Week 7 – THE MIRACLES OF JESUS Page 1

Week 7: Mon, Feb 22nd

– Sun, Feb 28th

Scripture: John 2:1-11; Mark 4:35-41; Matthew 14:13-21;

Matthew 14:22-33; Matthew 21:18-22 *NOTE: *Denotes sermon passage for February 28

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(Excerpted, with some edits and additions, from “The Essential Jesus: 100 Readings Through the Bible’s

Greatest Story”, by Whitney T. Kuniholm.)

John 2:1-11 The miracle of the turning of water in to wine at a marriage ceremony is unique to the Gospel of John. John records it as Jesus’ first miracle. The point of this is not to make sure it gets put at the front of the line with all of the other miracles, and establish some kind of chronological order. Rather, John is pointing out that this is the inaugural event of Jesus’ ministry. It is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to Nathaniel (and to us, as readers) that he will do even greater things than when he told Nathaniel that he saw him under the fig tree before Phillip called him. (John 1:50) The significance of this miracle is not in the details and setting of the wedding itself, but that the promise of the coming of the Messiah is now being fulfilled. In verse 4, Jesus takes on what seems to be an impersonal and even derogatory tone towards his mother. In actuality, the way he addresses her (“Woman”) would have been a common, and not disrespectful. It would have been a bit unusual for him to say this to his mother, but it’s likely there is a separation of his role as her son, because of His call as the Messiah. In other gospels, Jesus would seemingly downplay his earthly family. (Mark 3:31-35 is an example.) Although Jesus was revealing His higher calling as the Son of God, He still recognized his role as an earthly son, as evidenced by the giving of his mother to John at the cross, when he knew he would die and not be able to fulfill that responsibility – John 19:25-27. The “hour” Jesus refers to here is the time of his glorification, taking place as a result of his death, resurrection, and ascension. Although Jesus’ hour has not yet come, as he tells his mother, the time for him to begin His ministry and reveal Himself as the Son of God has begun. Whereas there is not much detail given to the wedding setting itself, there is great detail given to the stone jars. Their size was unusually large, and there were more than you would typically find, even at a large wedding. This speaks to the extravagance of the miracle, akin to the abundance of the Kingdom of heaven Matthew describes through the parables of Jesus. (Matthew 13). In the Old Testament, abundance of good wine pointed to the joyous arrival of God’s new age, and the fulfillment of God’s promised plan. In these particulars of the miracle, John is proclaiming that Jesus as Messiah is the one they have been waiting for, whom God has promised! There is no explanation given by John as to how the miracle took place. The focus is on what kind of miracle it is, and what effect it has on those who witnessed it. As we referenced above, it is a miracle of abundance. It is also a miracle of transformation, as the water was turned into wine. Its significance goes beyond this, because it points to the change Jesus can make in those who believe in Him. Indeed, the disciples witnessed this miracle, and believed. John adds that comment at the end of the passage to make sure his readers get the point (vs. 11). Jesus performed miracles first of all because they “revealed his glory,” that is, they were evidence of his divine nature. But second, they helped people, in this case his disciples, “put their faith in him.” Jesus’ mission was to help people believe he was the Son of God. Jesus was signaling that he came to establish a new way for people to have a relationship with God, a way based not on keeping the law of Moses (that is, the complex list of rules coming out of the Ten Commandments), but rather on having faith in him. Later in his ministry, Jesus said this was like pouring new wine into new wineskins (Matthew 9:17). The good news is that through Jesus we can now have this new relationship with God.

Mark 4:35-41 The setting for this tumultuous boat ride is a day of teaching, where the crowds were so large, Jesus has to get into a boat and go offshore and teach to the crowds on the bank. At nighttime, Jesus instructs his disciples to pull up anchor and head over to the other side of the lake. It was night, so it would have made the impending storm that much more difficult to navigate through. Even though the Sea of Galilee was not that large, it was deep and susceptible to storms from the Mediterranean Sea. Jesus is asleep in the boat, likely exhausted from a day’s worth

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of teaching. The disciples wake up, overcome by fear. (And, probably wondering how in the world Jesus could still be asleep!) Jesus gets up, and calms the storm. He shows a mastery of the sea, bringing to mind the Old Testament images of God having control over the waters. We saw it with the parting of the Red Sea, and the Psalmist speaks of it in 107:23-29, with striking similarities to this story. We see with this miracle a clear reference to Jesus as divine, as He is able to show power over the sea. There is symbolism we can gain from this crossing of the Sea of Galilee by Jesus and his disciples. We can interpret it in several different ways:

*Matthew tells the same story in his gospel, and the symbolism of the storm was likely the opposition the believers of his time were facing, and the potential for them to be overwhelmed with fear. The story reminds them that have no need to fear that opposition. God is in control.

*Mark, with his gospel account, likely sees the story as an evil force in opposition to Jesus’ ministry and God’s rule. Jesus was asleep after a tiring day of doing ministry, and the storm was there to attack during a vulnerable state for him and his disciples. Jesus validates His ministry and divinity by rebuking that force.

*The Sea of Galilee was a symbolic boundary between the Jews & Gentiles. Its crossing by Jesus would have been a theological statement that his ministry was for everyone, not just for the Jews. This would have been jolting for the Jews, a storm of sorts. Jesus’ rebuking of that “storm” shows His call to those who believe in Him, that He desires to break down any barrier that makes us think there is someone who is not able to receive God’s message and grace.

*Today, as believers, we are called to have faith and believe that God is in control, despite the storms in our lives. This kind of faith does not mean every storm will be calmed, however. With this story, that is the case. And, God can do that. But, there are times when God does address our fears, but He gives us courage and hope to face the storm. We see this powerfully in the life of Jesus, who faced a storm as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed that his call to suffer and die would be taken away. Jesus would have to face that storm, but the prayer was a source of strength for Him. And, it was this way, because Jesus prayed for God’s will to be done rather than assume God would take away any fear He did not want to face. If I had been in the boat with the disciples, I might have felt Jesus’ questions at the end were a little unfair (vs. 40). Anyone who’s been out on a boat in a big storm (or even a rough sea) knows the feeling of powerlessness and fear that comes with being out of control. Fear is something everyone struggles with at some point. Occasionally, we may find ourselves in physical danger. But more often our fears come from pondering the endless number of worst-case scenarios that threaten us: failure at work, financial disaster, broken relationships, being alone, deteriorating health, death. But that’s the point behind Jesus’ seemingly unfair questions: things are never out of control when we are with him. Once we belong to Jesus it doesn’t matter what happens, it doesn’t matter how bad things get. Jesus has the power to change not only the wind and the waves but also every force at work in our lives. Of course, it would be nice to think that believing in Jesus would immediately remove all fear from our lives. But the truth is, like the disciples in the boat, we are human; we lose control and become fearful. But that’s when we need to force ourselves back to the message of the miracle: with Jesus we have nothing to fear. Faith doesn’t mean that we’ll never face danger or even that bad things will never happen to us. Instead, faith means believing that Jesus is in charge and knowing that we belong to him.

Matthew 14:13-21 Other than the resurrection, the feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle recorded by all four gospels. The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 is one that demonstrates the power of God over physical need. It is a fulfilling of the Beatitude, which says that those who are hungry will be filled. For Matthew, he is stating that the Kingdom of God is being displayed in the life of Jesus. The Feeding of the 5,000 has echoes from a story in the Old Testament, where the Kingdom of God has its roots - when God fed His people in another deserted place – the wilderness, when He sent manna down from heaven to feed the Jews as they traveled from their place of slavery (Egypt) to their place of freedom (Israel, the Promised Land). The gospels all identify the links between the God who acted in the Old Testament, and now acts through His Son, Jesus Christ. Like the Israelites in the Old Testament story, the disciples doubt (or, at the least, cannot understand) God’s ability to provide food. Not only was everyone filled, but there

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were leftovers! The miracle speaks to how completely God fulfills His promises. In addition, the feeding of the 5,000 tells us that preaching the gospel is meant to be accompanied by care for social and physical needs. Not only does Jesus teach, but He also heals. Then, when the crowd has stayed so long that they need to be fed, Jesus takes care of their need rather than sending them off to fend for themselves. Matthew does not include some of the details recorded in one or more of the other gospel accounts. The dialogue with the disciples about getting food for the people is shorter. We learn from other accounts that the disciples wondered how they would find enough food, that it would cost about a year and half’s wages to buy everyone enough bread. In other accounts, it is only when Jesus instructs them to go see what is already there that they find the boy with the loaves and fishes. In other accounts, it is told how the people are organized – in groups of 50 and/or 100. In John’s account, it states at the end that the people desire to make him king by force after they see this miracle, but Jesus withdrew from them. Overall, there is much similarity in the accounts, and not really any contradictions. For Matthew, we can see a symbolic placement of this miracle with the banquet Herod provides in the passage before, the one in which John the Baptist is sentenced to death, and his head is paraded out in front of everyone. It is a contrast of two kingdoms. Herod’s kingdom banquet is small and exclusive, and there is no need for anything. In fact, the one thing Herod did not have that he wanted (Herodias’ daughter) lead to John the Baptist’s beheading. In contrast, the Kingdom of Heaven as illustrated with this miracle is large and open to everyone (5,000 men + women and children) and the miracle takes place to meet a human basic need – hunger. Ironically, from John’s account, we see the people want to try and take Jesus and make him a king like Herod! Jesus already knows he can feed the people. But before he does, he challenges the disciples to solve the problem on their own. What’s the first instinct when you face a big problem? Do you plan? Do you complain? Do you go into high-energy mode? Do you become paralyzed with worry? In the different gospel accounts, we see both complaint and also a look at their own resources and conclude they did not have enough to solve the problem. But Jesus was probing to see whether or not his disciples would look to him first to solve the problem. Note that he says, “Bring them here to me”. In other words, “Remember who I am; look to me first in everything that happens.” It was the very same principle he taught in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 6:33) We don’t know HOW Jesus performed this miracle. None of the accounts give us a practical explanation. We just know “they all ate and were satisfied”. The point we can gain here is that we don’t know how or when Jesus will intervene in our lives. All we need to know is that he can, and he has resources far greater than we can ever imagine. (Psalm 50:10)

Matthew 14:22-33 This passage covers Jesus walking on the water. In the gospels of Matthew & Mark, (John too, but it is a shorter version) this follows the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. Many times in our lives as Christians, challenging times follow high spiritual moments. For the disciples, they are sent ahead and feel alone on a sea that is now stormy and destructive, as they head to the other side to meet Jesus, as He instructed them. There is some powerful symbolism here, as the sea is commonly understood to represent chaos. (Remember, in the Old Testament creation account, God separated the waters to create order and deal with the chaos of the world.) In the same, way Jesus shows mastery over the chaos of the storm by walking to the disciples on the water in the midst of that storm. (Earlier in the week, in a story we read similar to this, recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus is asleep in a boat when a storm comes up, and the disciples are afraid and call on Jesus to help, and he commands the storm to go away. This is another example of Jesus showing mastery over the sea, which can represent chaos.) Walking on the water was more about overcoming chaos than about defying gravity. And, this has such strong implications for the life we live, which can feel so chaotic at times! The disciples are in the boat, feeling alone in the midst of the storm. Maybe they are wondering why Jesus has abandoned them (remember, they wondered how Jesus could sleep in the middle of the storm in the other story) and they feel alone, not knowing how to deal with the crisis before them. They see Jesus walking towards them, and Peter asks for proof that it is Jesus when He requests that Jesus invite him into the water. I wonder what Peter felt in that moment when he realized he was sinking into the raging waters: embarrassment, panic, fear? Probably all of that. Now try to imagine Peter’s emotions when he felt the strong grip of

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Jesus on his arm. That was the moment he was sure it was no ghost. Once Peter was safely back in the boat, there was no need to quibble about whether a man could walk on water. This is a powerful message for us as Christians today. When we face chaotic times in our lives, the faith we are called to have is to believe that Jesus is there for us despite our problems. (In the other story, it was also an issue of faith for the disciples.) Here, it is not as much in having faith to walk on the water ourselves, as if all of our problems can be solved in spectacular ways. We know that God can do this and He may call on us to step out in faith and walk on water, because His power is available to us through His Spirit. But, if we expect that it must be this way, we place a disclaimer on whether or not we will have faith. We need to believe God is in the midst of the storm with us, because this is what He has promised, and those storms of life that create chaos in our lives will submit to Him. They did at creation and in the account of this miracle. This may mean the problem is dealt with in some miraculous way, or it may not. Whatever the case, we have the promise of God’s presence, on which we place our faith.

Matthew 21:18-22 The miracle of the withering of the fig tree is also found in the gospel of Mark. It functions as a parable,

as well as a miracle. There are some differences between the accounts in Matthew and Mark. In

Matthew, the fig tree withers immediately. In Mark, the disciples discover the fig tree the next day. In

between Jesus’ curse of the tree and its discovery, Jesus clears the temple courts. In Matthew the temple

court clearing takes place right before the whole fig tree episode. With either account, this event is

significant, because an application of the miracle/parable would point to the fruitlessness of temple

worship and the Jewish leaders who were in charge of it. In Mark, more detail is given about the fig tree.

It is noted that it’s not really the season for figs, and it also notes that the fig tree had leaves, which

would have given someone the impression it would also have fruit. These two contradictory statements

suggest the issue is not specifically about the fig tree, but about its lack of fruit. In Matthew, fruit always

represents good works, and is a product of faith. When Jesus sees the fig tree (“from a distance” in Mark)

with leaves, the assumption is that he could walk up to it and verify its fruit because of its leaves and

satisfy his hunger with the fruit of the tree. When this does not happen, there is a cursing of the tree and

the tree withers and will no longer be a source of fruit. In the same way, Jesus encounters the temple

courts where they were buying and selling, and they had lost track of what worship was about. The

miracle/parable says, in that context, that the Jewish law and temple practice are fruitless and will not be

the source of fruit for those who would further God’s kingdom. Instead, it would be through those who

believe in Jesus Christ and reach out to him in faith and prayer.

It would be much easier for us to focus our attention in this passage on Jesus’ encouraging comments about

mountain-moving faith rather than on how he miraculously withered the poor fig tree. But the two actions

are linked and were intended to teach the disciples and us some important truths. The point of Jesus’

sharp words and miraculous withering of the fig tree was about bearing fruit. Some commentators see the

fig tree as a symbol of Israel’s religion at the time; it looked good but ultimately was not satisfying the

people’s spiritual hunger. But it also seems to be a statement by Jesus on the urgency of his mission. He

wanted his followers to know that bearing fruit is serious business and there is no time to waste.

Producing fruit involves at least two things: faith and prayer. This is something far different than

“naming and claiming.” It is faith built on a deep relationship with our heavenly Father and transforming

prayer that enables us to understand and submit to his will – which may be radically different from our

original request. But when we have waited before the Lord and honestly perceived his purposes, we can

approach our “mountains” with confidence that he will move them. Jesus reminds us that the size of the

tree or the height of the mountain is not a problem for God. Our challenge is developing the kind of prayer

life that is built on an unwavering trust that God will accomplish his purposes, his way. As we do that, we

can expect him to do incredible thing in our lives.

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We often heard the phrase, and want to possess a “faith that can move mountains”. The faith that

Matthew speaks of is about a relationship of trust with the one to whom the prayer is offered. These

words do not speak of a manipulative kind of prayer, where our will is done no matter if it is conformity to

God’s will, or not. Neither Matthew nor Mark would say this. We only need to look at the prayer in the

Garden of Gethsemane to see the very example of Jesus. (Matt 26:36-46) He demonstrated faith in his

Father who called Him by trusting that the Father’s will to drink the cup and suffer and die was what

should be done rather than have that cup pass from him. We cheapen faith and prayer when we reduce it

to asking God for whatever we want, believing we will get it. Instead, prayer offered in faith is more

about a shaping of ourselves into God’s will. In this way, we will bear fruit.

John 2:1-11 *How would you define a miracle? Are they still possible today? Have you experienced one? *What are people skeptical about miracles today? Do you think faith and science are compatible? How so? *Is there anything about the life and ministry of Jesus that seems unbelievable to you? If so, what is it and why? *What was the purpose or result of this first miracle of Jesus? What impression do you think it made on the servants who saw it? *What things in your spiritual life are “old” and need to be replaced by something new from Jesus? Mark 4:35-41 *What are your biggest fears? For each one, what is the root cause of the fear? *Can you think of a time in your life when you were overwhelmed by fear? What happened and what helped you cope? Has faith in Jesus every helped you at such times? How so? *How would you have answered Jesus’ question to the disciples (vs . 40)? Has there ever been a “storm” in your life that you needed to trust Jesus to save you from? *What are the biggest fears that people you know face? What causes them? How are they coping? How could Jesus help? *Do you expect God to take away every storm that comes up in your life? What does it mean to have faith in a miracle-working God who can calm storms? Matthew 14:13-21 *Would you have responded the say way the disciples did in the miracle story, including complaining about having to spend a year and a half’s wages to buy food for everyone? Would you have reacted the same way crowd did in John 6:15, wanting to make Jesus king by force? *What is the basic way you approach problems or challenges in your life? How does your life as a believer play into solving these problems or challenges? *What is the single biggest problem you face now? What would it mean for you to ‘look to Jesus first’ for a solution? *Has Jesus ever miraculously provided for you? What happened?

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*What strikes you as most surprising about this miracle? What does it tell you about Jesus? Does Jesus “feed” you today? If so, how? Matthew 14:22-33 *What does the miracle of Jesus walking on the water teach you about him? *Have you ever trusted God during a stormy period in your life? What happened? *In what area of your life do you need to move forward in faith even though the way seems unclear? How could you do so? *When have you ever taken a big step of faith? What happened and what did you learn from the experience? *Some people say that if you have enough faith, anything is possible. What do you think? Matthew 21:18-22 *In what area of your life do you most need to experience mountain-moving faith? What is one step that

you could take in that direction today?

*What point do you think Jesus was making with this miracle? Is it really possible to have the kind of

faith Jesus describes here? If so, have you seen it?

*How important is it that Jesus really did perform these miracles? Would you or could you believe in him

just as strongly if he hadn’t?

Answer the following questions as a way to sum up the message for the week, and to help tie

things off for your small group time.

-What do we learn about God?

-What do we learn about ourselves?

-How might God be working or we be acting in a similar way today?

-How might we act on this passage?

“The Essential Jesus” (Whitney T. Kuniholm) & “The Essential Jesus Challenge Guide” from

Scripture Union . (Italicized portions, unless otherwise noted, are quotations.)

“The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Volume VII & VIII”

“New Beacon Bible Commentary: Mark”, by Kent Brower.

“Miracle in Mark: Theological Reflection on Science’s Questions” by Kara Pardue, a paper

presented at the WTS Conference in 2008.