The Miracles of Jesus
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The Miracles of Jesus
Immediately after the Sermon on the Mount Jesus comes down from the mountain and works twelve miracles, one right after the other. Why? To prove He is God and strengthen us when we are afraid.
When John the Baptist was thrown in prison, I don’t know who was afraid, John or his disciples or both – but his disciples went to Jesus in a state of fear and anxiety. Jesus answered them: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear and the dead are raised up…”
To calm their fear and give proof he was God Jesus quoted a prophecy about himself from Isaiah 35 “Strengthen the weak hands, steady all trembling knees and say to those who are of a fearful heart, 'Be strong! Do not be afraid. 'Behold, your God is coming…; he is coming to save you.' Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy”
In this way Jesus said to John’s disciples, the one you see performing these miracles is God – so do not be afraid – I am with you. You are safe.
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The Miracles of Jesus bear witness that He is God.
First, Jesus heals the sick brought to him. He has power over physical illness. Immediately he gets into a boat, falls asleep and a violent storm arises. They cry out, Lord do you not care that we are dying? However, Jesus awakes, speaks to the storm saying, Silence! Be calm!' The wind dropped, and all was calm. Jesus has power over the forces of nature.
When they reached the other side, a man possessed by a legion of demons confronts Jesus, shouting, 'What do you want with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? Swear by God you will not torture me!' For Jesus had been saying to him, 'Come out of the man, unclean spirit'. Jesus drives the demons into the herd of pigs who rush down the steep cliffs and are drowned. Jesus has power over the forces of hell
Once they go back to the Capernaum, a father approaches Jesus: My little daughter is dying. Jesus heads to his house but they stop him saying – it’s no use, she is dead. Still, Jesus goes into the place where the child was lying. And taking her by the hand he says to her, 'Little girl, I say to you, arise'. The little girl arises at once and begins to walk about. At this, the people are overcome with astonishment. Jesus has power even over death.
Jesus has power over sickness, power over the forces of nature, power over the forces of hell, power even over death. Who is this man? His Miracles bear witness that he is God. Jesus has power over everything, we don’t. So, what am I worried about that I do not have power over? Haven’t you learned by now that Jesus has power over everything. Surrender it to Jesus. Let Him do what He wants with this thing you can’t control.
Jesus, I surrender to you. Take care of Everything.
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Jesus does not heal everyone or work all the miracles we ask him for. Why not?
You might be thinking – I’ve prayed for a miracle and nothing’s happened. But the goal of life is not physical, emotional or mental healing. God’s goal is to get us ready for heaven.
CCC 549 By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness and death, Jesus performed messianic signs. Nevertheless, he did not come to abolish all evils here below, but to free men from the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts them in their vocation as God's sons and causes all forms of human bondage.
The purpose of life is for God to get us ready for heaven. To accomplish this, we must be emptied of all that blocks us from being filled by God. Suffering is one of the most effective means to accomplish this. If you are suffering, it means God is there, he is working, to empty you and your loved ones so that He might fill us with Himself, making us ready for heaven.
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We know that all things work for good for those who love God. Still, it is hard, very hard when you pray for a miracle and nothing seems to happen here and now.
We must remember that our earthly life is not the whole of life. It is just a very very very small sliver in time. Life goes on forever after our earthly death. Though He may not do so in this life, God will heal and make everything right in the next life.
Still, it is difficult for us to see the big picture right now. Only at the Last Judgment will we see, in its entirety, how God worked all things for good.
At the end of time…Jesus Christ will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and…the marvelous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its ultimate perfection. The Last Judgment will reveal that God's justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God's love is stronger than death. CCC 1040
It is an absolute fact, that there is coming a moment, at the end of time, when you will see perfectly how all those things you could not understand, all those things that were so painful and seemed so senseless, were in the hands of God and how He worked all things for the greatest good.
We may not feel like God is working all things for good but we can change our feelings by our action. So take action. Make the resolution to say to Jesus when you are in doubt – Jesus I trust you and even to thank you ahead of time for working all things for good.
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We know Jesus is God and he has power over everything, still we worry. So we need a strategy to overcome worry and learn to trust in Jesus.
i. Identify the specific source of worry. Are we worried about future things that almost never happen; or things over which we have no control; or things we have been procrastinating. What is the specific cause of worry?
ii. Take some pressure off, Lower the stakes - Another cause of worry or anxiety is that we make the stakes way bigger than they really are. Most likely, the thing we are worrying about probably won’t kill us or anyone else.
iii. Failure is good. We must fail to grow. We have the false idea that failure is bad, even deadly and this becomes a cause of anxiety. The only way we grow is to try things we haven’t mastered. This entails risk. If we play it safe all the time, with a caution that avoids all mistakes and failures – it will be impossible for us to grow. There is no failure – there is only learning.
iv. Live in the present moment. So slow down. Focus on what can and must be done today. Make a plan for the near future. But once you make your plan – quit living in the future and just do the next right step today.
v. Exposure to gain evidence. The only way to overcome worry is to face it, go through it, and gain evidence that it was never as bad as we thought it would be.
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