Miracle Power and Gospel Light
By Elvira Bujanda
In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus declares: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
As we follow Christ, obtaining knowledge and understanding of God’s Word, we see that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is at the center – the Good News by which God has provided salvation for all of mankind.
In the book of Mark 1:15 it says “Now Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.’” Colossians 1:4-5 speaks of “your faith in Christ and your love for all the saints because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the Word of the truth of the Gospel.”
The New Testament begins with the four gospel accounts written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John which describe the life and ministry of Jesus. Each writer conveys the same message from a slightly different perspective, and this gives us a fuller picture of our Savior.
Matthew writes of Jesus in a way that seeks to prove that He is in fact the one true Messiah; Mark writes as a reporter, so that the common man may understand who Jesus is through what He does; Luke introduces Jesus as the Son of Man, facing temptation, wrestling with injustice, experiencing emotion, praying to His Father; John writes of Jesus as God Himself, the Word, the Creator of all things; the Lamb, the Bread of Life, the Living Water, the Light of the World, the Vine, and the Great I Am.
Some scholars and theologians refer to the first main section of the Gospel of John as the book of signs and miracles.
The Illustrated Bible Dictionary by George W. Knight and Rayburn W. Ray defines miracles as “God’s intervention or suspension of natural laws of the Universe; mighty works of His power.” The miracles that Jesus did on earth attested to His divine power. As Christians, we are to put our trust in Jesus and His miracle power – but as humans, our minds may begin to doubt, or try to pick apart a miracle to see what may have happened and why.
In Proverbs 3:5-6, we read: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”
Hebrews 2:1 says we must fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
God is constantly working according to His purpose. To grasp His purpose we need 20/20 spiritual vision, finding the clarity of God’s perspective in the light of His Word.
John is the gospel writer who presents to us the miracles of Jesus as part of His divine credentials.
In John 2:11, after relating the account of Jesus turning water into wine, John writes, “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.”
John 4:16-50 recounts the healing of the nobleman’s son, after which John remarks, “This again was the second sign that Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee” (John 4:54).
From there, he continues to highlight other miracles such as the healing of the man at the Pool of Bethesda in chapter 5; the feeding of the five thousand followed by Jesus calming the storm and walking on the water in chapter 6; the healing of the man who was blind from birth in chapter 9; and the raising of Lazarus from the dead in chapter 11.
In John 20:30, he adds: “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His Name.”
The signs and miracles of Jesus stand out in the gospels as a beacon of light, a lighthouse that shines forth to the believer the message of God’s support and protection as we go out to take the Good News into the darkness of this wicked world. “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5).
As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, His disciples came to Him and asked about the signs of His coming and of the end of the world. They never questioned that they would see miracles before His return.
In Matthew 24:29-31 He tells them, “Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky and the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens and all the nations of the earth will mourn, when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with the great sound of a trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Our God is the Almighty Miracle God. While we may not comprehend what is happening around us in the world or why, we can have peace just in knowing that the will of our mighty God of Miracles is sovereign over mankind, now and forever.
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it” (I Thessalonians 5:23-24).