Miracles
The God of Miracles
Receive the miracle of God’s provision
Psalm 78:17-31
The psalmist continues to tell the history of the people of God’s journey from Egypt to the promised land. In spite of God’s miraculous provision, they ‘sinned even more’, rebelled and ‘whined like spoiled children’ (v.17–19, MSG).
God helped them anyway. He ‘rained down showers of manna to eat, he gave them the Bread of Heaven’ (v.24, MSG). This prefigured the spiritual food that Jesus provides (John 6:30–35).
Likewise, ‘When he struck the rock, water gushed out, and streams flowed abundantly’ (Psalm 78:20). In a miraculous way, God provided water from a rock. Yet, the people still doubted God ‘for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance’ (v.22). Although miracles are wonderful, they do not always cause people to believe in God.
The miracle of water from a rock really happened, but it also prefigured and anticipated something even more amazing. St Paul writes, ‘they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ’ (1 Corinthians 10:4).
Jesus said, ‘“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flowing from within.” By this he meant the Spirit…’ (John 7:37–39).
Believe the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus
Acts 17:22-18:8
The message is: Jesus. When in Athens, Paul begins talking to the people on their level. He does not start with the Old Testament, as he did with the Jews – proclaiming Jesus as Messiah. Rather, he begins with their worship of an unknown god (17:23a), and uses that to explain Jesus to them.
Paul’s preaching was remarkably positive. Rather than reproaching them for their idolatry, he says, ‘Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you’ (v.23b). He says three things about God: He is the creator (v.24), he is self-sufficient (he does not need us) (v.25) but we all need him (v.27–28).
Paul goes on to quote one of their poets approvingly: ‘One of your poets said it well’ (v.28, MSG). Christians do not have the monopoly on the truth. God has revealed himself in creation and we find remarkable insights in secular sources.
His talk climaxes with the proclamation of the greatest and most important miracle in history: the resurrection of Jesus (v.30–31). Paul claims to have historical proof of the resurrection. He had met the risen Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus.
The implications are huge. Death was not the end for Jesus and it will not be the end for you and me. You too will be raised to life. Here, Paul says that the resurrection is evidence that God has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed: Jesus. Paul gave people the opportunity to respond to this message.
The reactions to hearing a talk about Jesus and the resurrection of the dead were very similar to those we experience today.
Some sneered
‘Some laughed at him and walked off making jokes’ (v.32a, MSG). Do not be surprised if you get this reaction from some people.
Some were interested
‘Others said, “Let’s do this again. We want to hear more”’ (v.32b, MSG). Many people today, as they were then, are genuinely interested but they need time to hear more and think through the issues. Courses like Alpha provide an opportunity for people to do this.
Some believed
‘There were still others... who were convinced then and there’ (v.34, MSG). They believed straight away. It is unusual but wonderful when people accept Jesus the first time they hear about him.
When Paul went to Corinth, presumably he preached the same message of Jesus and the resurrection. He ‘reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks’ (18:4). He was not asking them to exercise blind faith. Your faith is not irrational. The facts of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus give reasons to believe. It is possible to persuade people on the basis of the evidence. If Jesus was miraculously raised from the dead, that is evidence that Jesus is the Christ (v.5). Again, as in Athens, there were different responses. Some were abusive (v.6). But some believed – ‘Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptised’ (v.8).
