We all love a good miracle, don’t we? We love it when something we can’t explain, or something that defies the natural expectations of any given situation happens. Miracles grab our attention. They set us all abuzz with excitement, wonder, gratitude and happiness. We can’t stop talking about them because we just can’t get our heads around them. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a miracle as “an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment; an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs”.
We love hearing about the baby who lived despite crushing odds against her. We love re-telling the story of the person who uncharacteristically walked out of the building, five minutes before it collapsed. We encourage each other with the story of the man who survived a devastating car crash even though he was declared dead at the scene. The world is replete with stories of miracles, but for the most part the chatter floats about like a wayward balloon until it comes back down to the ground and deflates, and we no longer think of it. Miracles are like the latest bit of world news on social media. Everyone is posting for a time, but eventually the topic of the month is put aside, or the naysayers get so bitter that the event itself becomes tarnished. We constantly need something new to keep us happy, but we are never actually satisfied.
We have our own ideas of the miraculous, and a part of us desperately seeks to try and find an explanation. If we can explain them, we feel we have managed to maintain our understanding of the way things are, which maintains our sense of control. When we are stumped, however, and must give at least some mild credit to Divine intervention, most of us will shake our heads with wonder while we go on with our lives and wait for a better reason to surface.
This is the world our Lord was born into. The same hearts walked in His day, the same darkness, the same sin natures that declare us gods and autonomous kings. Despite all of these things, when the Divine walks into His creation and interacts with His creatures, miracles happen–not because of us, but because of Him.
It would have been much easier if Christ had simply come without the clamour of all the miracles, but the compassion for His people was too great, and His love for them so very strong. Knowing each one of them intimately, knowing each tear and struggle, the Lord brought glory to the Father with His compassionate heart of loving kindness towards the people (Matt. 9:36). He fulfilled Scripture about Himself, and in so doing testified to the world that He had come to do what He had promised (Isa. 61:1). He had come to redeem His people to Himself (Mark 10:4-5, 1 Pet.1:18-19, Col. 1:13-14, Heb. 9:15, Rev. 1:5-6).
When we read of the various recorded miracles in Scripture, we can learn so much about who God is, and how uniquely He works in each one of us (1 Cor. 12:27). Crowds followed Him. They were so near to crushing Him that he had to get on a boat to speak to them (Mark 3:9). People were so desperate for hope, for relief, and for healing, that His power overflowed to them like water overflows a cup’s edge (Mark 5:27, Luke 4:40, Mark 2:4). He met their physical needs (Matt. 15: 32-39 & 17:24-27, Mark 4:35-41 John 2:1-11 & 6: 1-14 & 21:1-12), released them from their physical burdens (Matt. 8: 1-4, Mark 5: 24-34 & 7:31-37, Luke 6:6-11 & 7:1-10 & 17:11-19, John 9 1-41), removed their spiritual oppressions (Matt. 9:32-34 & 15:21-28 & 17:14-21, Mark1:21-28 & Mark 5:1-20, Luke 11:14-26), and at times He even overturned their deaths (Mark 5:21-43, Luke 7:11-16, John 11: 1-46). Wherever He went the miraculous happened, because He was Divine Intervention in the flesh.
But like all modern day miracles, the uproar was short- lived. The miracles drew people to Him, but they did not necessarily choose to follow Him because of them. In fact, many despised Him because of His miracles, or they walked away from Him simply because they were not enough to keep their attention when His teaching got hard (Mark 3:6, Matt. 13:57-58, John 6: 28-66). The miracles that Jesus performed while walking the earth were not what drew sustaining discipleship. There was something exceedingly more miraculous than all of these, as wonderful as they were.
I speak of the miraculous changing of a sin-laden heart. The miraculous rebirth of a dead soul unto life everlasting. The greatest miracle in all the Bible was not the 5,000 fed on a young boy’s small lunch, nor was it the freeing of a man from a legion of demons, nor was it the bringing of sight to the man born blind. The greatest miracle is the one that occurs when one human life, one dead, rebellious soul enslaved and serving wickedness is given life and is transformed into the likeness of Christ (Isa. 61:1). Miraculous first at the moment of salvation, and then again as he or she walks with Christ in submission to His glorifying work of transformation.
The greatest miracle of all is the Spirit of Christ shining through a broken human being, bringing newness, spiritual fruit, love and a new perspective. It is a soul once bent on absolute rebellion, bowing down in the presence of the all-consuming, all-magnificent Creator God Whose love for them overwhelms them with forgiveness, hope, love, and unspeakable joy. That is the greatest miracle, and that is exactly what He came for.
The miraculous came, and He walked among us, and He walks among us still, performing life-changing miracles in human hearts all over the globe. I believe in miracles because I am one. Christ fixed what I could never fix in myself, my relationship with Him, and that is no ordinary thing – that is completely miraculous (Rom. 3:23, Psalm 14:1-3).
Today let us all reflect on the miracle He has performed in our own hearts and continues to perform within each one of His children. Let us sing and shout with the Psalmist, “Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His name; tell of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised!” (Psalm 96:1-4a).
There is a Miracle Worker on the street today. He is the King of glory- Jesus, the Christ.
walknthepath 