How often do they occur? I mean, in our life or in the lives of the people we know? How many have we actually seen? Well, we’d have to qualify what a miracle is. Someone being healed of cancer may involve a medical miracle. Another less life-threatening example might be someone learning to read when it was previously thought not possible.
The word miracle means “an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment,” and it can involve divine intervention or a “divinely natural phenomenon.” It means “to wonder at.”[1]
To the sceptic there’s obviously a lot of subjectivity in ‘the miracle.’ But to make it easier anything truly remarkable in a life-giving way is a miracle. We see truly remarkable things all the time; such is the expanse and nature of life on earth. There’re miracles on the News and current affairs programs, for instance, apart from those that happen in our own lives.
Jesus, of course, was in the divine business of miracles. The sceptic might say, ‘Did they really happen?’ Well, there certainly seemed to be a lot of witnesses to them, considering the gospel accounts as historical evidence.
The gospel of Mark has two particular miracles of blind men having their sight restored. That of itself is remarkable. But what these miracles do is provide book ends for a broader picture to God’s purpose in Jesus--in sacrificing his only Son for the salvation of humankind.[2] This is the miracle of Salvation.
Sure, there are medical miracles, scientific break-throughs and spiritually-fulfilled miracles that occur. But, the real miracles of the Jesus-transformed life are when we sacrifice ourselves or our needs for others, willingly and passionately. These are everyday miracles of love.
When we do this, Jesus must be able to say to us, “Go... your faith has healed you” –Mark 10:52 (TNIV). Each time we sacrifice ourselves against the flow of normal expectation is a miracle, at least to an unsuspecting world that doesn’t know Christ. For it’s a remarkable thing for the Spirit to overcome the flesh in daily life. We’re healed (for that moment) from the shackles of sin.
And this is our call--every single one of us is called to live this life of true daily salvation. For Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” –Mark 8:34b (TNIV).
This is the miraculous life--full of love and hope--of faith in God.
Copyright © 2009, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved.
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ENDNOTES:
[1] miracle. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved July 19, 2009, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/miracle
[2] The miracle accounts of the blind man at Bethsaida (Mk 8:22-26) featuring the Messianic Secret Motif (a feature of Mark’s gospel) and the healing of blind Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46-52) sandwich three predictions Jesus made of his suffering death to come. Each time he used it as an example of how his death would be a model for how we’re to live--the miraculous life of being last in this life (for others’ benefit and to experience salvation in this life now) to be first in the next.
[1] miracle. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved July 19, 2009, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/miracle
[2] The miracle accounts of the blind man at Bethsaida (Mk 8:22-26) featuring the Messianic Secret Motif (a feature of Mark’s gospel) and the healing of blind Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46-52) sandwich three predictions Jesus made of his suffering death to come. Each time he used it as an example of how his death would be a model for how we’re to live--the miraculous life of being last in this life (for others’ benefit and to experience salvation in this life now) to be first in the next.
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