Category Archives: Miracles

The purpose of Jesus’ miracles

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Mitch Chase outlines three purposes of the miracles of Christ:

‘First, miracles provoke identity questions about Jesus. In Mark 4:35–41, where Jesus calmed the tumultuous waves and wind, the disciples said, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (4:41).

Second, miracles bear witness to the origin and truthfulness of Jesus’s ministry. They are works that “bear witness about me that the Father has sent me” (John 5:36).

Third, miracles foreshadow the far-future age of worldwide shalom.…

Jn 4:42-54 – Weak faith meets strong Saviour – sermon notes

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It’s every parent’s worst nightmare: your child at death’s door.

There is a spark of faith; a tiny seed.  And see what happens as this tiny seed engages with a mighty Saviour.  Watch as it grows, flowers, and brings forth fruit.

(a) He comes, v47.  He has heard that Jesus has been doing amazing things.  He is in desperate need.  So he comes.  17 miles.  ‘Faith is the foot that runs to Christ, the hand that takes Christ, the eye that sees him.’…

Can we do ‘Christ-like’ miracles?

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Dr Peter May is a retired GP who has taken a particular interest in claims of miraculous healing.

Dr May is not a thorough-going sceptic.  He is a Christian who has served the church in a variety of ways over many years.  He believes that God answers prayer, and that this might lead to the improvement or recovery of a sick person.  He believes that the miracles attributed to Jesus actually happened.

But he does not believe that ‘Christ-like’ miracles occur today.…

Exodus 3:1-3 – The burning bush

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3:1 Now Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. 3:2 The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked—and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed! 3:3 So Moses thought, “I will turn aside to see this amazing sight.…

2 Cor 12:12 – ‘The signs of an apostle’

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12:11 I have become a fool. You yourselves forced me to do it, for I should have been commended by you. For I lack nothing in comparison to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. 12:12 Indeed, the signs of an apostle were performed among you with great perseverance by signs and wonders and powerful deeds.

Two questions may be raised.  An exegetical question: do these ‘signs of an apostle’ to refer to miracle-working, or more broadly to a life and ministry consistent with that of an apostle? …

Problems with miracles

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When it comes to belief contemporary miracles, many conservative evangelicals declare themselves to be ‘open but cautious’ (by which they usually seem to mean, ‘almost completely closed and extremely cautious’).  In other words, they will pay lip-service to the possibility of miracles, but have a high index of doubt as to whether they actually occur.

It feels a little strange, therefore, to read an article from a thoughtful Christian who makes no concessions at all to the possibility of contemporary miracles; who is, in effect, a cessationist (although not using that word).…

Science and miracles

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Sir Colin Humphreys recently spoke at Norwich Cathedral on ‘How Can Science Fit With Miracles?’.

A video recording of the lecture, together with the Q & A session which followed, can be found here.

Sir Colin spent most of his time discussing three miracles – the ancient Israelites’ crossing of the River Jordan, the crossing of the ‘Red Sea’, and the resurrection of Jesus.

When approaching miracles from a scientific perspective, he said, we should first ask if any known natural mechanisms can be invoked in order to help us understand what happened.…

Joshua 3:7-17 – Crossing the Jordan

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Josh 3:14 When the people left their tents to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 3:15 When the ones carrying the ark reached the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the surface of the water—(the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest time)—3:16 the water coming downstream toward them stopped flowing. It piled up far upstream at Adam (the city near Zarethan); there was no water at all flowing to the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea).…

Matthew 17:27 – the fish and the coin

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Matthew 17:24 After they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Your teacher pays the double drachma tax, doesn’t he?” 17:25 He said, “Yes.” When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tolls or taxes—from their sons or from foreigners?” 17:26 After he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.…

Miracles and the purposes of God

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The next section of Tim Chester’s book, Do Miracles Happen Today? that I would like to summarise is that part of chapter 5 which deals with ‘miracles and the purposes of faith.’

Chester believes (with John Stott) that miracles are certainly possible, but not as common as they were in, say that time of Jesus and the apostles, because one of the main purposes for miracles – attesting to God’s unfolding revelation – no longer applies.…