When A Dead Man Says 'Walk'

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. (Acts 3:13-16)

I think Peter took a certain joy in reminding the pious men of Israel about Jesus' crucifixion. Remember: some of these men know good and well they can't explain the resurrection; that's why they had to bribe the guards at Jesus' tomb. So, Peter reminded them, they denied Jesus' claims about Himself were true, and killed him to prove the point. He made a rather strong counter-argument by refusing to stay buried. 

I can see why Peter enjoyed needling them about it a little. In this one paragraph, Peter stripped these men of their authority to criticize (i.e., "hey wait, didn't you only recently let a murderer go free so you could kill a just and innocent man?") and established the power and authority of Christ to accomplish His will.

Peter wanted these men to understand that they, Peter and John, were acting under the authority of Christ, who was given authority of the Holy and Just, as the Prince of life, by the God who raised Him from the dead. 

Put another way, this man Jesus was killed, but then by the power of God was raised back from the dead. That kind of power is unmistakable. That kind of power is so great that the mere name of the One who holds it is enough, through faith, to heal the hopeless.

But what kind of faith? That's the question. If His name is enough, through faith, to heal, how strong must one's faith be? Does anyone actually have that kind of faith? Verse 16 has the answer: the faith we need comes through Him in whom we have faith. If Christ has enough power in His name to heal, He certainly has authority, too, to provide the faith we need to make it possible.

Why Do You Marvel?

Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? (Acts 3:11-12)

A man, lame from birth, suddenly leaps up and joyously declares he has been healed. It's fair to say if you or I witnessed the event, we'd be pretty surprised. Shocked, even. We would praise God, and perhaps even think more highly of the men through whom this miracle was enacted. So, I have to say, the peoples' reaction to the healing of Acts 3 really doesn't seem inappropriate. But Peter's response is interesting. We're going to look, in the next two days, at the two questions he asks of the witnesses. He begins by asking the men of Israel -- those gathered at the Temple -- "why do you marvel at this?"

I think Peter chose his words very carefully here. Notice, he addressed the crowd, Men of Israel. These weren't Romans or other pagans. These were Israelites. These were people raised on the Law and Prophets, whose very lives and culture were meant to be a reflection of God's glory. Indeed, these were His chosen people. So, when Peter addresses this group, "Men of Israel," with that title comes the full weight of their entire history. "People of God," he is essentially saying, "you who were brought out of Egypt, who were led by smoke during the day and fire at night, who were fed on bread from the Hand of God, to whom God delivered the Promised Land... you who were delivered from your enemies time and time again, who were given His Ark to carry before you, the people of Abraham's covenant... this amazes you?"

What Peter seems to be asking is a question many of us should ask ourselves: do you not know who God is? 

I once heard a pastor say that once you get past the first phrase of Scripture, "In the Beginning, God," everything else is possible. All the miracles, all the healings, the work and ministry of Jesus, the empowering by His Spirit... if we know who God is, we must expect the unexpected. We must anticipate the miraculous. The God we serve isn't bound by our physics. He isn't limited by our handicaps. He is the God of Wonders. We are reminded in Acts 3 that when you serve a God of wonders, you learn to allow Him to move as He will, and be prepared for the impossible.

Miracles 1: The God of the Mundane (repost)

(Originally posted Nov 12, 2012. My Wednesday night class was discussing miracles, and I remembered this. Part 2 coming Monday.)

Miracles 1: The God of the Mundane

I've noticed something about the miracles of Jesus: no matter the reason for the miracle, no matter how big or how small, Jesus performed it with the same attitude and nonchalance as if He were carrying a box from one room to another. Something was one way; He wanted it to be another way. He made it happen.

He walked on water, as though He were walking down the street. He commanded a storm to be still as if telling His dog to "sit. Stay." He can do that. He created the water, and the storm.

I think we often feel as though a miracle ought to be accompanied by fanfare. As though we have to sing and dance and shout, and announce from on high before God will so much as heal a cataract. Televangelists have an organ playing obnoxiously before dancing down the aisle, raising up a trembling hand, and smacking a troubled audience member while declaring, "Be Healed!"

Jesus spat in some mud, smeared it on some guy's eye and told him to wash his face (John 9:1-7).

Very often, when we look for miracles at the hand of the God of the Universe, we're looking for some big announcement: Hey, look! I'm performing a miracle over here! Thunder! Lightning!

But the Jesus of the Bible just says, "Get up and walk." (Luke 5:22-24)

The truth is, when we look for the mighty miracles, for the trumpets to sound and a voice to come over the wind, we miss the every-day miracles. And when we miss the miraculous in the every day, we also miss the chance to be a part of a miracle ourselves.

A New, Unopened Box Of God (repost)

(originally posted Oct 18, 2012)

Remember miracles? Remember when the people of God saw visions and dreamed dreams, and the Spirit of God moved in the Church, filling and causing some to speak in tongues, and some to interpret, and some to prophesy, and some to heal, and some to discern good spirits from evil?

Remember that?

Whatever happened to that,  anyway?

Does all that seem a little far-fetched? A little science-fictiony or scary? A little bit kooky, perhaps?

Why is that? Paul talked about exactly these things to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 12), didn't he? Are things so different now that God has ceased to move in these ways in our Church, and in His people? Surely, some Christians -- even pastors -- will say, even if He really DID cause miracles to happen (which, depending on your church, may now be seen to have a perfectly natural, logical, and un-supernatural explanation), He no longer moves that way now.

Now the Holy Spirit moves us to... what? Tentatively raise our hands in church? Clap shyly and without rhythm -- but only if everyone else is clapping, too? Pray for one another by nodding along when the pastor says their names, and then grudgingly put our check in the offering plate?

I miss miracles. I miss the Supernatural power of God. But I begin to wonder: did God pull His Power away from us, or did we merely stop asking for it?

Miracles 2: Who Brought the Fish?

"In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth." The very first words of Scripture establish without a doubt that the Authority over all things is such simply because He had the power to create it. Everything we see, hear, feel, touch, know, sense -- and even more than that! -- was created by God.

So, when it comes to the miraculous, we can also know that what we call supernatural is just God interacting with His creation in ways only He can. Yet, for all of that, have you noticed how often God requires a human component in His works? Four separate times in the book of Luke alone (7:50, 8:48, 17:19, 18:42), Jesus tells somebody, "your faith has made you well."

Not, "Hey, look what I did." Not, "God made you better." Even though He could have rightfully said either, where He focused was "your faith."

Throughout Scripture, there is a pattern of cooperation between God and Man. God could have simply knocked down the walls of Jericho, for example. Instead, He commanded Israel to march around it, and finally blow their trumpets. Why? Perhaps so there could be no mistake that it was the God of Israel, and not a mere earthquake, which accomplished the task. Or perhaps to set the standard of obedience and trust.

One of my favorite stories from Scripture is from Matthew 14:13-21, where Jesus feeds over five thousand people with five loaves of bread and a couple of fish.

Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
“Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

The Lord actually accomplished this type of miracle at least twice in recorded testimony, and each time, He asked that the food first be brought to Him for blessing.  But did you notice what Jesus said to His disciples? "You give them something to eat." 

God accomplishes miracles today; but we are His hands, just as His disciples were when He walked on Earth. He will bless the work of our hands, and multiply it to His purposes. All we have to do is bring the fish.

Miracles 1: The God of the Mundane

I've noticed something about the miracles of Jesus: no matter the reason for the miracle, no matter how big or how small, Jesus performed it with the same attitude and nonchalance as if He were carrying a box from one room to another. Something was one way; He wanted it to be another way. He made it happen.

He walked on water, as though He were walking down the street. He commanded a storm to be still as if telling His dog to "sit. Stay." He can do that. He created the water, and the storm.

I think we often feel as though a miracle ought to be accompanied by fanfare. As though we have to sing and dance and shout, and announce from on high before God will so much as heal a cataract. Televangelists have an organ playing obnoxiously before dancing down the aisle, raising up a trembling hand, and smacking a troubled audience member while declaring, "Be Healed!"

Jesus spat in some mud, smeared it on some guy's eye and told him to wash his face (John 9:1-7).

Very often, when we look for miracles at the hand of the God of the Universe, we're looking for some big announcement: Hey, look! I'm performing a miracle over here! Thunder! Lightning!

But the Jesus of the Bible just says, "Get up and walk." (Luke 5:22-24)

The truth is, when we look for the mighty miracles, for the trumpets to sound and a voice to come over the wind, we miss the every-day miracles. And when we miss the miraculous in the every day, we also miss the chance to be a part of a miracle ourselves.

(Coming up tomorrow... "Who brought the Fish" -- how God uses us to perform His great works)

A New, Unopened Box of God

Remember miracles? Remember when the people of God saw visions and dreamed dreams, and the Spirit of God moved in the Church, filling and causing some to speak in tongues, and some to interpret, and some to prophesy, and some to heal, and some to discern good spirits from evil?

Remember that?

Whatever happened to that,  anyway?

Does all that seem a little far-fetched? A little science-fictiony or scary? A little bit kooky, perhaps?

Why is that? Paul talked about exactly these things to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 12), didn't he? Are things so different now that God has ceased to move in these ways in our Church, and in His people? Surely, some Christians -- even pastors -- will say, even if He really DID cause miracles to happen (which, depending on your church, may now be seen to have a perfectly natural, logical, and un-supernatural explanation), He no longer moves that way now.

Now the Holy Spirit moves us to... what? Tentatively raise our hands in church? Clap shyly and without rhythm -- but only if everyone else is clapping, too? Pray for one another by nodding along when the pastor says their names, and then grudgingly put our check in the offering plate?

I miss miracles. I miss the Supernatural power of God. But I begin to wonder: did God pull His Power away from us, or did we merely stop asking for it?