Then they took away the stone
from the place where the dead man
was lying. And Jesus lifted up
His eyes and said,
'Father, I thank You that You
have heard Me.
And I always know that You
hear Me, but because of the
people who are standing by
I said this, that they may
believe that You sent Me.'
Now when He had said these
things, He cried with a loud voice,
'Lazarus, come forth!'
And he who had died came out....
John 11:41-44a
The miracles of Jesus Christ always had this in mind: first, to demonstrate to the people that He was the One sent from God, the One that had been prophesied by the prophets of old, the One that they had calculated would come about this time: He was the One sent from the Father. Jesus gave witness to that fact by the signs that were done by Him and were a witness to that fact. Secondly, Lazarus, who had been dead and in the grave four days, deterioration of the flesh having begun, all the natural events of death having been rendered in effect, came alive! This resurrection of Lazarus from the dead came about by a simple command: 'Lazarus, come forth!' This command transcended all laws of nature, as did all other commands, such as healing of the sick, raising of others who were dead, calming the storm, etc. All this miracles came about by a command. The Church doctrine in regards to miracles gives a simple, rational, and satisfactory account of these events: that is, all assumptions of unknown laws are unnecessary and unjustifiable. No scientist can give a justifiable reason that these miracles were caused by some physical cause. Do not we, as humans with a will cause things to happen? Are not our wills cause for various secondary causes? Are we limited to just one use of our will to one and only one cause? No! Neither is God! God can choose whatever cause He chooses. Was not God the creator of all things in the universe? As the creator does He not have control over His creation?
There are miracles that transcend all possible laws of nature. Nature cannot create, it can propagate, reproduce it itself, but nature cannot create life. If nature could create life then there would be no need for God, and nothing in the universe could account for all that it contains. There is no "higher law of nature" and all miracles are to be referred to the immediate power of God. Jesus did not use His own will to cause a miracle. He referred all miracles to God, that the power came from God. Jesus as man, a man on a mission, that is, to demonstrate that He was the Messiah, the One hoped for, the One promised from old, that all power, the power that transcends all of nature, is of God, and that by Him, through the power of God was the promised messiah, the One who by His death would pay for the sins of all God's children: "But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Luke 11:20). There is never a claim that these miracles were done by some occult power. This was never the claim even by the Apostles when miracles occurred in their presence for they referred all such miracles to have occurred by God. When Peter and John went into the temple soon after the events of Pentecost and met a lame man who desired for money, Peter said: "Then Peter said, 'silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6).
Miracles do not happen by chance. A miracle is a material fact, and that fact is due to the announcement by the agent, for when a miracle occurs we can only account for it as a miracle due to the extraordinary return from some illness, or bodily defect, by the announcement by the agent and the immediate occurrence. Do not be misled into seeing the healing, or the miracle in its occurrence; see that it happened not by chance, not just by the faith of the one "healed" and forget that this miracle is morally impossible that this agreement accompanied by a command was due to some chance, for it was not by chance but by the power of God who determined to healed that person. It was God's choice, not the by some power that a person had or has, rather it was due solely by the providence of God. We can pray that a person receive healing, but we cannot force God to heal, or do any miracles by our wills. We ask and then leave all to the economy and Providence of God. God is Good, and all that He has decreed is good, and all that He does is for the purpose that He set forth from the beginning, that is to have a people who are devoted to Him. He chooses those people, He heals who He desires, and by His omniscience He causes all things, even the bad to bring about His purpose. Peter spoke these words: "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know--" (Acts 2:22).
I will conclude this subject in the next blog, that of the value of Miracles as proof of God's Divine revelation.
Beware of false prophets,
who come to you
in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are
ravenous wolves.
Matthew 7:15
Today, Make an Effort to Hear His Words
Richard L. Crumb
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