Snapshots

Most people assume that miracles are acts of God that interrupt the normal, natural way of the world through divine intervention.  But the miracles of Jesus show us the exact opposite.  Namely, that miracles are not a suspension of the natural order of our world, but a restoration of our natural world. God originally made the world to be a world without sickness, disease, or hunger. Since the mission of Jesus was a mission of redemption, in each of his miracles we catch a glimpse of the way the world ought to be, and the way it will be when he returns. Every one of his miracles provides a reason to hope, and a reason to worship him.  

The first miracle of Jesus is one of his strangest. A bunch of wedding guests were in danger of sobering up because they ran out of wine. Jesus made sure that the party kept on going.  Why did he choose this for his first miracle?!? He was intentional in choosing this as his coming out miracle.  This was how he showed the world that his true purpose was to prepare a wedding feast unlike any other, the wedding feast of the Kingdom of God.  

Most modern people scoff at the idea of demons and that they are an active force in the world. Not only are they real, but they also hold remarkable power. In this miracle, we will not only see that Jesus has authority over all things, visible and invisible. He also has a heart of love that wants to help a tormented man – a crazy man that other people feared was a man that Jesus came to redeem and set free.

Jesus was never in a hurry. Fully present people aren’t. One time, Jesus was accompanying a desperate dad whose daughter was close to death.  Then from behind, a woman who was suffering terribly from a chronic disease for twelve years came for healing.  Who would Jesus decide to heal? The more desperate one?  The more holy one? The one with more faith? Join us to find out more! 

Not all miracles of Jesus were to heal people who were sick or broken because life in the Kingdom of God will not just be about us having resurrected life. Some miracles were done to give a glimpse at how we will relate to God in resurrected life. Although Jesus has hit a dark place in his ministry, his transfiguration showed his disciples, and us, that this was part of his rescue plan to lead his people into the ultimate freedom and glory of the Kingdom of God.

Life is so much easier when we know what's coming next. Minor inconveniences and frustrations now don't seem so bad when there's a glimpse of the good to come. Yet, what happens when life throws you a big problem and you have no idea what to expect next? That's scary. In this miracle, Jesus provides a snapshot of a restored world as God intended it to be. Your "right now" may be causing you anxiety and fear, but what's coming next is completely worth it! 

If Jesus asked you “What do you want me to do for you,” how would you respond?  Jesus once asked this question to a man named Bartimaeus who was blind. You think the answer would be obvious—“to see!”. But as we see with Bartimaeus, not only did he want to see, but he also wanted to follow.  Bartimaeus didn’t see Jesus as a genie but as Lord. He was ready before he was healed to follow Jesus in this life and into the next.

Storms will come in life. If we don’t know how to respond, we’re at risk of drowning.  Peter’s reaction to witnessing a miracle can show us what we need to do when we are in the middle of a storm and gives us a glimpse of what Heaven looks like.  No matter what dorms we face, if we keep Jesus at the center of our lives we will not drown.