After the successful mission to the village of the Samaritan woman, Jesus and his disciples continued on their trip to Galilee. They got word that John the Baptist had been arrested by Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, because John had publicly criticized Herod for marrying his brother’s wife, Herodias. When Jesus got to Galilee he began to preach publically, emphasizing repentance and the coming Kingdom of God. It is Dr. Luke who tells us that Jesus was ‘about’ 30 years old at this time.
“Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. ‘Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,’ Jesus told him, ‘you will never believe.’ The royal official said, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’ Jesus replied, ‘You may go. Your son will live.’”
Jesus’ ministry was packed with miracles of healing. Later, when Jesus sent the twelve out into the world, his instructions were simple. He told them to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal, with the implication that to do either right was in effect to do both.
Were these ‘miracles’ real? Yes, they were. Can I prove empirically that they were real? No, nor can you prove empirically that they were not. This creation is far more complex than empiricism is able to measure.
I think that the miracles of Jesus were a consequence and evidence of the coming Kingdom of God. Jesus was not preaching a mere religious philosophy, but an invasion of the world of man by the power of God, the creator of nature and life itself. Miracles are what might be expected to happen when nature is invaded not simply by a god, but by the God and creator of nature: by a Power which is outside her jurisdiction not as a foreigner but as a sovereign. They proclaim that He who has come is not merely a king, but the King, nature’s king and ours. I would be very surprised if Jesus did not do miraculous things, and I am somehow comforted when I see that all of the miracles of Jesus were miracles of compassion or teaching, both of which were present in the healing of the official’s son.
I think that miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see. But what the gospel story makes clear to us about the miracles of Jesus is that seeing is not believing. Skepticism is, after all, its own form of dogma…its own kind of faith. What we see instead, is that faith in God is less apt to proceed from miracles than miracles from faith in God.
Prayer: “Great Father of miracles, you have written on the pages of history one miraculous act after another. And in the lives of many of us, you have brought healing and new life. We praise you for doing the unexpected, and restoring us to hope. Your very presence in our lives is a miracle. Your complete forgiveness through Jesus is a miracle. Your intention to bring us into eternity and into your presence is absolutely miraculous! In fact, our very ability to think, to plan ahead, to hope, to see and know you is miraculous. Open our eyes to the miracles around us. Most of all, open our lives and hearts to your abiding presence. In Jesus’ name, Amen.