What is a miracle? Is it something unusual that happens? Something out of the ordinary, or something unexpected? Have you ever thought about it? We've all heard of miracles. The Bible is full of them. We may have even witnessed a miracle or two ourselves. But, what exactly is a miracle?
miracle- an event that appears to be contrary to the laws of nature and is regarded as an act of God
That sounds like a fair definition to me. Let's paraphrase... "something that happens that shouldn't happen", or "something that goes against our natural laws".
What are some examples of miracles? I said earlier that the Bible is full of them. Let's name some:
The Parting of the Red Sea - Exodus 14:21-22
Abraham and Sarah having Isaac in their old, old...really old age - Gen. 17:17, 21:5
Samson - Judges 13:24-25, Ch. 14-16
Ax head floating on the water - 2 Kings 6:5-7
The Fire of God consuming Elijah's sacrifice - 1 Kings 18:20-40
The widow's oil - 2 Kings 4:1-7
Jesus - Entire Bible:)
What makes a miracle a "miracle"? It's "an event that appears to be contrary to the laws of nature". Ok, let's take the law of gravity. That's a good, solid law of nature, right? I can't help but obey the law of gravity. I don't even have to try. It just comes naturally. The parting of the read sea broke the law of gravity somewhat.
Exodus 14:21-22
21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
The floating ax head also broke the law of gravity. A quick refresher, lest we forget, iron does not float!
2 Kings 6:5-7
5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
6 And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
7 Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.
Jesus walking on water defied our natural law of gravity. (He also put this law into place during creation, but we'll save that for another study...)
Mathew 14:25-31
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Just because something is unusual, or rare, doesn't make it a miracle. A true miracle is something that defies the laws of nature. Examine any miracle in the Bible and you'll find at least one natural law is broken.
The New Testament has an astonishing record of the miracles of Jesus. He performed too many miracles for me to try to name right now. We'll look at a few...
Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine
John 2:1-11
1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
Why was this a miracle? Well, think about it. Is there anyway the water in those jars could ever naturally turn into wine? Nope. Never. It was a miracle.
Jesus calmed the storm
Mark 4:35-41
35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Storms have a beginning and an end. The wind naturally stops blowing eventually when the storm is over. This storm, however, stopped in the middle of its raging, simply because Jesus commanded it to. It was a miracle...
Jesus fed 5000 people
Matthew 14:15-21
15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
18 He said, Bring them hither to me.
19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
This was 5000 men, not counting the women and children present. Jesus completely destroyed basic math with this miracle. He fed at least 5000, but probably closer to 10,000 people all together, with just five loaves of bread and two fish. He then filled twelve baskets with the left overs. This could never happen naturally!
Spiritual v/s Natural
There is a spiritual world and a natural, or physical, world. We are bound by certain laws in this physical world, i.e. gravity. Gravity can only be broken by a higher law, like thrust. Think of an airplane or rocket. I wish I could explain this better, but unfortunately I’m not a physicist!
The physical laws of nature can be broken by higher laws. The higher laws are spiritual laws. Spiritual laws are superior to physical laws.
Jesus did many miracles. Another word for it is supernatural. What comes to mind when you hear "supernatural"? Ghosts, goblins and ghouls? How about witchcraft and the occult? That’s not the “supernatural” I’m discussing in this lesson. Let's examine the word supernatural...
super - (as a prefix) exceeding the usual or normal limits.
natural - In accordance with the usual course of nature.
super + natural = supernatural - exceeding the usual or normal limits/course of nature.
That sounds like a really good definition for a miracle, doesn't it?
Here's another way to look at it. I know this is going to be silly, but humor me...what are the differences between a man and Superman?
Superman
He can fly
He has extraordinary strength
X-ray vision
Laser eyes
You get the idea, right?
Superman does everything an ordinary man does...and then some. Because he's Superman. That's really all there is to supernatural in this sense. It's natural in every way...and then some. It's supernatural.
The Miracle Man
Jesus was (and is) the “Miracle Man”, doing countless miracles in the Bible and in our lives as Believers, because He was literally a walking miracle! Everything about Him is miraculous, from His conception to His ascension and everything in between.
Luke 1:26-38
26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Mary was human. Just as human as you and me. God is a spirit. John 4:24 - “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
God (Spirit) = Super
Mary (human) = Natural
What does this make Jesus? Yep,you guessed it:
God (Super) + human (natural) = Supernatural, a.k.a. Jesus, the Son of God.
It takes a man and a woman to make a baby. Every time! No exceptions. Even when God fulfilled His promise to give Abraham and Sarah a son. He didn’t just make a baby appear...poof! Nope. He caused Sarah and Abraham to conceive a child in their old age. Very old age. Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90. That’s quite a miracle.
Even today, with artificial insemination, you still have to have the male and female ingredients to make a baby. There’s just no getting around it. Except once, when Jesus was born. His Father, God, is a spirit, not a human. Jesus is Supernatural. His very conception was a miracle.
This had never happened in all of human history, and would never ever happen again. The blood of Jesus was truly precious and priceless. Every drop of it was shed at the Cross. Why? Because that’s how much God loved us, and wanted to spend eternity with us. We can never be good enough to get in on our own. We desperately needed someone to pay our way. And someone did. Salvation is a free gift for us, but the cost and value of it is truly incalculable.
Have a blessed week everyone!
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