The plan is to spend a few weeks in the miracles, shift to the parables, and finish up with the miracles.
We are chronologically studying these miracles.
There are several things I’d like to unwrap during this study series.
Types of miracles
Who was present
Purpose of the miracles
Which gospels recorded unique miracles
Which gospel had most miracles
Which gospel fewest
Which miracle recorded in all 4 gospels
Which gospel had most of each type of miracles
A quick recap of what we’ve learned so far in the first 10:
2 unique to John:
water to wine
Healing of the Government officials son
1 unique to Luke: miraculous catch
8 of 10 not found in John
4 not found in Matthew
4 not recorded in Mark
2 not recorded in Luke
Regarding the types of miracles, thus far in the 10:
2-nature
7-healing
2-demons driven out
For you math professors:
Yes, I know that equals 11, because 1 miraculous event had many healed and many demons driven out in the same night! That was the 5th miracle we examined.
We also see the beginnings of the plot to kill Jesus.
Body
We will begin today, by looking @ one that is found only in Luke.
It is Luke 7:11-17 read from my bible
Luke 7:11–14 “Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.””
Luke 7:15–17 “So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.” And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.”
and He presented him to his mother
Sounds a bit like what we see in John 19:25–27 “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.”
By this point in Jesus’ ministry He had called out the 12 to follow Him.
This was a very public miracle: “A large crowd”.
Funeral procession included many from the town, who were giving support of the widow during her grieving.
Again, that word “fear”. The best I can tell, this is an awe-struck fear, not a fear of something bad to happen to them.
Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”;
This is the first gospel recording of the raising of the dead, but not the 1st recording of it, in the bible.
1 Kings 17:17-24 I just want to share with you v23-24.
The widow’s son is proclaimed dead, Elijah prays to God to bring him back to life, and God does:
1 Kings 17:23–24 “And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth.””
There is at least one other raising of the dead in the OT.
And again, we see Jesus having compassion upon His children.
He “touched” the open coffin, but He “spoke life” back into the widows son.
Church, I want to challenge you this week, to speak life into someone this week. Maybe it is that person, that you least want to do that for.
She was a mother of one son, and a widow, and Jesus saw her.
I thought of Hagar in:
Genesis 16:13 “Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees-Me (El Roi); for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?””
He sees us, and we should see His:
Sweetness
Excellency
His Lordship
His Saviorhood
One other unique feather of this miracle:
Jesus took the initiative for the miracle.
All the others were either requested on behalf of someone, or for themselves.
Let’s move to the next miracle:
Found in Matthew ch / Mark ch 4 / Luke ch 8
Here is a harmony of those 3:
Harmony:
“On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him.
But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.
“Peace, be still!”
And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!””
There is so much on this one! Gonna highlight just a few thoughts:
I’ve shared with you before, that I can sleep anywhere.
Some people may have trouble relating to sleeping in a boat, but not me...been there done that!
Truth of the matter is that the humanness of Jesus was likely exhausted and needed the rest. His work was not nearly done yet.
Set up this storm:
I don’t know if you have ever been in a boat, on a lake when a storm blew up, but I have a couple of times. It is sudden and unnerving!
The Sea of Galilee is about 8 miles wide and 13 miles long. It is roughly 600 feet below sea level (the real sea, not a lake), and @ it’s deepest about 150 feet. It sits down in this valley, and evidently when the hot air and cool air mix, a “tempest” occurs.
When I’ve been on the lake in a storm, the waves were about 18 inches, maybe 2 feet.
The waves on the Sea of Galilee can get up to 20 feet high!
I probably would have been a bit concerned about my life too.
They marveled @ Jesus.
This ain’t their first rodeo. They’ve been there during His miracles. I understand for most of these miracles so far, the disciples aren’t named one-by-one, but scripture tells us that disciples have witnessed these miracles.
But even when Jesus was in the boat, they feared for their lives.
Is that us?
We see that Jesus marveled @ the Centurions faith, but I think He may have marveled @ the disciples “lack of faith”.
“Where is your faith”, “O you of little faith” “Why are you so fearful”
Greek transliteration of “O you of little faith” is “ O you of underdeveloped faith”
This is another one of those “more private” public miracles. The disciples are there and scripture says “other little boats joined along side them”.
But we gotta know, this miracle was meant for the disciples!
This miracle was not about the storm around them, but the unbelief, or underdeveloped faith, that was within them!
Again, we see the immediacy of the miracle -Sudden and complete- The natural world obeyed the voice of it’s creator, who spoke everything into existence.
Shouldn’t we do the same?
I’m humored how the disciples went from fearing the storm to fearing Jesus.
It is a different few though.
It is a “holy fear”, “an awe-struck fear”.
Let’s take a look at the 13th miracle:
It is Jesus driving the demons into the herd of pigs.
Found in the 8th Chapter of Matt, the 4th Chapter of Mark and the 8th Chapter of Luke.
It didn’t harmonize this one, because the even is recording slightly differently in Mark, than the other two.
I’ll read Matthew, then I’ll read Luke.
Matthew 8:28–33 “When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. So the demons begged Him, saying, “If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.” And He said to them, “Go.” So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water. Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.”
Luke 8:26–27 “Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs.”
So, the discrepancy there is was it two men or only one man?
Many scholars believe that it was two men but that probably only one was truly vocal, so his words are recorded. We’ll have to wait to get to heaven to know for sure!
However, the number of men, is not really the point of the miracle. It is Jesus’ power over demons!
We see power over nature in the Sea of Galilee, and right after that, He demonstrates power over demons.
A few considerations:
The demons, and apparently there were a slew of ‘em, had to ask permission.
This next one is one of the most fascinating aspects of all the miracles, we’ve examined so far:
“What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
Church, we have to be resolute in understanding that Satan knows his destiny.
Not only does he know the what of his destiny, he knows the when.
Check this out:
What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?
Revelation 20:10 “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
Again, we see people filled with fear, just as the disciples had feared the storm.
I’m not convinced the towns people’s fear was an awe-struck fear, but maybe a fear of economic loss.
Those pigs that just plunged into the lake and drowned, were their food.
Here again, we see another miracle for the gentiles. No Jew would be touching a pig, must less raising them for food.
Luke 8:35 “Then they (the towns people) went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.”
Isn’t this crazy? This man was likely related to someone in that community right?
They weren’t “hallelujah’n, and high 5’n, they were afraid!
This missed the miracle that happened for this man. How many miracles did they miss for themselves?
Let’s finish up today’s message with one last miracle:
Found in Matthew, Mark and Luke.
The miracle of the woman with the blood issue.
I’m going to read Matthew and Mark.
Matthew 9:20 “And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.”
Matthew 9:21–22 “For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.”
Mark 5:25–30 “Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?””
-ask others what does their bible say in Mark 5:30?-
KJV- virtue, (instead of power)
Greek word for virtue is made from two words:
are-a-TEE = excellence or valor
DUNE-a-mas = remarkable and miraculous power of God
I want to encourage you to dig a little into the meaning there.
So, we have this desperate woman in the crowd, and she thinks to herself, “If only I can touch the hem of His garment, I can be made well”.
Let’s look at the significance of why this woman believes that simply by touching His garment, she will be made well.
In order to do this, we must go back to the OT.
We are told of the tallit (ta-LEET)
As you dig deeper into the importance of Jewish tradition of the tallit (ta-LEET) you begin to see perhaps why she believed in Jesus’ power and authority as the Messiah. This is from where her faith stems.
I believe she was responding by the urging of the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever felt the Holy Spirit, move you to “do something”?
Such as reach out to a friend, or give to someone?
Oftentimes, Lisa comments that she sees me as a giving person, and will give examples.
Although I really don’t see myself as a giving person, I do try to respond when the Holy Spirit convicts me.
I wonder if this woman was responding to God speaking to her and saying “all you need to do is touch the hem of His garment…”
And when Jesus said “Daughter you faith has made you well”,
He knew who touched Him because He moved her to do so! If you think about it like that “mind blown”!
The power of the Holy Spirit moved her to touch His garment and the power of the Holy Spirit moved (transferred) from Him to her and she was made well. He allowed the power to leave Him so she could experience His “virtue” in all its’ fullness and glory.
Last week, I commented that we are a church of huggers.
Have you ever hugged someone and felt their hurt, or their joy?
Give that consideration, next time you hug someone. It might be a “Mind blown” moment!
Church, I’m loving this study of the miracles. I’m praying that you get some “a-ha” moments from these. The kind that cling to you for a good while!
