The Miraculous Jesus

Selected Scriptures

     In our continuing study tonight of, "Is the Bible believable?", we come to a subject which I've entitled, "The Miraculous Jesus."  We've tried to show that in several different ways by talking about inspiration and revelation and some of the reasons we believe the Bible is inspired, the testimony of the writers of Scripture, the Lord Jesus Himself, the testimony of the Holy Spirit. 

     And then last week we saw that one of the great evidences for the credibility and the validity of the Bible is its miraculous nature.  And we said that any book that is the revelation of God would have to contain miracles.  Because God, by definition, is supernatural.  We are natural.  All that is in our world is natural.  This is the natural world.  So if the supernatural is to be introduced into the natural, it has to be miraculous. 

     A miracle, you see, is nothing but that, the supernatural interjecting itself into the natural.  You cannot have a disclosure of God, who is outside the natural world, unless you have a supernatural act.  That's a miracle.  So one of the reasons we believe the Bible is truly the revelation of God is because it's so full of miracles.  And God must be revealed through miracles, because His supernaturalness must invade the natural world.

     And we presented for you last week the very confident belief that if God exists, then miracles must also exist.  For if God is, then God does.  If God is, then He acts.  And so we are not amazed when we pick up the Bible and find miracles.  No, no.  On the contrary, we say that because there are so many miracles recorded here, this must be God.  For these things are beyond men.  Now, if you allow for God, then you must allow for God to act, and that's all a miracle is.  And God acts, and this is the record of it, and this is the revelation of God.  It is not unreasonable to imagine that a God who made everything, who did the stupendous miracle of creation, would continue to be interested in what He made and do other miracles, occasionally intervening directly when it suited His purpose.

     Now, we saw last time some of the purposes and the reasons for miracles, and we're not going to go into that again.  Let us just say this in review.  Miracles are simply acts of God by which He sets aside natural law temporarily. 

     I suppose a simple way that I can illustrate, I don't know why my mind is on railroad trains today, but it is, but imagine that a man has a very, very sophisticated layout of a model railroad, very elaborate.  And he has at one end of his whole situation some transformers by which he operates everything, and it even is so sophisticated that it has devices by which trains can be diverted to other tracks and switchers can be used, and the whole thing is very complex and very well put together.  And normally the man operates the entire system from the handles and the controls that he has at that one point.  But imagine that once in a while he just looks over his whole deal, reaches over, grabs an engine, lifts it up and sticks it over here. 

     Now, God normally operates the universe on the basis of the switches and the controls and the transformers of natural law.  But every once in a while God just reaches in and picks something up and sticks it over here.  Now, that's God just picking up the engine and putting it where He wants.  Now, God may choose to work through the natural sequence of events, or He may intervene in the natural and cause a supernatural act.  That's a miracle.  But if God is God, and He's running the train, let Him pick up an engine once in a while.  That just says He's there.  And periodically He wants us to know He's there, historically, and thus He has revealed Himself miraculously. 

     If there is a God, it certainly is not unreasonable to imagine that that God can do something.  And the somethings that He does that are different than natural law tell us He's there.  If God only worked through natural order, we'd never know He was there.  It's when God violates the natural and does something that is supernatural that we know somebody's out there. 

     Now, these are purposeful miracles.  God doesn't do these things in an irrational, nonsensical haphazard thing, like some of the apocryphal books that appear in some of the versions of the Bible.  Miracles were not done haphazardly as gimmicks to entertain people.  They were purposeful.  God's miracles reveal God, and they reveal the nature of God.  The miracles that we see in the New Testament were to reveal the deity of Jesus Christ.  They were not nonsensical things. 

     And so Biblical miracles, then, are very important, for they are the disclosure of God.  Now, because the Bible records these miracles, I say it's the revelation of God.  Because whenever God discloses Himself, it must be miraculous.  Now, there are only three attitudes you can have toward miracles, just three.  Let me give them to you. 

     Number one, miracles never happened.  Miracles never happened and never will happen.  Now, that's what an atheist would believe.  He would say everything's an accident, that the whole existence of the universe is an accident.  Nothing ever is miraculous.  Nobody made this.  It just happened out of nothing.  I can't buy that.  If you have no miracles, you have no God.  If you have no God, you have no explanation for anything.

     A second possibility is that miracles did occur in Biblical times but they do not occur now.  That's an interesting thought.  This means that today, no one is empowered to work miracles as they were in Bible times.  Now, that is interesting, because there are many people today who claim to do miracles.  And, as I said last time, we throw that term around all over the place.  This is a miracle.  That's a miracle.  The other is a miracle. 

     Study the Old Testament sometime and you'll find very interesting things.  You'll find great, large portions of passages of Scripture pass by, great sweeping years of history pass by, without any allusion to any miracle.  That's interesting.  In fact, in the Old Testament there are really only two periods when miracles existed in a normative sense.  One was the day of Moses, and miracles were pretty commonplace in the life of Moses, weren't they?  Especially in the times when he was leading the children of Israel.  The second period of time in the Old Testament when miracles appear is during the time of Elijah and Elisha.  And miracles seemed to be normative then.  Those are really the only two times where miracles are normative. 

     Now, there may be sporadic occasions when a miracle happens here or there, but it is definitely the exception and not the rule through the rest of Old Testament history.  You see, those were times when God designed to do miracles to reveal Himself miraculously and show that He was there.  Once that was put down and recorded, that settled the issue. 

     Because God's miracles were given always in front of eyewitnesses, right?  They had to be perceived by the senses, we saw last time.  They had to be clearly the operation of God, with no other human explanation.  And they always had to have a redemptive purpose, a moral end.  And once those miracles were done and recorded, then the Word says that God exists.  The Word gives us the record of those miracles.  Is there any need for more miracles?  There isn't if we believe this Word.  Special times, God chose to confirm His existence and His Word miraculously.

     Now, as you move into the New Testament, you have two more periods of miracles, the time of Jesus Christ and the time of the early church.  And again they were preaching Christ.  They were laying down not the Old Testament, but what?  The New Testament.  And the New Testament was the revelation of God, and, again, God attested His revelation by miracles.  And so, in the New Testament, you have a quantity of miracles appearing to substantiate the revelation of God.

     So when God disclosed Himself in the Old Testament, which is now written down for all time, and when God disclosed Himself through Christ in the New Testament, which is written down for all time, the miracles were accomplished as a confirmation of that Word.  They authenticated Christ.  They authenticated Christ's apostles.  Once the evidence was complete, and once the witness was written down, it would seem that miracles would no longer be necessary as normative.  When the revelation of Christ was complete, when the record of that revelation was written, the miracles no longer had the purpose of confirmation, which was their purpose.

     Now, let me just add a couple of verses to your understanding on this so that you have a little more insight.  In II Corinthians 12:12, I'll read them to you, it says, "Truly, the signs of an apostle," notice, the signs are identified with an apostle, "were wrought among you in patience in signs, wonders and mighty deeds."  Now, He says here that miracles were signs of an apostle.  In other words, He grants miracles to these individuals particularly.  In Hebrews 2:3, it talks about salvation.  And verse 4 says, "God also bearing them witness," that's talking again about those apostles and prophets of the New Testament, "God bearing them witness with signs and wonders and diverse miracles." 

     Now, God used miracles to corroborate the witness of the early preachers.  When a man would come into town and preach Jesus Christ and then work miracles, people would tend to believe that he truly was from God.  And that was the point.  Once that was done, and the Spirit gave us the record of it, this testimony is still good.  When a court case is completed today, you can go check the records, and that stands as a settled issue.  This does, too.  The verdict is in.  God is revealed in this Book.  Miracles attested to it.  They're in here.  And they have corroborative witnesses of a high quality, and in many cases of a great quantity.

     Now, I want you to notice something.  As you study through the New Testament, you find there is a progressive lessening of miracles.  It's almost as if they begin to fade away as you get to the closing of the New Testament.  The more of the New Testament that is written down, the less miracles become necessary.  And as it all winds out toward the end, you begin to see a fading away of miracles, at least as normative.  Once Scripture was complete, the revelation was complete, the disclosure of God was complete, no longer were miracles the test of truth. 

     What's the test of truth today?  If a man comes to town, how do you know he's a true prophet?  By what he does...whether he does miracles or not?  No.  By what?  Whether he agrees with the Word.  That's the test.  The Bible is the true revelation.  Baxter says, "Since the primary purpose for which miracles were performed in Biblical times is no longer operative, it is reasonable to believe that miracles performed through the agency of man as in Bible times no longer are to be seen on earth today."  Now, notice this, and I agree.  Miracles performed through the agency of man are not normative today. 

     So-called "miracle workers" are suspect.  Now, I don't want you to think that I'm going to shoot down all the people that you care about.  And I'm not trying to drop names and attack people.  But let me just say this.  Miracle workers, healers, people who fall into those categories, believe me, are suspect.  And without going into a lot of detail, from all of the study that I've done, and some very, very recently, my suspicions of them are not lessened in any way, shape or form.  Amazingly enough, the miracle workers of today do not tackle the raising of the dead.  Another thing.  They seem to serve no divine purpose. 

     Beloved, as you study miracles, and I'm not trying to be...I have no axe to grind, and I'm not trying to be unkind to these people.  I'm trying to point out to you what I believe is the truth of the Word of God.  But you study miracles for yourself in the Bible, and you will find that they happened for a limited time, through limited persons.  Not everybody did miracles.  The apostles and the prophets and our Lord, in the New Testament, not everybody.  And they were not only for a limited time by limited persons, but they had a limited purpose, to confirm revelation.  And once revelation is confirmed, they cease to have that purpose.

     Now, you say, "Well, John, are you saying that there aren't any miracles today?"  No.  Listen, some of the greatest miracles are gonna happen in the future.  You know what the next big miracle's gonna be?  The Rapture.  Wow, is that a miracle.  God's gonna invade this natural world and yank all the Christians out.  He's gonna turn off gravity for us, and whoosh, we're gone.  That's a miracle.  You can read the Book of Revelation and read about the Tribulation.  There's gonna be plenty of miracles. 

     And let me say this.  And God can do miracles right now, too.  And I'm not saying He can't, because if I say God is, I have to say God can act, right?  I mean, I can't stand down here with my little puny theology and say, "Look, God, in order for you to be consistent, don't do anything for a while."  I can't say that.  I'll tell you, God can do miracles whenever He wants, but I do not believe that He is doing miracles through the agency of men as normative in this age, because the purpose of those was to confirm the revelation.  That's done.

     Yes, I believe God can supernaturally heal.  I believe He does it in response to prayer.  I believe God can do the supernatural miracle of the new birth, and that's the one that boggles me the greatest.  I believe God can do any miracles that He wants to do.  But I don't believe that miracles are normative for today.  I notice that the faith healers have to take airplanes to their meetings.  They may have read through Acts a lot of times, but they haven't found out how Philip did it yet.

     You say, "But, John, aren't you ignoring John 14:12?"  No.  That's why I brought it up.  Turn to it.  It says this.  "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father."  Now, some people say, "Well, don't you see, John?  There's that verse that says we're gonna do what Jesus did."

     Beloved, let me give you a good argument on that verse.  First of all, I never met anybody yet in my life who did what Jesus did in terms of physical miracles.  Have you?  Do you know anybody that could at will raise the dead?  No.  Do you know anybody in this world who knew everything that was in the heart of everybody and never needed to ask any question about anything?  Do you know anybody who could go fishing and call all the fish to side of the boat that he wanted them on?  Have you met anybody yet who walks on water?  Do you know anybody who, when he decided to go to heaven, stood on a cliff and said, "Goodbye," and ascended?  No.

     You see, that isn't what He's saying.  That's obvious.  That's obvious.  You say, "Well, if it isn't the physical that He's talking about, what is He really saying?"  He's saying, watch this, He's saying, "greater."  Now, mark this.  In a sense, He's talking primarily to His apostles.  And He's saying, "You're going to do greater."  Now, I believe the "greater" is not necessarily in power but in extent.

     You see, Jesus' ministry was so confined to such a small area, and immediately, when the church was born, the apostles and the prophets went everywhere.  And look at Peter, for example.  The Bible says everywhere he went people were healed, and people would drag friends into the shadow of Peter, because they thought he had so much power that even his shadow could heal.  Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of miracles were done, that Jesus was limited in the volume of miracles, but greater extent, far greater, would be accomplished through the apostles, just by the virtue that they were more than He, and His power, working through them. 

     And notice that He isn't saying they had the power.  No, no.  Peter and John at the Gate Beautiful, "In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk."  And I do believe the implication is spiritual miracles, conversions to Christ, building the church, transformed lives.  These did happen.  And I think that's what our Lord promised.  You know, every time you lead somebody to Jesus Christ, you're in on a miracle, a fantastic miracle.   

     Well, God intended miracles to authenticate His revelation.  And you know the best way to see this is to look at Jesus, and that's what we want to do tonight.  That was the introduction.  Look at John 5.  You know, if I didn't believe the Bible for any other reason, I'd believe the Bible for Jesus' sake.  I mean, I cannot get around the person of Jesus Christ.  When I read the Bible, I know this is God's Word because of Christ.

     You say, "What are you saying?"  I'm saying this, friends.  Listen.  No human genius could ever invent a Jesus Christ.  No human mind, and no committee of theologians, could ever dream up an individual like this.  This has to be God in human flesh.  The human could never even conceive of such a person. 

     God intended miracles, then, to authenticate His truth.  And God recorded for us the miraculous life of Jesus Christ to show us that it was God in human flesh.  Jesus Christ was none other than God Himself.  Look at John 5, verse 18.  "Therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God."

     It never ceases to amaze me that Jehovah Witnesses are always arguing about the fact that Jesus was not equal with God.  It's also interesting that Jesus said He was.  Now, whether you want to quibble over John 1:1 or not, and whether it's A God, B God or whatever there, the fact is, Jesus made that claim, to be equal with God.  And even if some people in our world haven't figured out that He made that claim, the Jews knew He made that claim, and that's what irritated them so much. 

     But it was bad enough to make the claim.  What really miffed them was, He supported it.  You say, "How did He do that?"  Look at verse 23.  "That all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father."  Here's the claim again.  "He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father who has sent Him."  Equality.  Verse 32.  "There is another that bears witness of me, and I know the witness which he witnesses of me is true."  Verse 36, "I have greater witness than that of John," watch, "for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me."  What then was the great testimony to His deity?  His what?  His works.

     Listen, friends.  When a person comes along and says, "I am God," that doesn't end the case.  You know, I'd believe Jesus was God because He claimed it, but He supported it.  You know, a lot of people might say, "I'm God," like the guy in the mental institution, you know, who said, "I'm Napoleon.  I'm Napoleon."  Somebody said, "What do you mean you're Napoleon?  Who told you that?"  He said, "God did."  The guy in the next bed said, "Oh, no, I didn't."  You know, there are...but there are plenty of people who claim to be God, but there is only one who ever substantiated the claim.  You know, there was Theudas, who claimed to be the Messiah, and so he dove off the temple.  And the dive was great.  The landing killed him. 

     John chapter 10.  Jesus says, "My works are enough to prove who I am."  His miracles showed that He was God revealed.  John 10:24, "Then came the Jews roundabout Him and said unto Him, 'How long dost thou make us to doubt?  If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.'"  They want to know if He's the Messiah.  "Jesus answered them, 'I told you, and you believed not.  The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.'"  His works.  Look at verse 37.  "'If I do not the works of my Father, don't believe me.  But if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in Him.'"  Isn't that tremendous? 

     Listen.  The testimony that this is the Word of God is the miracles.  The testimony that Jesus is the living Word of God is the miracles that He did.  As Christians, we do not stand ashamed of miracles.  No.  Miracles give validity to the claims o