As most of you know, I am not someone who believes in or promotes chasing miracles. Instead I believe in the God of miracles performing miracles in ordinary people through ordinary people. However just because I do not believe that believers should chase miracles, does not mean I don’t believe in expecting a miracle. In fact I believe that miracles should follow believers. (Mark 16:17) So let’s take a look at the reasons why we may not see as many miracles as we would want or hope. Let’s look at an incident in Mark 6 where even Jesus was limited by the expectations of people.
How not expecting a miracle effected Jesus performing miracles.
Mark 6
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
1 Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown. 2 The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” 3 Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary[a] and the brother of James, Joseph,[b] Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.
4 Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” 5 And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.
The reasons why not expecting a miracle effects whether miracles happen.
In this example from the book of Mark we see that people show a progression in their expectations of miracles and it was not a good progression.
- At first they were amazed. They wondered how and where He got such wisdom and power. However their amazement was not the amazement of people who were expecting a miracle or the hope that accompanies miracles, but instead it was the type of amazement of incredulity. It was filled with skepticism, unbelief and mistrust.
- From incredulity they descended into scoffing and scorn. They allowed their human reasoning to give them license to degrade and downplay the status of Jesus and the miracles that He had been performing. They put down his job, his family lineage and the fact that they had watched him grow up there.
- From scoffing and scorn they descended even further to offense. They worked themselves up to the point they were offended and refused to believe in Him. This refusal shows that it was a conscious choice that they made. It was not offense and refusal because of ethics but in fact based on emotion, fear, and an act of the will.
I find this example very poignant when we think of the reason we have very few people today that are actually expecting a miracle and why we have whole ministries and denominations that go to great lengths to explain away or demonize the few miracles we do see today.
- We approach the subject of miracles with skepticism and incredulity. In fact we have made litmus tests as to whether or not a miracle is credible or not. If that is not the very epitome of incredulity then I don’t know what is. Instead of believing first that it is God and that a miracle has happened, we look for every reason in the book why it couldn’t be of God.
- From there we start to scoff at and scorn those who are willing to stand up and expect a miracle. We call them hyper-emotional. ( and some are to be honest) We find every intellectual and physical reason to believe that a miracle won’t happen. We give all the reasons why God may not, or can’t, rather than allow ourselves to start expecting a miracle from God.
- From there we make it a spiritual issue that somehow we should be offended at. That somehow the person expecting a miracle from God needs to be spiritually more mature, or less heavenly minded, or more balanced ect. We make it an issue where we feel free to feel offense at the subject of expecting a miracle, thus letting us off the hook for expecting a miracle. We end up making people feel that expecting a miracle is bad in some way.
It was because of these very types of things that Jesus could not do any miracles among the people He loved. His family, friends and neigbors. All He was able to do was to heal a few sick people. Doesn’t that sound a lot like what we see today? He just is able to heal a few sick people. What would happen if we were to actually start expecting a miracle? What would happen if we started to look to Jesus first rather than our own intellect and understanding? I know for me, that it challenges me to believe that Jesus can do miracles in a little church in a little town in rural Wyoming.
Now that is something to think about!
Blessings
Pastor Duke
Related articles
- The Gift Of Miracles (taberstruths.com)
- Believing in Miracles (seekinggodfindingself.wordpress.com)
About the Author:
Pastor Duke Taber has been a believer in Jesus for 33 years. He has been a pastor for over 20 years currently serving at the Vineyard church in Pine Haven Wyoming and was formerly the secretary treasurer of White Pine County Ministerial Association. He is an alumnus of LIFE Bible College and Multnomah Biblical Seminary. He is a syndicated blogger at The Christian Post and Believe.com You can connect with Pastor Duke on Google+, Twitter, or on Facebook
PastorDuke – who has written 728 posts on Taber's Truths Christian Living Magazine.
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I hear what you’re saying, and do agree to a great extent. And want to personally thank you for submitting to Christ and speaking and teaching the Word. I have seen personally the miraculous healing that God can do… However, I must add that every person Jesus healed while on earth, passed away, and their fleshly bodies gave in to corruption and decay. Jesus did the many miracles to show by the fulfillment of prophecy that He was the prophecied Messiah, and we could trust, and put our faith IN HIM alone, and reject all others. Jesus simply, fulfilled prophecy! Also, the reality is, this SAME God did NOT heal all prior to the coming of Christ, (even though He very well could have), and after Christ’s resurrection this SAME God did not heal all those who believed in Him. I have personally never seen anyone ill, that I didn’t pray and want God to heal them, but seeing the bigger picture, and knowing that at “some point” their, as well as all of our bodies, will fail, will grow weak, will finally die, keeps my focus off of the flesh, which surely WILL perish, and on the Spiritual things of God. We must realize that we will all die if Jesus delays His return, but in glory, we will then have a glorified body that will live for the next 100 trillion years and beyond in the presence of God. The question is… will a true believer realize this, and know that in the end all flesh will perish, and by the Spirit of God give glory to Christ anyway? In Jesus DAVID ODELL
David, I do understand that all of us will perish due to a decaying body. I respectfully disagree with the argument that it is somehow God’s will for sickness to reign over a believer. Is there sickness in heaven? No. We are to pray for God’s Kingdom to come and for His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. There is no sickness there. Now, am I arrogant enough to say that all people get healed? No. There are many reasons why people do not get healed. I am not God. I do not know all the answers. But what I do know is that He carried all our sicknesses and healed all our diseases. Matt. 8:17.
The problem lies when we base our theology upon our experience. I do not understand why everyone does not get healed instantly or does not receive healing. However it is better to contend for healing than to acquiesce to a theology that does not.
I hear what you’re saying, and do agree to a great extent. And want to personally thank you for submitting to Christ and speaking and teaching the Word. I have seen personally the miraculous healing that God can do… However, I must add that every person Jesus healed while on earth, passed away, and their fleshly bodies gave in to corruption and decay. Jesus did the many miracles to show by the fulfillment of prophecy that He was the prophecied Messiah, and we could trust, and put our faith IN HIM alone, and reject all others. Jesus simply, fulfilled prophecy! Also, the reality is, this SAME God did NOT heal all prior to the coming of Christ, (even though He very well could have), and after Christ’s resurrection this SAME God did not heal all those who believed in Him. I have personally never seen anyone ill, that I didn’t pray and want God to heal them, but seeing the bigger picture, and knowing that at “some point” their, as well as all of our bodies, will fail, will grow weak, will finally die, keeps my focus off of the flesh, which surely WILL perish, and on the Spiritual things of God. We must realize that we will all die if Jesus delays His return, but in glory, we will then have a glorified body that will live for the next 100 trillion years and beyond in the presence of God. The question is… will a true believer realize this, and know that in the end all flesh will perish, and by the Spirit of God give glory to Christ anyway? In Jesus DAVID ODELL
David, I do understand that all of us will perish due to a decaying body. I respectfully disagree with the argument that it is somehow God’s will for sickness to reign over a believer. Is there sickness in heaven? No. We are to pray for God’s Kingdom to come and for His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. There is no sickness there. Now, am I arrogant enough to say that all people get healed? No. There are many reasons why people do not get healed. I am not God. I do not know all the answers. But what I do know is that He carried all our sicknesses and healed all our diseases. Matt. 8:17.
The problem lies when we base our theology upon our experience. I do not understand why everyone does not get healed instantly or does not receive healing. However it is better to contend for healing than to acquiesce to a theology that does not.
Wow! Thanks Duke. I really like your article.
It’s true that we should expect miracles. In expecting miracles, I think we don’t need to be specific to tell God what we want to happen. Otherwise that must means that we take God’s position. Let Him do His work because He knows the best for us.
Wow! Thanks Duke. I really like your article.
It’s true that we should expect miracles. In expecting miracles, I think we don’t need to be specific to tell God what we want to happen. Otherwise that must means that we take God’s position. Let Him do His work because He knows the best for us.
Beautiful! Yes, although we should not chase miracles, I agree that we should expect the miraculous. Indeed, the closer we grow to Christ in our journeys, the more it seems each day is a miraculous unfolding. Such wondrous things await those in whom the Spirit abides. May our lack of faith never limit in our lives the miraculous power of our omnipotent Father! I pray that He continues to bless you…
I agree Caroline! Signs should follow believers not believers following after signs. I have found that as we walk in His steps, the miraculous and expecting miracles becomes easier to do!
Amen!!! May spiritual signs ever follow our steps!
God bless you and your heart for HIM!
Beautiful! Yes, although we should not chase miracles, I agree that we should expect the miraculous. Indeed, the closer we grow to Christ in our journeys, the more it seems each day is a miraculous unfolding. Such wondrous things await those in whom the Spirit abides. May our lack of faith never limit in our lives the miraculous power of our omnipotent Father! I pray that He continues to bless you…
I agree Caroline! Signs should follow believers not believers following after signs. I have found that as we walk in His steps, the miraculous and expecting miracles becomes easier to do!
Amen!!! May spiritual signs ever follow our steps!
God bless you and your heart for HIM!