awake, O sleeper

Miracles. The eternal breaking into the present. A physical manifestation of a spiritual reality. The Gospels and Jesus will not make any sense at all until you come to the realization that He did not come first and foremost to perform miracles. You see, He was first and foremost about reaching people at the heart level. The reason people didn’t get him then or get him now is they fail to realize that Christianity and the Gospel is first and foremost about the heart. The miracles were simply a physical manifestation of a inward spiritual reality. For instance, when Christ healed the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, he was among a multitude of invalids who were blind, lame, and paralyzed (Jn 5). If He came simply to heal people of their physical disease, then why did he only choose one man. The dire conditions were a physical reminder that spiritually we are all lame, blind, and paralyzed in need of healing. You see, Jesus was about the heart and individuals. He chose this one man who had been there for thirty-eight years and he healed him. Jesus would heal a man who was born blind from birth; spiritually we are all born blind and thus we need spiritual eyes to see who Christ truly is. In addition we are all born spiritually deaf in need of spiritual ears to hear. Like Lazarus, we are born spiritually dead, a corpse rotting and decaying in the tomb with no life. Hence, we need to be resurrected in a spiritual sense in order to truly live. All of these miracles are a picture or symbol that Jesus was using to teach a spiritual reality.

The majority of those who witnessed the miracles, however, failed to grasp these truths. They were thinking strictly on a physical, material level. So, when Jesus feeds the five thousand in John 6, they want to take him by force and make Him king. It’s high time that the Messiah arrive and destroy the hated Romans. He gives us free food. Look at all the things he can give us. Material. Physical. By the end of the chapter, Jesus brings hard truth and says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you....When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’” When Jesus was providing for their physical needs they were all about him, but the minute He brings hard truth and draws a line in the sand, “many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” Why is this? Hard truth exposes motives. They wanted the gifts, but not the Giver. So long as Jesus was about feeding them, healing them, and meeting their physical needs, they were all about him. They could’t come to terms that Jesus was about the heart. Christ then turns to the twelve and asks them, “Do you want to go away as well?” Peter replies, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Two groups, two totally different responses. The crowd, who was ready to take Him by force, walks away. The Twelve, where else will we go?

Why do I write all this? I’m concerned that there are many today who have placed their faith in a Jesus that serves them and their physical material needs, rather than making Him the object of their faith. There is such a thing as spurious faith. Simply repeating words in a prayer like some magical chant is not saving faith. You can even believe that Christ lived, was crucified, and rose again but still fail to have saving faith. Like the seed that falls on the stony ground, you may begin well, but when hard truth comes your “faith” never took root and you immediately fall away. You desire the gifts, but not the Giver. Even the demons believe in God and shudder. You must place your faith “IN” Christ. This means that even when times are tough and you may be tempted to walk away, you put your big boy pants on and say, “To whom will we go?” Christ must be the object of your faith. Anything less, is spurious.

Our spiritual state is so bad, that we are compared to lame, blind, deaf, paralyzed, and ultimately, dead corpses. We are in desperate need of a miracle. This miracle is described in the new birth! This occurs when God gives us His Spirit and through the hearing of the Good News of the Gospel, Christ says “LIVE!!!!” and we are resurrected and given spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear! Christ gives us a new heart and takes our heart of stone. We are given a new disposition and nature that is described in terms of a new creation. EVERY TIME A SPIRITUALLY DEAD PERSON COMES TO CHRIST IT IS A MIRACLE! The eternal has broken into the present! The image and name of Christ have been sealed upon our hearts. THIS IS SAVING FAITH!

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine in you.” Eph 5.14