Chapter

1. Rev. 2010 Chapter Eight Jesus Heals

2. Sections of Chapter Eight I Jesus’ Deeds Are as Important as His Words II Why are Miracles Challenging? IIIThe Jews and Miracles IV Understanding Miracles Today

3. 172 I. Jesus’ Deeds Are as Important as His Words A.) Significance of Jesus’ miracles • demonstrated that the power of God was truly manifested in him. • made his words more believable; gave his words “credibility.”

4. I. Jesus’ Deeds as Important As His Words 171 B. Four Kinds of Miracles 1. Healing Miracles Curing fever, paralysis, deafness, leprosy, etc. 2. Exorcisms Accounts of Jesus’ driving evil spirits, “demons,” out of people

5. 171 B. Four Kinds of Miracles 3. Restoration to life Three stories of Jesus raising people from the dead: - Lazarus - Widow’s Son - Jairus’ Daughter 4. Nature Miracles Control over the forces of nature: walking on water, calming storms, multiplying loaves of bread, etc.

6. 172 I. Jesus’ Deeds as Important As His Words C. The Gospel of John 1. John calls miracles “signs” of God’s power present in Jesus.

7. 173 2.)John’s miracle stories focus not on the miracles themselves, but on Jesusas the Son of God,through whom God is revealed. 3. John focuses on their symbolic meaning:physical miraclessymbolizedeeper spiritual truths.

8. 173 An example of deeper meaning: The raising of Lazarus from the dead shows not just God’s power over life and death, but shows Jesus’ identity as “the resurrection and the life.”

9. Sections of Chapter Eight I Jesus’ Deeds Are as Important as His Words II Why are Miracles Challenging? IIIThe Jews and Miracles IV Understanding Miracles Today

10. 174 II. Why are the Miracles So Challenging? A. Miracles in the Modern World We view the worlddifferently from the way the Jews of Jesus’ time did. We want proof, evidence, and logical “explanations” for everything

11. A. Miracles in the Modern World 175 1. Two typical Responses to Miracles: a.) “Take ‘em” b.) “Leave ‘em”

12. 175 a.) “Take ‘em” i) Accept all Gospel miracles at face value (just as written) ii) Reject modern scientific and biblical findings

13. 175 a.) “Take ‘em” iii) Allow only a literal reading of bible, with no possibility that a passage might be symbolic. This is called “Fundamentalism”

14. 1. Two typical Responses to Miracles. 175 b.) “Leave ‘em” i) Reject any possibility of miracles ii) Dismiss miracle stories as illusions of primitive people or as simply made-up tales

15. 175 1. Two typical Responses a.) “Take ‘em” c.) “In-between” option b.) “Leave ‘em”

16. 175 c.) The “Middle Ground” i) Don’t treat all miracle stories the same.

17. 175 ii) Don’t get so caught up in “explanation” that you miss the “meaning.”

18. 175 iii) Each story has some- thing true and valid to say about the Kingdom.

19. 175 iv) We can be sure that Jesus worked at least some wonders.

20. 175 iv) We can be sure that Jesus worked at least some wonders - Non-Christian historians refer to him as a “wonder-worker”

21. 175 iv) We can be sure that Jesus worked at least some wonders -- None of his enemies ever denied that he worked miracles

22. 175 iv) We can be sure that Jesus worked at least some wonders --- Certain eye-witnesses were willing to die for their faith in Him

23. 175 v) The major concern in this chapter is to understandthe meaningof the miracles

24. 176 B.) a Persistent Problem with miracles in the NT is that the Gospels themselves seem to disagree with one another about the same events

25. 177 (Not for notes) B. A Persistent Problem 2. Raises two questions: a.) How can we approach and judge the truth of the miracles? b.) How are we to understand them if not as historically accurate accounts of events?

26. Sections of Chapter Eight I Jesus’ Deeds Are as Important as His Words II Why are Miracles Challenging? IIIThe Jews and Miracles IV Understanding Miracles Today

27. 177 A. Two Different Worldviews 1. Modern view: Westernculture a) We tend to rely on science to explain the world b) So we see miracles as “events that contradict the laws of nature.”

28. A. Two Different Worldviews 177 2. Jews of Jesus’ Day a) explained everything in the world in terms ofthe power and presence of God. b) So miracles were not special interventions in the law of nature:God caused everything in nature anyway. - the rain and the breeze were direct results of God’s activity.

29. 179 2. Jews in Jesus’ Day c) Jews accepted miracles, too, as acts of God, if somewhat unusual ones, - they were awedby such displays of power, but not surprised by them.

30. 179 2. Jews in Jesus’ Day d) in ancient Jewish view, every- thing was an expression of either God’screative power (a soft rain, a birth, etc.) - or - The power of evil (blindness, leprosy, death, etc.)

31. 179 2. Jews in Jesus’ Day e) More miracles and miracle workers i) Jews recognized things as “miracles” more easily than we do. ( An unusual event today makes us search for scientific causes)

32. e) i.) Cont’d Their explanation for such a mystery was that God was doing it!

33. 179 2.) Jews in Jesus’ Day e) More miracles and miracle workers ii) In Jesus’ day, more people were recognized as “miracle-workers,” with strange powers over people and events.

34. 179 2.) Jews in Jesus’ Day e) More miracles and miracle workers iii) The Jews had wonder-working rabbis, Greeks had their miracle-workers, too.

35. 179 3.) Seeing the hand of God TODAY. Today we do not need to choose between the ancient faith-based view and a modern godless scientific world view.

36. Not for notes: 179 3.) Seeing the hand of God TODAY. i.) Christians can gain a greater sense of appreciation and awe for God’s creative power through the discoveries of modern science.

37. Not for notes: 179 c.) Seeing the hand of God TODAY. ii.) We can see God’s loving presence in everyday events or extraordinary ones

38. 179 B.) The world in Jesus’ time was a different world (There were no hospitals, or mental institutions!) 1. Common scenes Blind and crippled beggars were a common sight on the streets, as were raving maniacs

39. 182 B.) The world in Jesus’ time was a different world 2. Cruelty or Fear? a.) Sickness and insanity were seen as direct evidence of the power of evil. So healthy people were often terrified of those who were sick.

40. B.) The world in Jesus’ time was a different world 182 2. Cruelty or Fear? b.) Some Jews believed that sickness was a punishment from God for personal sins, or the sins of ancestors.

41. B.) The world in Jesus’ time was a different world 183 3. The Reign of God: No More Evil a.) If sickness and insanity were direct manifestations of the power of evil,then the coming of the Kingdom would involve overcoming disease and insanity. i) Through Jesus, God was destroying evil in all its forms and expressions. ii) Because God was using Jesus in this way, Jesus must be the Messiah, theone sent by God to establish the Kingdom.

42. Sections of Chapter Eight I Jesus’ Deeds Are as Important as His Words II Why are Miracles Challenging? IIIThe Jews and Miracles IV Understanding Miracles Today

43. 184 IV Understanding Jesus’ Miracles Today A. Introduction B. Faith Question & A Faith Answer C. Miracles and the Kingdom D. The Gospel Understanding of Jesus the Miracle Worker

44. (This is typed in already at bottom of page) “For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible.” -- Rev. John La Farge, S.J.

45. 184 IV Understanding Jesus’ Miracles Today A. Introduction 1. We don’t need to see all the miracles in the gospels as “miracles.” • The power of the brain over the body: - psychosomatic illnesses that disappear when patients’ attitudes change. - The power of suggestion, hypnosis b. Other gospel cures may be explained as exaggerations by the evangelist.

46. 1. We don’t need to see all the miracles in the gospels as “miracles” in our time. c. But modern insights do not explain all the miracles of Jesus d. Nor do they negate Christianity’s unbroken tradition of accepting miracles.

47. Historically true just as described Not historical at all -- totally symbolic miracle Based on a real incident, but exaggerated Not sure what to believe about it

48. IV Understanding Jesus’ Miracles Today A. Introduction B. Faith Question & A Faith Answer C. Miracles and the Kingdom D. The Gospel Understanding of Jesus the Miracle Worker

49. 186 B. A Faith Question & a Faith Answer 1. “What do the miracles mean? This is the question we need to keep asking. Not yes/no questions about the historical reality of individual miracles

50. 186 1. Meaning of the Miracles a. The first requirement Faith - Faith was as necessary for people who witnessed Jesus’ miracles as it is for us today. - Jesus required belief on the part of people who wanted to be cured.