obvious facts before us. People in Jesus' day had no concept of natural laws, as we do. I have a little sleight of hand trick I do for children, making a coin disappear. I then retrieve it from some child's ear. Kids are always totally mystified by this, amazed that I can actually put a coin in their ear. Adults, however, smile knowingly. No one can make a solid object disappear then reappear. It can't be done. They know this because we all have at least a smattering of scientific knowledge learned in school. So for a while, I have a few kids convinced I can do what would be a miracle if I could really do it, which I can't. Since the people of two thousand years ago had little scientific knowledge, they were easily convinced of things you and I know can't happen. Once a story was being told, it was easily believed, embellished, and eventually became common knowledge. You may already be familiar with the story of the little fellow who came home from Sunday school and when Mother asked what he had learned that day, he explained that the teacher had told of how Moses led his armored columns to the edge of the Red Sea, had built pontoon bridges and taken his army across while his fighter planes blasted the pursuing Egyptian troops. Mother of course knew better and said, "Son, are you sure that's what the teacher said?" "Well, not exactly," said her son, "but you'd never believe the story the teacher told."
Some of the "miracles" are just not likely to be accurate reports. Those who wish to believe that Jesus walked on water (Matthew 14:22) are to be respected, but it surely can't be required of those who would find that sort of thing a stumbling block. I find that stories like that are an interesting example of the faith placed in Jesus by the people of the time, symbolic, even, of his great powers, but not to be taken literally.
* * *
"Do the best you can and leave the rest to God."
-- Walter H. Judd
* * *
Some of the "miracles" may be accurate reports but with logical explanations. The report of Jesus turning water into wine is an example (John 2:1f). The setting was a party of long duration. According to the story, when the revelers ran out of wine, Jesus' mother asked him to get a new supply, whereupon Jesus had fresh water drawn and made available to the party. They were ecstatic over the fine wine, better, some said, than what their host had supplied. How remarkable, they thought, that Jesus had turned fresh water into wine. And so the story was told of this young miracle worker (it would really have been magic, not a miracle, certainly not at all the kind of thing Jesus would have done).
It is said that when one has too much to drink over a period of several hours, the body becomes dehydrated. At that point, a drink of cool, fresh water may indeed taste sweeter than wine. I recall that as a young man my pastor gave me this explanation and I was unhappy at what I then saw to be his effort to spoil a good story. But on reflection (and based on a bit of personal experience) I have decided he was right. Jesus did, in fact, provide fresh, clear water to a bunch of recovering drunks, and it tasted great -- maybe like fine wine.
Consider the healing miracles. I'm inclined to believe many of these to be true reports, but explainable on psychological grounds. Medical science has proven the close association of mental outlook and physical health. I suspect even today's "medical science" is currently in its own horse and buggy era in regard to an understanding of the interrelation of the physical and the emotional being. But we know today that a good doctor understands how reassurance and optimism can facilitate healing. Undoubtedly, when ill people came to know Jesus, their mental outlook changed markedly, which could bring about profound physical healing. Not a miracle in one sense, perhaps so in another.
What is a miracle? There are, in fact, at least two possible definitions. One is "an event which breaks a natural law." Walking on water would be such, and since Jesus refused to do such tricks, we must consign stories such as that to the body of folktales which grew up around him during and following his earthly life, on a par with tales of George Washington cutting down a cherry tree or throwing a silver dollar across the Delaware River. It makes no sense to think God would suspend natural laws for anyone, even Jesus. It's the dependability of our universe which makes it livable. When I was a boy, my mother would read to me the story of Topsy-Turvy Land, where some days hot was cold and cold was hot. Some days down was up and up was down. Nothing was dependable in Topsy-Turvy Land and, as I recall, everyone there was a bit crazy. You and I would be too if the fellow across the street could pray and change things to suit himself, perhaps getting an unscheduled rain for his backyard grass, thereby ruining my family picnic. The orderly laws of the universe must prevail and cannot be broken.
However, there is another definition of miracle: "an event for which there is no known natural law." See the difference? If through the centuries since Jesus lived we have learned so much about our universe, what we call "scientific knowledge," doesn't it seem likely that we have only begun, that many other "laws," of the spirit, for instance, remain yet to be discovered?
A widely read magazine recently featured an article titled "The Coming Technological Revolution." Imagine, after all we've seen so far because of computers and the like, another "revolution" on the way. How little we know compared to the enormity of the universe. And the one certainty we have is that everything exists in total harmony with everything else. Even floods and hurricanes and earthquakes, while a terrible nuisance to our little civilization, perform essential roles in maintaining a functioning planet. How many truths are there either yet to be discovered or never to be discovered? C. S. Lewis wrote, "Miracles, if they occur, must like all events be revelations of that total harmony of all that exists."
I'm convinced that Jesus may very well have healed many people, drawing upon perfectly real, natural laws about which you and I know nothing as yet. Isn't it possible that at times, through prayer and faith, we tap into higher powers about which Jesus spoke, powers that can heal and bring insight, and fuel intuition and the deeper areas of our minds? How can we, with our tiny little minds, reject the idea of realities far beyond our knowing? Here's the sense in which I believe in miracles. I believed in them when I first looked on the face of my little daughter. I believed in them when I first knew without a shred of doubt that God wanted me to be a minister. I believed when I fell in love with my wife. I believed when a loved one seemed to appear to me in a profoundly moving experience of communication after her death. I believe in miracles every time I pray and, as Archbishop Temple put the matter, coincidences begin to happen.
Logic tells me that many of the so-called miracles, such as walking on water or changing water into wine or some of the healing stories, are either stories not to be read literally or events having natural explanations unknown to the witnesses. But I believe Jesus demonstrated the existence of perfectly natural laws beyond our perception which make healing, and answered prayer, and life after death realities. In these miracles we can believe.
Questions For Discussion
1. Have you ever witnessed what you believe to be a miracle?
2. Why do you think God doesn't solve some of our problems?
3. Wouldn't you prefer a universe with natural laws which are always dependably at work?
4. Do you need the miracle stories in order to believe in Jesus as Savior?
-- C. S. Lewis
* * *
By order of the King, God is hereby forbidden to work miracles in this place.
-- Sign erected in Paris graveyard by order of King Louis XV
What About Miracles?
"You ask me for a miracle? No!"
-- Matthew 12:39
Did Jesus really walk on water? Did he actually change water into wine? Did he heal all those people? Did he bring a friend back from the dead? Do we have to believe those reports in the Gospels? The answer is "no -- and yes." Before trying to make sense of the miracle stories, though, let's take note of an encounter Jesus had with some doubters as reported in Matthew's Gospel (12:38). Some lawyers had decided to make Jesus look bad by challenging him to perform a miracle. They probably were fairly sure he couldn't do it and hoped to show him up as a fraud to the listeners. However, Jesus saw through their game and refused. With a flash of irritation he said, "How evil and godless are the people of this day!" Then addressing their request, he said, "You ask me for a miracle? No!" Jesus had no intention of doing what would have been little more than magic tricks to win converts. Clearly, he depended on the sheer power of the truth he came to proclaim to convince his listeners.
* * *
I'm convinced that Jesus may very well have healed many people, drawing upon perfectly natural laws about which you and I know nothing as yet. Isn't it possible that at times, through prayer and faith, we tap into higher powers?
* * *
Let's get some obvious facts before us. People in Jesus' day had no concept of natural laws, as we do. I have a little sleight of hand trick I do for children, making a coin disappear. I then retrieve it from some child's ear. Kids are always totally mystified by this, amazed that I can actually put a coin in their ear. Adults, however, smile knowingly. No one can make a solid object disappear then reappear. It can't be done. They know this because we all have at least a smattering of scientific knowledge learned in school. So for a while, I have a few kids convinced I can do what would be a miracle if I could really do it, which I can't. Since the people of two thousand years ago had little scientific knowledge, they were easily convinced of things you and I know can't happen. Once a story was being told, it was easily believed, embellished, and eventually became common knowledge. You may already be familiar with the story of the little fellow who came home from Sunday school and when Mother asked what he had learned that day, he explained that the teacher had told of how Moses led his armored columns to the edge of the Red Sea, had built pontoon bridges and taken his army across while his fighter planes blasted the pursuing Egyptian troops. Mother of course knew better and said, "Son, are you sure that's what the teacher said?" "Well, not exactly," said her son, "but you'd never believe the story the teacher told."
Some of the "miracles" are just not likely to be accurate reports. Those who wish to believe that Jesus walked on water (Matthew 14:22) are to be respected, but it surely can't be required of those who would find that sort of thing a stumbling block. I find that stories like that are an interesting example of the faith placed in Jesus by the people of the time, symbolic, even, of his great powers, but not to be taken literally.
* * *
"Do the best you can and leave the rest to God."
-- Walter H. Judd
* * *
Some of the "miracles" may be accurate reports but with logical explanations. The report of Jesus turning water into wine is an example (John 2:1f). The setting was a party of long duration. According to the story, when the revelers ran out of wine, Jesus' mother asked him to get a new supply, whereupon Jesus had fresh water drawn and made available to the party. They were ecstatic over the fine wine, better, some said, than what their host had supplied. How remarkable, they thought, that Jesus had turned fresh water into wine. And so the story was told of this young miracle worker (it would really have been magic, not a miracle, certainly not at all the kind of thing Jesus would have done).
It is said that when one has too much to drink over a period of several hours, the body becomes dehydrated. At that point, a drink of cool, fresh water may indeed taste sweeter than wine. I recall that as a young man my pastor gave me this explanation and I was unhappy at what I then saw to be his effort to spoil a good story. But on reflection (and based on a bit of personal experience) I have decided he was right. Jesus did, in fact, provide fresh, clear water to a bunch of recovering drunks, and it tasted great -- maybe like fine wine.
Consider the healing miracles. I'm inclined to believe many of these to be true reports, but explainable on psychological grounds. Medical science has proven the close association of mental outlook and physical health. I suspect even today's "medical science" is currently in its own horse and buggy era in regard to an understanding of the interrelation of the physical and the emotional being. But we know today that a good doctor understands how reassurance and optimism can facilitate healing. Undoubtedly, when ill people came to know Jesus, their mental outlook changed markedly, which could bring about profound physical healing. Not a miracle in one sense, perhaps so in another.
What is a miracle? There are, in fact, at least two possible definitions. One is "an event which breaks a natural law." Walking on water would be such, and since Jesus refused to do such tricks, we must consign stories such as that to the body of folktales which grew up around him during and following his earthly life, on a par with tales of George Washington cutting down a cherry tree or throwing a silver dollar across the Delaware River. It makes no sense to think God would suspend natural laws for anyone, even Jesus. It's the dependability of our universe which makes it livable. When I was a boy, my mother would read to me the story of Topsy-Turvy Land, where some days hot was cold and cold was hot. Some days down was up and up was down. Nothing was dependable in Topsy-Turvy Land and, as I recall, everyone there was a bit crazy. You and I would be too if the fellow across the street could pray and change things to suit himself, perhaps getting an unscheduled rain for his backyard grass, thereby ruining my family picnic. The orderly laws of the universe must prevail and cannot be broken.
However, there is another definition of miracle: "an event for which there is no known natural law." See the difference? If through the centuries since Jesus lived we have learned so much about our universe, what we call "scientific knowledge," doesn't it seem likely that we have only begun, that many other "laws," of the spirit, for instance, remain yet to be discovered?
A widely read magazine recently featured an article titled "The Coming Technological Revolution." Imagine, after all we've seen so far because of computers and the like, another "revolution" on the way. How little we know compared to the enormity of the universe. And the one certainty we have is that everything exists in total harmony with everything else. Even floods and hurricanes and earthquakes, while a terrible nuisance to our little civilization, perform essential roles in maintaining a functioning planet. How many truths are there either yet to be discovered or never to be discovered? C. S. Lewis wrote, "Miracles, if they occur, must like all events be revelations of that total harmony of all that exists."
I'm convinced that Jesus may very well have healed many people, drawing upon perfectly real, natural laws about which you and I know nothing as yet. Isn't it possible that at times, through prayer and faith, we tap into higher powers about which Jesus spoke, powers that can heal and bring insight, and fuel intuition and the deeper areas of our minds? How can we, with our tiny little minds, reject the idea of realities far beyond our knowing? Here's the sense in which I believe in miracles. I believed in them when I first looked on the face of my little daughter. I believed in them when I first knew without a shred of doubt that God wanted me to be a minister. I believed when I fell in love with my wife. I believed when a loved one seemed to appear to me in a profoundly moving experience of communication after her death. I believe in miracles every time I pray and, as Archbishop Temple put the matter, coincidences begin to happen.
Logic tells me that many of the so-called miracles, such as walking on water or changing water into wine or some of the healing stories, are either stories not to be read literally or events having natural explanations unknown to the witnesses. But I believe Jesus demonstrated the existence of perfectly natural laws beyond our perception which make healing, and answered prayer, and life after death realities. In these miracles we can believe.
Questions For Discussion
1. Have you ever witnessed what you believe to be a miracle?
2. Why do you think God doesn't solve some of our problems?
3. Wouldn't you prefer a universe with natural laws which are always dependably at work?
4. Do you need the miracle stories in order to believe in Jesus as Savior?
