Jesus... He's Magic!

One thing that has kind of bugged me lately is how Christians tend to believe in Jesus because of his miracles.

Jesus turned water into wine, walked on water, rose the dead to life, calmed a storm, regenerated a man's ear, made the blind see, and so on.

If you take a moment and think of God. Wonder at His power. Dwell upon His omnipotence. Gape at His mystery. He is so far beyond anything we can imagine.

If God is so immense and grand in his power, why are we so impressed with the simple miracles he does? Not that they are meaningless or on par with our ability, but they are nothing for God. It takes less than a micro-fraction of power for God to turn water into wine or walk on water. It's like I wonder what's the point of caring so much about those things, when they demonstrate very little of God's greatness.

I far too often think of this Family Guy clip, when thinking of Jesus's miracles.






I tend to progress toward the deeper things, believing that things like Jesus's miracles are used to point to a grander theme.

For instance...

1. Jesus turning water into wine - Could have been his approval of parties of gathering together to celebrate something excellent, like the wedding Jesus was at. Even to show that God desires for those celebrations to continue on and on, and Jesus allowed the party to progress by supplying more wine.
2. Jesus healing the blind - Could show how God desires all of us to have the ability to see his glory.
3. Raising people from the dead - Could be a precursor to the resurrection God desires for all of us, as well as a spiritual rebirth into life in this world, found in salvation.

Notice these are all "could's." Honestly, I can find other ways of relating all of these to the deeper. But ultimately, even to the point of Jesus dying and raising from the dead, it seems there is something deeper there. If people believe Jesus is God, or at least that he is endowed with God's Spirit and Power, why should it be amazing for him to raise from the dead? He already raised other people, why not himself? Or more Biblically, God raises him, which should be very doable for the supreme being of the world.

To me the greater miracle there is that God could actually love me. That God could forgive me. It's something much deeper and much less believable than for God to raise another person from the dead... but rather to raise my spirit from its death. A physical miracle that we see shows what God can do, but a miracle that follows us individually and as humanity for all our days and beyond shows who God is. Seeing what God can do is impressive, but seeing who God is unbelievable. What truly displays God's brilliance is how he shines in ways that I wasn't even aware of. What seemed foolish to me is shown as perfect through God.

And I do believe there is something there... something of value in this perspective. But tonight I'm going to take a step back a moment, and perhaps move away from the deeper to look at miracles.

You cannot deny the Old Testament use of miracles and wonders to display the authenticity and power of God. When He was questioned, fireballs would come from heaven. When He long to help His children, plagues swept Egypt to instill the fear of the Lord in them. When a great military man with leprosy came to Elisha, he was made pure by dipping in a body of water 7 times. Bodies of water were separated more than once for men to walk across them and armies were defeated without a single blow by their opponent.

The Old Testament is held together by all these displays of God's power. It's essential in proving Himself and distinguishing Himself from the other gods. This is something followed up all the way to the New Testament, and even to now.

We know about all of Jesus's crazy miracles, but you hear less about the apostles, and especially less about any going on now... well apart from Benny Hinn (HA!) I think the truth is that the apostles didn't write about their miracles so much (although they are definitely documented). It seems the concentration was on showing people how following Jesus looked in their lives (by following the way), and then encouraging them in that way. The preaching and living of the gospel, from what I can gather at least, was much more on the priority list than miracles.

Why would this be? Miracles bring recognition to something. Miracles validated Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Jesus, the apostles, etc., etc., etc., and ultimately God to people, whether they be Jew or gentile. But at the same time, not all prophets had these great displays by their side. Many had nothing but their words... well God's words.

For some prophets, you had to wait to see if what they said came true to know if they were really a prophet of God. Others you knew pretty quick. Why the difference? Why don't they all prove themselves with flashiness?

I think it was necessary (at least to a certain extent) for Jesus to perform miracles. It's what gave him street cred, especially with his new, somewhat unconventional, message of Truth. They were cool and respectable tricks, but ultimately it was his words that were the miracle. A new way of living that made the impossible now present.

I've continued talking with Mormon missionaries. They always ask me if I believe Joseph Smith was a prophet. I think not, but honestly don't know enough to answer fully. I do know he hasn't seemed to prove himself with any miracles. I don't believe any significant predictions have come to pass, and as of yet I don't feel his words don't piece, or always line up with God or history, like those of Jesus and the other prophets. People who follow Smith do some really good things, but those who do not follow him at times do even cooler thins than Smith's followers. So who do you believe when both are doing awesome things in the name of God?

How do I distinguish the true prophets from the false ones? Well I don't know if miracles can be my key, but I suppose they could help. You certainly cannot trust someone just because they make a claim to be a prophet. The two direct ways you can know a prophet are these: What he says comes true and the words will have the fire of the Lord's Truth igniting them.

For now, I guess the best thing to do would be test the words of any other prophet, to see if they have a fire to them (in life and by igniting the Word of God). And in the mean time, follow the prophets who have proved themselves. Jesus is the foremost prophet I choose to follow, and his command was to love each other, so any word from God should revolve around that.

This is something I'm still wrestling with, so if you have any insights I would love to hear them, so I can learn and grow.

I'm exhausted, my apologies if this post makes no sense.