68 Sermon Illustrations on Miracles

Christian workers and volunteers are sharing their faith among China's billions and training new believers there for outreach through a wide range of programs.

The growth of the church in China is not the result of hard work and intensive training, but ultimately, as one worker says, "What has happened in China ... is a mighty movement of God's Spirit."

With the growth have come reports of miracles, divine interventions and angelic visitations. There are also reports of demons, demonic possession and the presence of evil. The stories may sound unbelievable to Christians in the West, but they mirror events described in the New Testament.

Some of these stories follow. These are not legends from unknown sources. They are first-person testimonials directly from the people involved in widely varying locations across China. Christian workers from the West either have been participants in the events described or spoken directly to those telling the stories.

-- GOSPEL FACTORY

Daniel* is a Chinese Christian who lived near a factory where some 1,700 people work.

He wanted to share the gospel with them but could not get into the factory. When a team of medical workers came for a medical clinic, Daniel went in with them and witnessed to some 500 factory workers the team treated.

Three hundred of those workers accepted Christ as Savior. A Buddhist woman was healed and threw away her amulets. Daniel challenged the new believers to share their faith with others, and one woman led 20 to faith in Christ the first week.

Daniel and other Chinese Christians say such workers in this and other factories eventually will take the gospel back to their home villages across a wide area.

-- HOLY DRAGON!

A Chinese Christian man says his mother was a strong Christian but because she had no Bible she had gotten some ideas wrong.

For example, she taught the man that God would come as a "Holy Dragon" and take away sickness. She had confused the word "linag," or spirit, with long, or dragon.

The man became convinced he must have a Bible. Once, looking for a Bible, he walked 20 miles to visit an old preacher. The preacher had no Bible and told the man he must ask God for one.

Until then, the man did not realize one could ask God for things like Bibles. He began praying for a Bible.

After 100 days of fasting he had a vision in which he saw an old man pulling a cart filled with bread -- when the man went to eat the bread, it was a Bible. So the man realized there was a Bible somewhere near him.

He began tearing the house apart, looking for a Bible. He awoke his parents, who soon stood in the middle of the room crying, believing their son had gone crazy.

"A knock came at the door. When I opened the door, there was the old man I had seen in my vision. He handed me a package. I unwrapped the package to find the Bible for which I had been praying. I took that Bible as a loaf of bread and began reading morning and night, even by moonlight, as we had neither candles nor kerosene. Knowing neither night nor day I read that precious book," he reports.

"I started from Matthew, reading and memorizing. When I got to Acts, the Holy Spirit began moving in my heart. When I read Acts 1:8, I realized that the 'Holy Dragon' my mother had talked and preached about was the Holy Spirit. So morning til evening I prayed, 'Jesus I need the Holy Spirit.'

"The Holy Spirit came upon me in the midst of my prayer so that I started to sing a song that I had never heard. The whole village heard that song, and they began to sing it with me over the next few days as that song continued to echo within me and from my lips."

Later the man was called to preach. After being imprisoned three times he eventually left China but continues in Christian service.

-- 15 YEARS AGO ...

The American father stood to his feet and turned to face a gathering of Christians. Fifteen years ago at the end of a summer of ministry in a China megacity, he began, "I remember praying with others that God would call out laborers to the harvest in China." He didn't realize then that part of God's answer to his prayer would be bringing him, his wife and his children to live in China to impact others for the kingdom. Today he speaks with a sense of wonderment about God's ongoing answer to that prayer through their lives.

-- A KNOCK AT THE DOOR

Shortly after her arrival in China, Lori sat on the sofa in her modest apartment and stared into space. Numb with sadness, she prayed, "What am I doing here God?"

She had just talked on the telephone to her parents in the States and had heard that her critically ill sister would probably not live out the week.

A tapping on the window interrupted Lori's thoughts. She opened her door to a young Chinese lady who introduced herself as a friend of a friend. Then with little further ado, the visitor said, "I came because I need to ask you what to believe."

Lori felt joy and affirmation well up in her heart as she began to share the love of Jesus, realizing that God had given her a clear, timely and tangible reminder of his purposes for her in China.

-- A MOTHER'S PRAYERS

Growing up in Asia with a Buddhist father and a Christian mother, Annie slept in a bedroom that also doubled as the family idol room. The young Christian was keenly aware of the danger of idol worship and prayed every night for protection from the influence of the evil one.

Many times she heard the prayers of her mother who looked out over the community from a balcony window and interceded for the salvation of her family and friends.

Annie left Asia many years ago. But now she has returned with her husband and their toddlers to share Christ with those who have never heard. Her early childhood exposure to lifeless idols and a faithful mother has given her a passion for sharing the living God.

-- FORGIVEN

Snowflakes were falling lightly as they stood outside their home to videotape the testimony of their friend's daughter who had just accepted Christ. The 22-year-old new Chinese Christian looked into the camera and expressed it as best she could. "This morning I have 100 sins. Now I have zero. Jesus is wonderful."

-- OVERWHELMED

One year ago a young Christian couple felt overwhelmed by the challenge of reaching an ethnic minority group for Christ. Having come all the way to China to reach out to the group, the couple realized they didn't know where to begin. So they asked hungrily for the prayers of others - and God answered.

The couple was joined a short time later by a team of short-term workers. Using English, the volunteers shared Christ with many students on a university campus.

To the amazement of the young couple, one of those who heard about the Lord and received Christ into his heart was from the same ethnic minority group they had committed to reach. So far as they knew, this was the first believer from that group.

Now, only one year later, there are eight known additional believers in that previously unreached people group. The Christian workers are overwhelmed all over again, but this time it is due to God's miraculous working.

-- PARENTS' PRAYERS

Parents of a committed Christian university student were thrilled when they began receiving calls from their son a few years ago asking them to pray that he would have a heart for the nations. As they prayed faithfully according to their son's request, God gave them a double portion. Not only did their son grow in his passion for world evangelism, but they too received a heart for the nations. Now, as their son continues his university studies in the United States, the parents have already begun serving God in China.

-- THE REASON FOR THE SEASON

As one of the few foreigners living in a China city, Lonnie and his family had to field a lot of questions about Christmas last December. This led to special opportunities in being able to redirect interest in the secular aspects of Christmas to the true meaning of the celebration.

When a new Chinese friend asked Lonnie to speak about Christmas at his place of business, Lonnie offered to show a movie about the meaning behind the holiday. So it was that his businessman friend required all 300 of his employees to view the "Jesus" film.

Two persons accepted Christ immediately after the viewing, and others were impacted in many ways as they came to realize that Jesus is central to the celebration.

-- WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

Sometimes all it takes is a home-cooked meal, a video player and the right movie. The Holy Spirit does the rest. A matronly American English teacher has made a lot of friends during her years in China. Her love for the people makes it natural for her to invite students to her apartment to visit over a meal she has prepared.

After clearing the table following one recent meal, she inserted the Jesus film into her video player and disappeared into another room to work while two students -- one Christian and one not yet a believer -- watched the movie.

Reentering the living room a while later, she sensed that something very significant had happened. "I believe in Jesus!" said the young man who had entered her home that evening as a nonbeliever. The hostess and her two guests -- all three of them now Christians -- rejoiced together over the Savior's love. When the two Christian students departed, it was with a promise that they would soon bring more friends to eat a home-cooked meal and watch a movie.

-- 'WHY HAVE YOU COME?'

After much prayer, preparation and travel, the team of overseas visitors had just arrived in a new community. They walked into a restaurant and were greeted by the owner, who looked them straight in the eye and asked, "Why have you come?"

Surprising even himself, the team leader replied forthrightly, "We came to tell you about Jesus."

The Chinese lady responded with excitement, explaining that she had been thinking about her need for God. That afternoon, surrounded by the family and friends, the team showed the Jesus film in her restaurant. With tears streaming down her face, the entrepreneur publicly professed Christ.

-- WAITING SINCE AGE 8

"I always knew it would be like this," the young Chinese lady exclaimed. Ever since she was 8 years old and had picked up a Bible at the side of the road, she had longed to worship with other believers. Over the years, she had read and reread the Word of God that had come into her possession.

But it was only when she overheard a conversation in a Chinese tea shop last year that she met other Christians. She sat down at the table and began asking questions. Foremost on her heart was her desire to worship with other believers.

Happy to facilitate her yearning, they introduced the woman to a small group of believers. As she began experiencing the body of Christ through worship and service, she was strengthened with new understandings and has now returned to her village to tell others about her fellowship with the Savior and his followers.

-- GRANDPARENTS' LEGACY

Her grandparents planted the first gospel seeds in the man's life almost 20 years ago. They were living in China for a short time, serving as English teachers. Through them, their second-grade granddaughter became his pen pal.

Now, as a young woman serving in China, that same granddaughter recently experienced the incomparable joy of participating in his baptism.

"It brought tears to my eyes as I sought to grasp this treasure ... a lifelong friend ... a heritage from my grandparents ... a salvation I have longed to see." As her longtime pen pal emerged from the waters of baptism symbolizing the beginning of his new life, she reflected on the incredible goodness of the Lord and prayed that God would grant him the courage to follow the example of her grandparents by boldly planting the gospel seeds in the lives of others.

-- A NEW FAMILY

Serving Christ is not just about giving up one's homeland and family and friends. It's about gaining more than one could ever hope for. A Christian worker in China, speaking about those with whom she serves, recounts, "We have more than a dozen kids among us, ranging from infants to teenagers. The adults [are] as young as their early 20s. Most are married. Some are single.

The co-workers have "different mother tongues and different complexions. But when we're together, it's like a wonderful family reunion," the woman says. "Not the kind where there are quarrels and squabbles, but the kind where everyone genuinely likes each other and enjoys being together."

Citing Mark 10:29-30, she and her family have begun experiencing on the deepest level the meaning of Jesus' promise that "no one has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for my sake and for the gospel's sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much in the present age ... and in the age to come."

-- RISING FROM THE ASHES

The Chinese man gingerly approached the literature distribution table. He stood there awkwardly and expressed reluctance to accept the gift package of spiritual materials.

A Christian worker befriended him and then listened to a heartbreaking yet hope-filled story.

During the Cultural Revolution, the man's Christian father had been killed. Shortly thereafter, he had burned all of his father's books.

Thirty years later, while standing in a hotel lobby in Southeast Asia with a heart hungry for the Word of the living God, Christian volunteers lovingly placed a copy of the Bible into the hands of this one who had once lit a fire to try to extinguish God's Word.

-- GOD WAS ALREADY AT WORK

She came all the way to China to serve God just to find out that he was already at work.

"When I went to China to prayerwalk, we had orientation in Hong Kong," she recounts. "During our two hours of free time I went with two others on what was the most crowded subway ride of my life to what is billed as the most densely populated square mile in the world. On one corner a skyscraper was being renovated.

"On the plywood board covering the outside, someone had drawn the gospel story from creation to eternity in heaven. Without a word being spoken, we clearly understood the message. And God's message to me was that I might think I was special, coming all this way to prayerwalk. But he actually was already at work and was just allowing me this opportunity of joining him."

-- THE WATER WARMED

During one icy winter in northern China, house church members were holding an outdoor baptismal service when it began snowing and ice started to form on the water.

There were so many people being baptized that one 90-year-old woman had to wait in the icy water for 30 minutes before it was her turn.

She decided she could not wait any longer and started splashing in the water as she praised God for his forgiveness and new life.

"The Holy Spirit came upon all of the people present," reports a church leader who was there. "It was such a dramatic event that suddenly the water turned warm! Everyone standing in the water testified that God had so heated the water by his power that steam was seen rising up all around the people!"

-- GENTEEL, BUT BLESSED, WOMEN

They gathered in a hotel room on the last morning of their journey and reflected on God's goodness. To an outsider, the genteel women might have seemed an unlikely group to have experienced all that God had prepared for them in China.

Some of them had traveled to difficult rural settings to share with Chinese women believers who had come to them with hearts needing to be touched. Others had cast aside their comfort and fear to enter rooms that were packed wall-to-wall with worshippers meeting in secret.

They had shared tears and hugs with their Chinese sisters, profoundly impacted by the testimony and faith of these new friends. One of the ladies spoke of the "glimpse of heaven" that she had experienced when she heard the Chinese believers sing and pray.

"My spirit was so in agreement even though I couldn't understand the words," she said. Another lady summed it up, "I will never be the same." There was silence and a few tears. Heads nodded in agreement.

-- 3 KEY ANSWERS TO PRAYER

The Christian worker received three answers to three major questions on one day, and he believes it is because of prayer. First he that he would be able to move to a strategic location. Then he heard that another worker would soon be traveling from another country to join him. Later that day he was introduced to local Christian leaders with whom he could minister to reach a city for Christ.

Not every day will be like that, of course. But when Christian workers in China experience those days, they know it has all come through prayer. They know too that prayer will take them through the less eventful days -- even days of discouragement.

-- LOOKING FOR LOST SHEEP

"Stop the bus! My sheep has jumped off the roof," he shouted. The mountain highway bus, packed to overflowing with people and piled with luggage and animals on top, was quickly steered to the side of the road. Everyone got off.

While the children played games, dozens of Chinese adults fanned out throughout the rural China community looking for the lost sheep. A Christian worker who had been riding the bus en route to his unreached people group joined in the search.

But the worker's thoughts were not so much on the missing sheep. He was thinking of the parable of the Good Shepherd. Observing the peasant farmer searching for his one lost sheep, the Christian realized anew the passion that Christ has to seek and save the lost. The worker prayed that in the busyness of his life and ministry, he would never again neglect to "stop the bus" and look for the lost "sheep" around him.

-- THERE'S MORE?

The Ph.D. student arrived at Bible study with an eagerness that could hardly be contained. The Chinese man had only recently heard of Christ and with an open heart had begun to devour the New Testament. His interest could hardly be contained as he joined in the discussion.

Then someone made a reference to the Old Testament.

Waving his newly acquired copy of the New Testament with one hand, he asked, "You mean there is more than this?" This brilliant young Chinese man, having studied for years to achieve educational success, had never imagined all the spiritual riches that were yet to be found.

-- FRUITFUL WITNESS

One year earlier, the evangelist had led a Chinese lady to salvation in Christ during a brief conversation in an Asian tourist destination. The new believer did not share her contact information with the soul-winner, so he assumed he would never know of her spiritual progress.

"The only thing I could do was to pray that the Lord would cut off her connection to ungodly people and surround her with Christians, and that she would continue to grow in the faith," he reflected.

Later, however, he received a phone call from an American lady he had never met. Her message warmed his heart. She was a Bible study teacher calling to tell him that the Chinese lady had now immigrated to the United States and was very active in a Christian church in Georgia. The Bible teacher sensed that the seed sower would want to know of the fruit of his witness.

-- SACRIFICE

A young American mother climbed on a bus with several small children to carry much-needed spiritual materials to another location. At least one of her children was bordering on minor illness, and she herself was laden with luggage.

They were facing five or more hours on a crowded, smoke-filled rickety bus. She knew that they would be surrounded by strangers and would constantly be subjected to stares.

But willingly sacrificing their needs and their comfort, she and her children climbed on that bus to make a long journey so that others could hear of salvation.

-- AWARENESS OF THE DEMONIC

During a 50-day leader training session in China, two workers from the West reported spiritual warfare broke out in their room.

Joe, while in bed, reported he literally had seen a demon and felt it as its black form moved over him. Mack dreamed a demon was trying to suffocate him. He woke up to find himself genuinely out of breath.

That night they prayed and felt better, but for the next three nights Joe had trouble breathing and Mack repeatedly sensed a demonic presence.

Mack said later he had prayed and asked God to give him a discernment of spirits, but this was the first time in his life he actually had sensed demons in the room with him.

Such reports of spiritual warfare are not routine but do occur often as the gospel goes forth in China, workers there report.

-- COMMITTED LEARNERS

They came from all over the northern part of the province. They ranged in age from their early 20s to mid-50s. Many were farmers and some were general laborers. Most had received only the equivalent of an elementary school education.

But they were the leaders of house churches and were hungry to learn. For several days they studied the Word of God from dawn to dusk and beyond. Some were challenged to read the Chinese characters, either because of vision problems or due to their minimal education. Some were shy about sharing in front of the group of 30. Some were initially resistant to a challenge to go forth and train others.

But they had come committed to learning, and at the end of the intensive training time their personal commitments had risen to personally leading 209 people to the Lord, training 142 others to start churches and planting 71 new congregations.

-- 8-YEAR-OLD'S WITNESS

The two patients were in the same hospital. One had chosen to live. One had chosen to die.

The former was an 8-year-old Chinese boy who had suffered a heart attack. While in the hospital, he made the decision to follow Jesus and accept the gift of eternal life. The latter was a young Chinese man who, having failed in a suicide attempt, laid in his hospital bed and told others that he wanted to die.

An enterprising evangelist took the little boy to visit with the suicidal man. "Older brother," the little one said, "why do you want to die? I have a heart problem and the doctors say I cannot live for long. But I met Jesus and know that he loves me. My body hurts every day, but my heart is still happy." Then he sang a simple song of faith.

The despondent young man cried, but could not speak. One week later, at the funeral service of the little boy, the man decided that he too wanted to live. He accepted Christ into his heart and now, having once tried to destroy his own life, he is now leading others to life in Christ.

-- THEN CAME THE HAIL

The American teacher was visiting with a student and his family in a mountain village when the wind began to blow and the thunder started to roll. She stood on the front stoop of the small dwelling and marveled at the power of God as she watched a brilliant display of lightning. When the rain began, she went inside.

Then came the hail which seemed to last forever. The teacher sat silently and prayed for the family.

Eventually the storm subsided, and they all ate supper by candlelight. Early the next morning, they ventured outside to survey the damage which they assumed would be considerable. To their amazement, their crops had survived unscathed. All around them stalks of wheat were bowed and broken, and vegetables were beaten and splattered. But God had miraculously protected the crops at that home. Her student asked her why, and she was able to point to prayer and the power of Almighty God.

*

Luke 8:40–56 — “Resurrection & Healing” — « Leader information shown in this fashion »

A. This story is told in Matthew, Mark and Luke. In all three, the trip to Jairus’ house is interrupted by the encounter with the issue of blood. The account in Matthew is the briefest, collapsing the conversations with Jairus and with the messengers from his house into one, and getting most quickly to the point that the daughter was dead. Mark, surprisingly — for he is the “get up and get going” writer — is the longest and fullest. The parallel passages are Matthew 9:18–26 and Mark 5:21–43. « Keep you Bibles open to the passage in Mark as we examine this story. » The story divides into three parts:

1. Jairus comes to Jesus with his plea for help

2. the woman with the issue of blood is healed

3. Jairus’ daughter, now dead, is resurrected

B. Jairus comes to Jesus — Luke 8:40–42 (NKJV) — 40 So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him. 41 And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged {same word as in 8:14 of thorns choking the wheat} Him.

1. Mark (5:21) tells us that this happened after returning by boat from the Gadarenes region and while he was still on the seashore

2. Jairus is the Hellenized or Latinized form of Jair (Numbers 32:41)

a. what was his status in the community? « — one of eminence; as ruler he would select those who led in prayer, read the scriptures and taught or preached »

3. Read Mark 5:23, which records the words of Jairus:

a. what do these words and actions tell us abut Jairus?

(A) « had tender love for his daughter »

(B) « faith that Jesus could heal her, preventing her death »

b. Mark was primarily addressed to the Roman world; how in what way would this contrast this their attitude? « — girl babies received very little respect in that world, frequently abandoned to die at infancy; still happening today — letter from Mission Chrétienne de la voix de l’espérance Canada et outremers regarding the abandoned children in Haiti »

C. The woman is healed — Luke 8:43–48

1. her healing — Luke 8:43–44 (NKJV) — 43 Now a woman « {tradition calls her Veronica} » , having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, 44 came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.

a. Mark tells us that this woman had suffered many things at the hands of doctors; Luke, the beloved physician, omits this — a matter of professional courtesy?!?!?

b. what had all the administrations of doctors accomplished?

(A) « she was financially bankrupt »

(B) « she was worse, not better, after 12 years »

c. what would have been the impact of her illness (Leviticus 15:25–27 describes her situation « — the preceding verses are about the regular monthly uncleanness of a woman » )

(A) « she could not have had normal family relationships »

(B) « her social contacts would have been extremely limited »

d. Also read Mark 5:28–29; how would you characterize her faith?

(A) « it was slightly superstitious(she didn’t have a clear understanding that it was the person of Jesus, not His garments, that had power; but then her garments bore here uncleanness); »

(B) « it was strong (it took her out into the crowds, probably against her normal custom, in order to meet with Jesus, and also only touching the fringe, Numbers 15:38–40) »

2. Jesus’ perception — Luke 8:45–46 — 45 And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” 46 But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.”

a. how do you picture this scene being enacted? « — getting through the crowds be like trying to get to the rear doors of a streetcar through all the passengers so you can exit — »

b. Also read Mark 5:30; what was the kind of touch that Jesus had perceived? « — the touch of faith (to which He responded by healing her) as in Luke 6:19 rather than the pressure of the crowds »

3. her encounter with Jesus — Luke 8:47–48 — 47 Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. 48 And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

a. Read Mark 5:32; how did the woman see that “she was not hidden”? « — when Jesus turn around in the crowd to see her who had been healed »

b. what indicates the strength of her reaction?

(A) « her trembling »

(B) « her falling before Him »

(C) « her public declaration and confession »

c. why do you think that she reacted so strongly? « — her action put Him in the peril of ceremonial uncleanness »

d. why was it important that there be a public declaration of her healing? « — so that she could resume the normal activity and relationships of life »

e. regarding Jesus’ words to this woman, note that

(A) this is the only place where He addresses a woman by this term, “Daughter”

(B) the last part of Jesus’ words to her are identical in the Greek to the words to the sinful woman, Luke 7:20.

D. Jairus’ daughter resurrected — Luke 8:49–56

1. the message from Jairus’ house — Luke 8:49 (NKJV) — 49 While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.”

a. what attitudes did the messenger show?

(A) « consideration for the busy rabbi »

(B) « limited perspective on Jesus’ power »

2. Jesus’ and the people’s reaction to death — Luke 8:50–53 (NKJV) — 50 But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.” 51 When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl. 52 Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.” 53 And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.

a. this is the first occurrence of Jesus’ singling out the inner circle of Peter, James and John from among His disciples

b. why do you think Jesus chose whom He did to see this work?

(A) « the disciples to be His witness »

(B) « the parents to share joy and protect their daughter from the inconsiderate attention of the multitude »

3. the daughter is raised to life — Luke 8:54–56 (NKJV) — 54 But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Little girl, arise.” 55 Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat. 56 And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.

a. Mark: talitha cumi — from teli used of young animals, as lambs, and an term of endearment for children (kids!?!?!)

b. what are the marks of Jesus concern for Jairus’ daughter?

(A) « He returned her to life »

(B) « He protected her from the curious crowd »

(C) « He had her parents there when she recoverd »

(D) « He spoke in gentle words to her »

(E) « He saw to meeting her physical need of hunger »

c. what obstacles were overcome in this resurrection?

d. what did the disciples and you learn from this story?

Would miracles make more people believe? Would unbelievers become believers if they were to see a bona fide miracle? The scribes’ and Pharisees’ demand for a sign prompted Jesus to give them some of His most solemn and searching words.

A casual reading of Jesus’ response seems almost harsh. After all, here were some individuals who were simply asking for a miracle. He had performed many of them. What’s one more? Perhaps that miracle could have brought them to faith. Why didn’t He grant their request?

The answer is that Jesus always looks at the motives behind what people say and do. He is far more interested in what is going on in our hearts than what is coming out of our mouths. As He looked in their hearts, no doubt He saw the real reason behind their request: They wanted to destroy Jesus. Matthew 12:14 tells us that the Pharisees “took counsel against Him, how they might destroy Him.”

Jesus died on the cross for them and for all of humanity, and rose again from the dead, because we all were separated from God by sin. That is the message Jesus essentially was giving to the Pharisees. That is the message He essentially is giving to us. It is the greatest sign of all. It is the ultimate sign.

You may have noticed a biblical characteristic that I call divine repeats. Quite often, God will do something that He’s already done before, sometimes with a slight twist. For example, forty years after parting the Red Sea so that the people of Israel could pass through on dry land, God held back the Jordan River (though it was at flood stage) to allow the people to cross into the Promised Land. Or take another example from the days of wilderness wanderings: when the people complained about not having water, God brought water out of a rock. Years later, a new generation of Israelites complained about the same thing, and God provided the same solution (see Exodus 17 and Numbers 20).

In the New Testament, Jesus also seems to have nothing against doing the same miracle more than once. He feeds over five thousand people with two fishes and five loaves of bread. Then he feeds over four thousand with seven loaves and a few fish. Some would explain the repeat by claiming that this was the same miracle, and the Gospel writers have gotten confused on the details. But both Matthew and Mark record both events. We don’t find one account in one Gospel and the other in another. Apparently, the Gospel writers were willing to believe that God is not above repeating Himself.

One more example: the miracle Jesus performs when he first calls Peter, James, and John to be his disciples is almost identical to the one he performs when he appears to them after his resurrection. In Luke 5, the fishermen hadn’t caught anything all night. Jesus tells them to put out their nets again in deeper water, and they catch so much that the nets break and the boats almost sink. In John 21, after Jesus’s resurrection, the disciples again fish all night without catching anything. Jesus appears on the shore and tells them to cast the nets from the other side of the boat. When they do this, they haul in a huge catch.

Source critics are all too ready to dismiss these repeats as errors. Yet to dismiss them is to disregard the beautiful symmetry of the narrative and the subtle themes rising out of the repetitions. Take, for example, the feeding of the crowds. The first feeding took place among the Jews and had significant Messianic overtones as Jesus showed the people he could provide bread from heaven as Moses had done. Based on the location of the second miracle, we can surmise that it was likely performed for a largely Gentile crowd. With the second miracle, Jesus showed that he had come to provide manna for all nations, not just Israel.(1) When for the second time he provided his disciples with a miraculous catch of fish, he reminded them that he had called them away from their nets to be fishers of men.

The divine repeats also show the slowness of God’s people to trust Him. Rather than complain to Moses about their lack of water in the desert, they could have asked God for water. Didn’t they know He could provide it out of no where? Yet I can identify with these Israelites in their slowness to believe that God would repeat Himself. Although God has given me ample evidence of his faithfulness in the past, I find myself questioning whether He will provide for me in the present and the future. Knowing that your parents’ generation passed through the Red Sea doesn’t make it easy to step into the Jordan. Still, we should constantly prompt each other to recall the faithful acts of God in order to help one another trust God in the present.

There are many deeper layers of significance to be uncovered by comparing similar biblical events, and the scores of other repeats throughout the Scriptures beg for careful study. Let us not miss out on the subtly nuanced themes of Scripture by dismissing as mistakes the very elements that give the text its richness!

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1. Allen Ross, “The Feeding of the Five Thousand,” AN EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, www.bible.org.

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Copyright © 2006 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

Sermon for Easter 2008. Luke 24:1-11

EASTER ISN'T OBVIOUS

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I. Everyone believes in Easter.

II. I don't think Easter is obvious at all.

A. The resurrection itself was done in secret.

B. The evidence is mostly negative evidence.

C. It is not something that happens every day.

III. Easter may not be obvious, but it is true.

A. The earliest Christians grew to be convinced of it.

B. The evidence is indirect, but powerful.

C. The resurrection is more believable that any other explanation.

IV. Easter cannot be separated from faith.

A. Faith requires us to accept some things that we cannot prove.

B. Faith assumes there is more to life than we can perceive.

V. Easter fits with God's style.

A. God operates quietly for ages, then smashes in.

B. God is not limited to our imagination.

C. He can still do the extraordinary!

For thousands of years, skeptics and believers alike have debated whether the events described in the Passover story — the parting of the Red Sea, the 10 plagues, and the burning bush — actually took place. Roman Jewish historian Josephus Flavius speculated that the parting of the Red Sea “might be of God’s will or of natural origin. Let everyone believe at his own discretion.” The skeptic’s skeptic, Sigmund Freud, called the Passover story “a pious myth,” contending that Moses was a rebellious Egyptian prince who worshiped the sun god Aton and made up the Jewish religion as a political ploy.* In more recent times, scientific explanations of the Passover story range from formula-laden academic papers like “Modeling the Hydrodynamic Situation of the Exodus” to more popular inquiries such as Cambridge materials scientist Colin Humphreys’ THE MIRACLES OF EXODUS. Whether or not you subscribe to these theories, they beat listening to your little cousin sing the “Four Questions.”

As anyone who has seen The Ten Commandments can attest, the parting of the Red Sea is one of, if not the most, climactic moments in the Passover story. As Exodus describes it:

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. 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.

Accepting the biblical account as a “possible ‘qualitative’ description of an event,” Florida State oceanographer Doron Nof set out to investigate whether the parting of the Red Sea is “plausible from a physical point of view.” Using a common phenomenon called wind set-down effect, he found that “a northwesterly wind of 20 meters/second blowing for 10-14 hours is sufficient to cause a sea level drop of about 2.5 meters.” Such a drop in sea level, Nof speculates, might have exposed an underwater ridge, which the Israelites crossed as if it were dry land. Although the event is plausible, Nof estimated that the likelihood of such a storm occurring in that particular place and time of year is less than once every 2,400 years.

While scientists agree that wind set-down effect could have caused the Red Sea to part as described in the Bible, most biblical scholars and archeologists insist that the Israelites’ crossing did not take place at the Red Sea at all. The original Hebrew (yam suph), they contend, should be translated as Sea of Reeds, not Red Sea. So where’s the Sea of Reeds? It depends whom you ask. In the somewhat specious History Channel documentary EXODUS DECODED, Simcha Jacobovici (aka the Naked Archaeologist) places the Israelites’ crossing in the Bitter Lakes, a reedy marshland north of the Gulf of Suez that was subsumed during the construction of the Suez Canal. For his part, WALKING THE BIBLE author Bruce Feiler concludes that the Sea of Reeds is Lake Timsah, located halfway between Port Said and Suez. But THE MIRACLES OF EXODUS author Humphreys argues that while the translation of “the Red Sea” may be incorrect, the Sea of Reeds nevertheless refers to the Red Sea, concluding that “there can be little doubt that the Red Sea crossing was made possible by wind setdown at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba.”

Before he parted whatever sea it was he parted, the Bible describes Moses and his brother Aaron delivering 10 plagues on the people of Egypt. The Nile turns to blood, all the fish die, frogs are brought forth abundantly, and so on. Drawing on theology, Egyptology, and biology, epidemiologist John Marr developed a “domino theory” to explain each of the 10 plagues in order. Marr believes the plagues were a series of natural disasters and diseases triggered by a bloom of water-borne organisms called dinoflagellates. The dinoflagellates turned the Nile red and killed the frog-eating fish, which in turn caused a population explosion among frogs. The tainted water eventually killed the frogs, causing lice and flies to run rampant, which lead to a number of animal diseases (including African horse sickness) and an outbreak of boils (fancy glanders). This reign of disaster and disease continued through hail, locusts (Schistocerca gregaria, to be precise), and sandstorms until the death of the firstborn sons, which Marr thinks was caused by grain infected with mycotoxins. Others, building on Marr’s domino theory, argue that the plagues were triggered by the eruption of the Greek island of Santorini, causing a string of disasters such as those that occurred at Lake Nyos, Cameroon, in 1986.

Although not quite as impressive as the plagues or the parting of the Red Sea, Moses’ encounter with the burning bush is a pivotal moment in the Passover story and has, for a long time, been the source of much scientific speculation. As the story goes, God speaks to Moses from a burning bush and tells him, “I am come down to deliver [the Israelites] out of the hand of the Egyptians.” Most scientific explanations of the story focus not on the voice of God but on the description of the bush: “[T]he bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.” Humphreys believes the bush continued to burn because of a natural gas or volcanic vent underneath it. Others have pointed to the work of Norwegian physicist Dag Kristian Dysthe and his article on the subsurface combustion of organic material in Mali, saying the bush could have combusted spontaneously.

As for the voice of God, Hebrew University psychology professor Benny Shanon proposes that Moses was tripping at the time on a hallucinogenic substance similar to ayahuasca. Shanon argues further that the presentation of the Ten Commandments might have been a mass hallucination. “The thunder, lightning and blaring of a trumpet which the Book of Exodus says emanated from Mount Sinai could just have been the imaginings of a people in an altered state of awareness.”

By speculating that the voice of God is a hallucination, Shanon, like Freud before him, is attempting to cast doubt on the foundations of monotheism. But not all the explanations of the Passover story are motivated by such ardent secularism. In THE MIRACLES OF EXODUS, Humphreys writes that “a natural explanation of the events of the Exodus doesn’t to my mind make them any less miraculous. ... What made certain events miraculous was their timing.”

At West Bend, Wis., a clergyman started for a small country place, a few miles away, for the purpose of conducting the funeral service of a lady who was that day to be interred. On the way, the horse ran away, throwing the preacher from the cutter, and killing him instantly. The funeral was in consequence delayed; and a while after the time when it would, but for the accident, have taken place, the lady rose from the coffin, having been in a trance for two days. The unfortunate minister was buried in the grave which had been made to receive the lady’s supposed dead body.

Review of several books on the "Signs and Wonders" theology. They believe other Christians need to be converted to the full power of God. Skepticism is explained as an over-reliance on the scientific attitude (though the reviewer notes that this attitude grew out of Christian convictions.)

”How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” –Luke 1:34

It’s good to remember that the first Christmas was associated with a mysterious pregnancy and a tentatively planned divorce. Those are the stark realities conveyed by the familiar passages of Scripture we read at this time of year.

“You will be with child and give birth to a son” are the words Mary heard. “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” was her astonished reply (Luke 1:31,34).

In Israel, a betrothal was not like an engagement today but was as binding as marriage. When Joseph discovered that his fiancee was pregnant, “he had in mind to divorce her quietly” (Matthew 1:19).

And since Mary and Joseph both had families, a lot of other people were in the impact area when the bomb of a relationship gone terribly wrong exploded. Who would believe a pregnant girl who claimed she had never had sex with a man? Apparently not even Joseph. Not at first.

That’s how it all began.

No jolly fat man in a red suit. No blinking lights and decorated shops. No reindeer, no holiday from school and work, no reunions with family and friends. No carols, no nostalgia. No nothing.

That’s how it started but not how it stayed. An angel assured both Mary and Joseph that God was up to something special and He wanted them to be involved. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary responded (Luke 1:38). Instead of “divorcing” his pregnant fiancée, Joseph married her. And the miracle proceeded to unfold.

Today, Christmas comes wrapped in multiple layers of cherished and enjoyable traditions. But if we want to find the real miracle and receive the gift of God’s Son in a fresh new way, we’ve got to tear off the paper of familiarity and cut the ribbons of self-interest that keep us from seeing Immanuel–God with us.

In a world of harsh realities, God is still up to something special and He wants us to be involved. That’s the continuing miracle of the first Christmas. –DM

REFLECTION

• Why did Joseph need to “divorce” Mary if they were only engaged?

• How do familiarity and self-interest hinder our celebration of Jesus’ birth?

• What do I find miraculous about Christmas?

The miracle of Christmas is Christ.