I used to love fairy-tales.
They’re full of amazing, supernatural, magical events.
• Snow white rises from the dead
• Sleeping beauty awakened by a kiss
• Jack climbs a beanstalk to the sky
• A fairy godmother grants Cinderella a wish
• A frog turns into a handsome prince
Many people seem to think that the Bible is the same as a book of fairy-tales. Nice stories you tell children – but certainly not really, historically true.
What is a miracle – supernatural event; an event with no natural explanation; something beyond or outside the normal laws of nature.
What are some of the miraculous events you can think of from the Bible?
• A 80 year old woman who has never been able to have children becomes pregnant and gives birth
• 10 Plagues against Egypt
• Parting of the Red Sea
• The pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night
• Healed from the plague by looking at the staff with a serpent’s head
• A donkey speaks to Balaam
• Parting of the Jordan River
• Samson killing 1000 on his own armed only with a donkey’s jaw bone (Judges 15)
• Elijah calls down fire on the altar (1 Kings 18)
• Elijah is taken up to heaven in a whirlwind
• Elisha calls two bears out of the forest to maul 42 teenagers who are making fun of him because he’s bald.
• Elisha raises the Shunamite’s son.
• Axe head floats
• Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego survive the fiery furnace
• Daniel survives the lions’ den.
• A virgin, Mary, becomes pregnant with a child
• Jesus heals the sick
• Jesus drives out demons
• He calms the storm
• He walks on water
• Feeding of the 5000, 4000
• Turning water into wine
• Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead
• Peter heals the crippled beggar
• An angel leads Peter out of prison
• Paul raises the young man from the dead.
• Jesus Christ dies on a cross, is buried, rises on the third day and 40 days later ascends into heaven in front of his disciples.
The Bible is full of amazing, wonderful, supernatural events.
What do you make of all that? When you hear of all these extraordinary things, how do you react?
Sometimes I’m almost tempted to feel embarrassed about them. I tell someone that a virgin gave birth or a bloke held a staff in the air and a massive ocean parted before him and they look at me as if I’m just a bit backward. It’s like a went up to them and said “I rode a unicorn today” or “later tonight I’m going to climb a tree and half tea with the elves.” It’s as if I’m a little kid living in a fantasy land!
If it’s not completely insane, at least it’s just a bit naïve? I mean, all those people hundreds of years ago, they believed in magic and miracles and all that sort of stuff but that was only because they didn’t understand science. They were easily tricked.
That sort of reaction is very common in 21st century Australia. I get it all the time from students at school. Some just scoff that anyone would believe that the Red Sea had actually been parted or that a virgin really gave birth to a Son. Interestingly enough, more than any other miraculous event in the Bible, the one that more kids have some sort of philosophical problem with than any other is the virgin birth. I’m not quite sure why – perhaps it’s the matter-of-fact way reproduction is taught in science and personal development classes. But it’s usually like – “sir, don’t be silly – we know how babies are made! A virgin can’t give birth!” At which point on more than one occasion some bright spark has piped up: “Yeah they can – Mary could have had IVF!”
There’s the scholars who have spent years working out supposedly ingenious natural explanations for the ten plagues God sent against Egypt. Apparently, the Nile turned to blood because of algae, and the first born all died because of bacterial growth in the grain stores which only affected the top part of the grain which the first born children would eat. Or the Red Sea crossing which was just an exceptionally low tide – a low tide which then amazingly drowned the entire Egyptian army.
Is that the right attitude to the miracles in the Bible?
I’ve heard lots of preachers and teachers who call themselves Christians who say that. They say that none of the miracles recorded in the Bible actually happened. They’re nice stories with perhaps an important message – but not literally true. Sort of like a fairy tale.
Thomas Jefferson was a famous American president, but he rejected the notion of miracles. When he approached the scriptures he could not tolerate those passages which dealt with the supernatural. So what did he do? He wrote his own bible. In the Thomas Jefferson Bible you will find only the moral teachings and historical events of Jesus’ life. No virgin birth. No healing of Jairus’ daughter. No walking on water. And, no resurrection. Here is how the his bible ends: "There laid they Jesus and rolled a great stone at the mouth of the sepulcher and departed."
Many people will say “Miracles go against the laws of nature. Virgins don’t give birth. People don’t rise from the dead. Those sorts of things just don’t happen.
Why are we talking about this today? Well, next week is Easter, and on Easter Sunday we remember and celebrate perhaps the most import miraculous sign in the Bible – the resurrection of Jesus. I have the privilege of speaking on that wonderful event next Sunday. Over Easter we’re focusing on the fact that Jesus died for us, and Jesus rose for us. He did it all for you. If, along with all the other miracles and wonders in the Bible, the resurrection of Jesus didn’t happen then Jesus may have tried to do something for you, but ultimately he failed. Next week, we’re just going to assume that Jesus did rise from the dead and that you believe it.
This week, I’m not going to go through a whole lot of detailed evidence or anything like that, but I do want to suggest three main reasons why the miracles of the Bible are important and why they are believable.
Remember the objection – miracles go against the laws of nature, they’re just superstition from ancient, unenlightened people – miracles just don’t happen!
1. Of course miracles go against the laws of nature. Of course virgins don’t give birth. Of course dead people don’t rise. If they did, none of those things would be a miracle! The fact that it’s highly unusual is what makes it so significant. It’s what makes people sit up and take notice! So if someone says “I don’t believe in a virgin giving birth because virgins just don’t give birth, I’ll say – yes, you’re right! Virgins don’t give birth! That’s why this very special case is so extraordinary. That’s why we can see God’s hand at work here.
2. If God can create the whole universe from nothing, why can’t he occasionally do supernatural things in the world? These preachers and teachers, even Thomas Jefferson, they all believe that God made the world. Now if God made the world, and God made all the natural laws and God keeps the earth going round the sun and all that – why can’t he do miracles? If God created all the plants and animals from nothing, why can’t he feed 5000 people with a few loaves and fish? If he controls the weather and sends rain and snow and sunshine, why can’t he stop a storm in its tracks? If he’s God, of course he can!
To say that miracles just don’t happen, you really have to be an atheist, or you have to believe in a god who is so weak and powerless that he’s really no god at all if he can’t even pull off a little miracle every now and again.
We have the testimony of all these witnesses in the bible. People who said “I wouldn’t believe it either, but I saw it!” People like the disciple Thomas who just wouldn’t believe Jesus had risen from the dead. He said “I’m not going to believe unless I see him with my own eyes, unless I can touch the very wounds in his hands and side.” And then Jesus appears to him and says, “Thomas, here I am. Here’s the wounds in my hands.” And all Thomas can do is to fall down on his knees and say “My Lord and my God”.
3. All the miracles point to something. The gospel of John talks about “miraculous signs”, and what do signs do – they point to something! The miracles of Jesus show us that he is God. They show us that he is powerful. They show us that he is worth following. And they show us specific things about him, too. Let me give you one quick example:
John 9:1-7. Man born blind – “I am the light of the world”
The miracles in the Bible are amazing, they’re unusual, they’re supernatural. But that’s not beyond God. He created nature, after all. But just an importantly, the miracles that Jesus performs show us what he is like. They show us just how powerful he is, and what he came to do.
We worship a God who can do anything! A God who can make the blind see, make the deaf hear, who can turn water into wine, who can make living, breathing, thinking humans like you and me from the dust of the earth. We’ve been talking a lot about encouragement this weekend
So when you next hear a miracle story from the Bible, don’t assume it’s a myth or a fairy tale. God can do amazing things, and he still does. That’s one of the reasons he’s worth following.
