Posts that mention the miracles of Jesus

What Martha Knew

Martha said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” John 11:27

I think it was on a day not unlike the ones we have this time of year. Bright blue skies. Soft green grass blowing in the gentle breeze. The freshness of spring. In contrast, there was a family in deep mourning over an untimely death. Before the miracle of restored life, John relates a private conversation between Jesus and Martha. It was Martha’s brother, Lazarus, who had died after the messages to Jesus to come heal him were left unanswered.

Martha gets a bad reputation because the other time we see her in Luke 10, she is stressed, stretched to the limit, and underappreciated. Or, basically how most of us feel on any given day. But I don’t think that’s who she was. We caught her on an isolated bad day. I think the conversation in John 11 proves that.

Even now I know – Her first words to Jesus in verses 21-22 were, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” She was not only convinced that Jesus could heal, but she was certain that Lazarus’s death was not an insurmountable obstacle.

I know he will rise – In verse 24, she confirms her faith in the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises and the hope that even death is not the last word.

I believe that You are the Christ – Finally, she testifies to her confidence in Jesus Himself. He is the embodiment of salvation. A few minutes later she would see Christ’s power over spiritual death displayed through his power over physical death when her brother walked out of the tomb.

Martha was a woman of tremendous, genuine faith. Don’t let the account in Luke detract from that at all. Her caring and skills made their Bethany home a respite for Jesus. That is an immeasurable act of devotion and service.

But here’s where we may identify with Martha most of all. Just a few verses after the conversation, she stood at her brother’s tomb with Jesus, while Mary, the disciples, and the rest of the mourners looked on. Jesus called for the stone in front of the tomb to be rolled away.

Martha tries to intervene. “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.“

Martha believed Jesus was the resurrection and the life. She believed He would receive whatever He asked of the Father.

But she believed it in the abstract.

He was Lord of Big, Important Things. She struggled to grasp He was also the Lord of Immediate, Personal Needs.

Yes, He was the resurrection and the life, but not just in a vague, impersonal way. He was Lazarus’s resurrection right now. He was life, her life even, right now.

Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” John 11:40

Jesus says the same thing to us. Believe He is personally involved, personally at work, intimately concerned right now. Resurrection and life are not some far-off events or theological constructs. They are current. Urgent. Watch for the evidence. See His glory.

Help Untangle the Graveclothes

By Paula

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.” John 11:42-43

Does anything about that miracle catch your attention?

Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, but Lazarus was still bound in the graveclothes. Lazarus didn’t walk out looking like he’s just arrived from an extended spa vacation.

Jesus also didn’t snap His fingers and cause the wrappings to dramatically drop to the ground. No. After watching Lazarus awkwardly waddle or hop or whatever he did to get out of the tomb, after letting everyone around see Lazarus–alive but struggling–Jesus called on those nearby to step up and help him out. Like the feeding of the 5000, others got to participate in the miracle.

In a similar way, every day, all around us, Jesus is calling people out of spiritual, eternal death.

They come out of the darkness and into His light, but they are still bound in graveclothes. They aren’t perfect. They still carry old attitudes, habits or ideas with them. They stagger and stumble. All too often, we shake our heads at this point and walk away.

Can you imagine anyone walking away from that cemetery in Bethany? Or refusing Jesus’s call to get Lazarus loose? Me either.

It is up to us to participate in the miracles around us by stepping in and helping untangle new believers from their old graveclothes.

Not in a snotty sanctimonious way, but with a humble realization that somebody had to untangle us as well.

We also have to recognize that sometimes, folks are going to get tangled back up in those graveclothes. And honestly, so do we. Jesus could snap His fingers and make everything perfect, and one day He will. In the meantime, this is His plan–that we help each other, that we give and take, that we grow and go.

So don’t stand back watching. Step up. Help unwrap and untangle.

Jesus and Women: The Canaanite Woman

By Paula

Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. Matthew 15:28

One of the things that set Jesus’s ministry apart was the way He interacted with women. Each encounter teaches us something about Jesus and our relationship to Him. It is important to notice in each case, Jesus treated these women with dignity and respect that was unheard at that time and in that culture. That in itself is instructive as we interact with people now.

So far we have looked at an exchange between Jesus and His mother at the wedding celebration in Cana of Galilee, His conversation with the woman from Sychar who had come to draw water from the well and a woman who reached out to Him in a crowd. This week we’ll consider His exchange with a Canaanite woman.

At the end of Matthew 14, Jesus is in Gennesaret, on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. After a confrontation with the Pharisees in the beginning of chapter 15, Jesus and his guys slip over to the area around Tyre and Sidon for a break. (Incidentally, if you check the map, both of these cities are Mediterranean port cities, that is, beach towns. I can totally understand why Jesus would head here for a quick respite.)

A woman from that area approaches Him in desperation and calls Him by His messianic title. The woman is not Jewish. Matthew calls her a woman of Canaan. This would have triggered many cultural memories in the minds of his Jewish readers. She was one of the wicked people who forfeited the Promised Land, whom God judged. Jezebel was from Tyre, after all. Ezekiel tells us the king of Tyre exulted in the destruction of God’s people. Mark calls her a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician, tipping off His Gentile readers that she was one of them.

The Canaanite woman begs for mercy, and for healing for her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus’s reputation had spread beyond the borders of Israel. Whatever the woman may have known about Jesus, she at least knew He was her only hope. The Sidonian gods brought no help or relief.

Jesus did not respond. Sometimes silence teaches as much as words. In this case the silence reveals the hearts of the woman and of the disciples.

Do we typically see God’s silence as an opportunity for us to examine our hearts before Him?

Finally the disciples respond, “Send her away. She is annoying us. She is interrupting us on our day off.” Jesus says He was sent to the lost sheep of Israel. This ties the encounter to the most recent debate with the Pharisees and it forces the disciples to consider who is worthy of salvation and, by extension, His intervention. Is it a matter of genuine faith or of national heritage?

Do we ever determine some are worthy of salvation, while others are not?

The disciples would one day carry the gospel throughout the world. Right now, they can’t see past their deeply rooted prejudices. The Canaanite woman, watching this exchange, senses that in spite of the words spoken, she still has hope. She throws herself down at Jesus’s feet and begs for His help.

Jesus responds to her plea with a parable, but I believe He says it more for the disciples’ benefit. It is not right to take the children’s ( that is, the Jews’) bread and give it to the dogs (that it, the Gentiles). Jesus doesn’t use the common pejorative Jews used for Gentiles, but the point is unmistakable. “We can’t take precious ministry energy, reserved for our people and spend on people like this, right guys?”

Is the kingdom of God only for those in a certain race, or class, or station? Or is it open for everyone who seeks it?

The woman, understands the question. Her answer is, in essence – the kingdom of God is for those who draw near to receive it. “Bingo!” Jesus replies. Well, something close to that. He praises her great faith, and with that her persistence and humility.

Do we ever stand in the way of those who are seeking the kingdom? Are our prejudices and preconceptions off-putting rather than welcoming?

Jesus heals the woman’s daughter and then spends several days in the Gentile region healing and teaching, including a miraculous feeding of 4000 Gentiles mirroring the feeding of the 5000. It all began with this Canaanite mother helped Him demonstrate to His disciples what true faith looks like.

Jesus and Women: The Woman with the Issue

By Paula

And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” Mark 5:34

One of the things that set Jesus’s ministry apart was the way He interacted with women. However, each encounter was chosen because it teaches us something about Jesus and our relationship to Him. It is important to notice in each case, Jesus treated these women with dignity and respect that was unheard at that time and in that culture. That in itself is instructive as we interact with people now.

So far we have looked at an exchange between Jesus and His mother at the wedding celebration in Cana of Galilee. Last week, we looked at His conversation with the woman from Sychar who had come to draw water from the well. This week, we’ll break down what happens when a woman reaches out to Him in a crowd.

By this point in Jesus’s ministry, He was pretty famous. His reputation as a healer meant that huge crowds quickly assembled whenever He was in the area. In Mark 5, this is the situation. We don’t know exactly what town He is in, but we know from previous chapters He is in the general area of Capernaum. He has just arrived back in that area after spending a few days in Gentile country casting out demons. Jesus is met by a desperate father, Jairus. He was a synagogue ruler, a local pastor, if you will, whose twelve-year-old daughter was dying. Her condition was beyond medical intervention. Jesus was his only hope.

Of course Jesus consents to go with Jairus, and it is on the walk over that this woman with the issue reaches out to touch Jesus.

Now it is important to understand that this woman was not a distraction. She was not a delay. She didn’t mess things up so that Jairus’s daughter died. Her story is an important reminder to us. She had suffered for twelve years, the girl’s entire lifetime. While Jairus and his wife delighted in their daughter, in watching her grow, in sharing her life, this woman was drained of her finances and her hope for any kind of cure.

One of the ugliest parts of the curse sin brought on the world is that innocent people suffer. Jesus Christ came to overturn that curse, and every miraculous healing is a testimony to that.

When we reach out to Jesus in our moments of desperate need, we are not distracting Him or delaying Him or preventing Him from attending to something more pressing. We need the power of the Gospel working in our lives, and He is gracious to supply our needs.

Now, let’s think for a moment why this woman wouldn’t want Jesus to know she touched Him. Why didn’t she just ask for healing like Jairus had done for his daughter? The accounts say it was a bleeding thing. The older versions say “an issue”. Newer translations say a discharge, or a hemorrhage or something similar. The point is, the woman almost certainly had a gynecological condition. Apart from the physical pain and suffering that caused, she would have been ceremonially unclean the entire time. She had not been able to attend a worship service in twelve years. Anyone who touched her would have been rendered ceremonially unclean. That isolation, that guilt, that burden would have been so, so heavy.

But I like the old word “issue” because of the more current meaning and the play on words. We all have an issue or two we need to bring to Jesus for healing.

But here she is, in a huge crowd. Everyone is jostling one another. I picture it like a crowd leaving a huge stadium or concert. Everyone who touched her will be considered unclean. She knows this and knows the risk she is taking. But it will be okay because as soon as she touches Jesus, she will be healed, and no one will be unclean. She just has to get close enough. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” Mark 5:28 It won’t slow Him down. He won’t even know.

Except He knew.

When Jesus turns and asks who touched Him, He wasn’t looking for information. He knew. He was offering the woman the opportunity to publicly testify, to declare her faith. Jesus wanted other people to see what kind of faith she had. He was living out what He would soon explain to His disciples. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, Matthew 10:32.

I love the detail Mark includes. She fell down before Jesus “and told Him the whole truth.”

When we have the opportunity, let’s be faithful to tell the truth about what Jesus has done for us.

And then there’s the response. Jesus calls her Daughter. He wouldn’t have had to call her anything. He had her attention. She knew He was talking to her. But He makes a point of calling her daughter. It was a term of endearment, of familiarity, of relationship, and thus, of status. He wanted those around to understand that He had the same concern and compassion for her that Jairus had for his precious daughter. She was not an outcast. She was reconciled to God. Her issue was resolved. And He told her to go in peace.

Jesus has that same gentle compassion for us. He chooses to call us His. Go in peace with that assurance.

(P.S. If you’re not familiar with the what happens next, He raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead. So it was all good.)

Read all of the Jesus and Women Series

Jesus and Women: Mary

By Paula

And Jesus said to her (Mary), “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” John 2:4

One of the things that set Jesus’s ministry apart was the way He interacted with women. We touched on that briefly in an Easter post, but it’s worth a more in-depth look. In-depth, but not exhaustive. However, each encounter was chosen because it teaches us something about Jesus and our relationship to Him. It is important to notice in each case, Jesus treated these women with dignity and respect that was unheard of at that time and in that culture. That in itself is instructive as we interact with people now.

Today, we find the first encounter between the adult Jesus and His mother, Mary. John 2:1 tells us Mary was at a wedding in Cana, and that Jesus and His disciples were invited guests. Jewish weddings were joyous, festive, community celebrations lasting several days. At some point the groom’s family ran out of wine. We don’t know whose wedding it was, but the fact that Mary was privy to the situation with the wine suggests that she was close to the groom’s family.

Running out of wine, failing to provide and care for the invited guests was a serious breach of hospitality. Mary was, no doubt, very sensitive to the sting of gossip and public humiliation. In her compassion for the family, she goes to Jesus, because she believes He can do something about the situation.

There’s our first lesson. Mary acted as the intercessor went to Jesus first on behalf of the groom’s family. We should also be sensitive to the needs of others and ready to carry those needs to the one who can act.

Jesus’s response to His mother seems almost disrespectful, but let’s think through it. Would Jesus have spoken to His mother in a tone of anything but respect? Of course not. He’s not annoyed with her. She’s not bothering Him. But His response is very formal, rather than familiar. Why?

Jesus had officially entered His ministry. Remember when Mary and Joseph found twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple discussing theology with the religious leaders? He was puzzled by their worry and explained: “I must be about My Father’s business.” Then Luke 2:51 says He went home and “was subject to them.” Those days were over. Now Jesus answered solely to His heavenly Father. Jesus’s exchange with Mary here was a gentle, but unmistakeable, reminder that things between them had changed.

That’s our second lesson. Mary’s close family relationship with Jesus doesn’t grant her special access or favors. The upside, though, is this means we have the same right to approach Jesus for an answer to our petition as Mary does.

Then instead of pleading further with Jesus or outlining the merits of her requests, Mary turns to the servants in verse 5 and says, “Do whatever He tells you.” She walks away with the utmost trust that Jesus has heard and will act.

We too need that same confident faith that our prayers have been heard and that Jesus will intervene according to His will and His character.

Of course, we know that Jesus turned the water into wine in a very low-key miracle, His first recorded sign. Only a handful of people knew about it. In the larger picture, His glory was manifested and His disciples believed in Him. There is always a greater purpose behind the miracles.

This reminds us to give Jesus the praise and glory He is due when He acts in our lives.

From the time Mary understood she would give birth to the Messiah, her response was “Behold, the servant of the Lord.” She maintained that humble devotion to her Son and then reckoned with the reality that He was her Savior and Lord. She has much to teach us.

Untangle the Graveclothes

By Paula

Does anything about that miracle catch your attention? Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, but Lazarus was still bound in the graveclothes. Lazarus didn’t walk out looking like he’s just arrived from an extended spa vacation.

Jesus also didn’t snap His fingers and cause the wrappings to dramatically drop to the ground. No. After watching Lazarus awkwardly waddle or hop or whatever he did to get out of the tomb, after letting everyone around see Lazarus, alive but struggling, Jesus called on those nearby to step up and help him out. Like the feeding of the 5000, others got to participate in the miracle.

In a similar way, every day, all around us, Jesus is calling people out of spiritual, eternal death. They come out of the darkness and into His light, but they are still bound in graveclothes. They aren’t perfect. They still carry old attitudes, habits or ideas with them. They stagger and stumble. All too often, we shake our heads at this point and walk away.

Can you imagine anyone walking away from that cemetery in Bethany? Or refusing Jesus’s call to get Lazarus loose? Me either. It is up to us to participate in those miracles around us by stepping in and helping untangle new believers from their old graveclothes. Not in a snotty sanctimonious way, but with a humble realization that somebody had to untangle us as well.

We also have to recognize that sometimes they’re going to get tangled back up in those graveclothes. And honestly, so do we. Jesus could say the word and make everything perfect, and one day He will. In the meantime, this is His plan– that we help each other, that we give and take, that we grow and go.

So don’t stand back watching. Step up. Unwrap and untangle.