Miracles, Miracles!! (St. Mark 8:1-9)

I have difficulty sometimes … when watching media adaptations of Biblical stories … when the Scriptures are clear … and they depart from the scriptures and give their own interpretation.

For example … in one of the movies on the life and death of Jesus … they had Judas throwing himself on the flames of the altar instead of hanging himself.

I don’t find myself being that critical in watching ‘The Chosen” even though I was late in starting to watch it and overall I thought it was very well done.

It is estimated that the viewing audience worldwide is 200 million people!

One of things that I like about it was seeing some of the miracles of Jesus portrayed — the water into wine … the blind given sight … the lame made to walk … the large catch of fish … and others.

Obviously … they couldn’t … and didn’t show every thing that Jesus did and said.  I was waiting for the story of Zacchaeus up in a tree … but they didn’t include that.

I was reminded of the words at the end of the Gospel of John, where he says in chapters 20 & 21

““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 … AND … 

And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.””

Signs … miracles … with a specific purpose … that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ … the Son of God.

Unfortunately … we hear the word “miracles”  in connection with a variety of other things — such as the latest herbal cure for some disease that we see advertised.  

Or how about the exercise machine that promises washboard abs in three weeks — that really would be a miracle.  

Or perhaps my favorite — the miracle diet guaranteed to lose weight — I’m still looking for that one!

And then there are the “miracles” — such as if we are nearly in a car accident and we aren’t — we see “it’s a miracle.”  

Or for those who are in school and don’t study for a test — they say it will be a miracle if they pass it.  

But all these things — while they may be extraordinary events — something unforeseen or even unexplained … they are not really miracles as defined by the Bible.

And so we must first ask — What are miracles??

Miracles are defined as events which unmistakably involve an immediate and powerful action of God with the express purpose to reveal His character or purposes.  

This is the whole purpose of miracles — to reveal the character of God — not to draw attention to those who were doing the miracle — as we see in the “miracle workers” of today. 

There are also different words used in the Scriptures to describe the miracles — these include sign, wonder, work, mighty work, power … 

As Christians we should be familiar miracles — but legitimate … real miracles.

Throughout the scriptures there are a number of miracles.  

For example the 10 plagues that God brought upon Egypt … or the parting of the sea so that the children of Israel could cross on dry land … or the day that God made the sun stand still… and there are many others.  

But it is in the N.T. — with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ … that we see numerous miracles.

One of them … is the story in our Gospel lesson for this morning from Mark 8.  

This is the familiar story of Jesus feeding the 4000.  It is the 2^nd time that Jesus has fed the multitudes.  

Back in Mark 6 you can read a similar situation where our Savior fed 5000.

There were similarities in each case — there were multitudes of people who had been following and listening to the teaching of Jesus all day and now they were hungry.  

In the feeding of the 5000 they found a boy with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish — Jesus fed the multitude and they had 12 baskets of fragments left over.  

Here they had 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish.  Jesus fed them all — with 7 baskets leftover this time.

But people will still find excuses to not believe in the miracle.

One liberal commentator described the miracle of the feedings as such:

He said that the disciples of Jesus knew what was going on and they had secretly hid food in a cave — and when the time came for the “miracle” — they stood in front of the cave and passed the food out to Jesus to make it look like a miracle.  

I don’t know about you, but I find it easier to believe in the miracle — than Jesus being such a deceiver. 

But miracles — Jesus did a number of them during his earthly ministry — he healed those with various diseases and illnesses … those born blind … he raised the dead.

One of my favorites is when he told Peter to go fishing, and the first fish that he would catch would have a coin in it so they could pay the Temple tax — that’s a great one. 

In my mind that would be the only reason to go fishing.   

And then being Italian, my all time favorite miracle was our Saviors first recorded miracle — when he turned water into really good wine!!  The best wine!!!  

Then … to a lesser extent … we have the miracles that the Apostle’s did in spreading the gospel which we read about in the book of Acts.

Has it ever crossed your mind as to the fact that if Jesus had all this power at his disposal… if he indeed could feed multitudes with a little food … if he could give sight to the blind …  make the lame walk … give life to the dead — why didn’t he do more??  

Why didn’t he heal everybody?? Why didn’t he feed everyone??

And connected with this is — why don’t his children — that is the Christians of today — have more of this power?? 

The early apostles had some of this same power — they were able to perform miracles.  

Why can’t we??  

After all, we think — wouldn’t this be a great witness to the power of God — and multitudes would come to know God through the Lord Jesus Christ — or so it would seem??

When we think about it — it was the miracles that caused the crowds to follow Jesus.  

In fact, if were to look at the previous Chapter in the gospel of Mark, chapter 7 — we read that Jesus healed a deaf-mute — and what did Jesus then do — Mark 7:36: 

““Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.””  

And so … the next thing that we see in chapter 8 is that there was a great multitude who began to follow Jesus.

In Luke 5 … Jesus healed a man with leprosy and again he instructed him not to tell anyone.  But we read: 5:15,16: 

““However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.””

What is happening — people are coming for the miracles themselves — people are coming to be healed — which is not a bad thing — but not the purpose of the miracles.

We see one of the reasons why Jesus didn’t do more, if we look past our gospel lesson.  

Immediately following the miracle of the feeding of 4000, Jesus went to another town — Dalmanutha —

But then we read that the Pharisees came on the scene again — and this is what we read: Mark 8:11-12:

““Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.””

The Pharisees where not interested in hearing what Jesus had to say — the only thing that they were interested in was their own political purposes — they wanted to know if Jesus was going to deliver them from Roman authority.  

This was their understanding of what the Messiah would do for them — this was their understanding of who he would be … 

— and so they wanted a sign that he would deliver them — in much the same way that Moses delivered the children of Israel from Egypt.

First, we know that this is not the primary reason that Jesus came.  

He was not going to lead the people of Israel in revolt against Rome.  

No — we know — and the Pharisees should have known that Jesus came as the Savior — to save people from their sins — as the angel announced to Joseph prior to the birth of Jesus … as we read: 

““And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.””  

This was the purpose of the coming of Jesus and all that he did — including the miracles that he performed.

The message that Jesus had was much more that just feeding them and healing their diseases.  These things were only temporary.  

Think about it — when he fed them, they got hungry again — just like we do.  

When he healed them — they would eventually get sick again and die.  

And those who he raised from the dead — they would die again!  

So there was a larger purpose to the miracles — they were not an end to themselves … 

— they were to authenticate the message the Jesus came to bring to people … 

— that Jesus was the long promised Messiah — the one — THE ONLY ONE — who could save people from their sins.  

As we have said … the focus and purpose of the miracles was on God and the Lord Jesus Christ — who he was and what he came to do.  

How different from those who “pretend” to do miracles today.  

Years ago … I had a beloved Aunt … who at one time was “charismatic” in believing that there were faith healers today.  

My Grandfather … her father … was almost blind because of cataracts … and the surgery didn’t help him.  

She heard about this “healer” … whose specific gift was healing eyes. So we went to this “healing service” — with the hopes that my grandfather would receive his sight.

It was all staged … and even she saw that it was phony … and we walked out.

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While Jesus healed many — there were others who were not healed … while the Apostles healed many — there were others who were not healed.  

Why — because the miracles — the healings that they did, had a higher purpose — to draw people to the message of the Gospel.  

They did not do the miracles as an end to themselves.

Another thing that we see in the purpose of this miracle here in Mark 8 — (which we also see in the feeding of the 5000) — was that Jesus had compassion on them — and so he fed them.  

Does this mean that those who were not healed were not benefits of his compassion??  

Does this mean that those who are not healed are less loved by God?

Think about how many times we have prayed for the physical healing of a loved one — and they are not healed — does that mean that God loves them less?? 

Do I believe that God didn’t love my Rachel enough to heal her??

In my mind … the real miracle is that she is now completely healed and in the presence of her God and Savior … the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the problem of thinking about the miracles in and of themselves — apart from the overall purpose of God.  

Yes … God does answer prayers — and heal some — but others He chooses not to heal — for His purpose and to His honor and glory.

I am reminded of the Apostle Paul — the same Apostle Paul that we read about in Acts doing a variety of miracles.  

Paul had what he called “a thorn in the flesh” — a physical problem that bothered him.  Scholars think that it was his vision — that he could not see very well … but we really don’t know.

We read in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 these words: 

““And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.””

You see there was a greater purpose to his infirmity — God could certainly have healed him — but God wanted Paul to see more of his grace — and so therefore He did not heal him.  

To the point where Paul could then say: ““Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.””

Again, we see that the focus is on God and the Lord Jesus Christ.  

The focus is not on the miracle — or the person doing the miracle — but on God and our Savior — the Lord Jesus Christ.  

This is why he came — this was the purpose of the miracles.  

And so … when we think of miracles — let us think of why our Savior did them — and the purpose of directing our attention to him — to his honor and glory … and for the reason that he came.

While we may not be witnesses or the recipients to the type of miracles that our Savior did — we are recipients of the greatest miracle of all in our own lives — that of our own salvation.   

If … we know Jesus Christ as Savior … it is because God has performed a miracle in our lives.  

Because we who were once dead in our sins have been made alive in Christ Jesus.  

We who were once at war with God … have now been adopted into His family!

This is real miracle — one that we need to be eternally thankful for … and praise God for.

And let us pray for the real miracle … the salvation of those in our family and friends who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. … praying that God would do a miracle in their lives.

AMEN