Jesus sent out his disciples with this charge:
Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those who have leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!”[i]
Some recent reading[ii] I’ve done has called me back to reconsider my expectations regarding signs and wonders: miracles. Like many Christians, I believe miracles are real: Jesus did miracles, the apostles performed miracles in his name, and God still does miracles today. However, also like many Christians, I don’t expect to see physical signs and wonders in an average day, in an average week, or even an average decade. Why is that?
I along with many have claimed that we must not seek signs and wonders, but seek the way of the suffering Messiah, the way of service and humility. There is truth in this claim: Jesus promised that those who follow him would receive no better treatment than he had—trials, persecutions, suffering.[iii] However, why do we consider it disobedience to not proclaim that the Kingdom is near, yet think little or nothing about our failure to follow through on the subsequent commands: “heal the sick, raise the dead…cast out demons”?
I know I have let words like these from Jesus fade from memory with disuse. I think I’ve developed a kind of color blindness to the New Testament: the colors of miracles, signs and wonders tend to be less vibrant, more background, less imperative. This weak reading of Scripture has developed in response to experience; experience is not supposed to determine our interpretation of Scripture!
The experiences that have led me away from supernatural expectation come both internally and externally. Internally, I’ve grown disappointed. I pray for someone to be healed and nothing happens. I pray for another, and the same result. It’s easy to start rewriting your theology after a few dozen…or hundred of these experiences. Externally, I’ve seen some weird stuff. I’ve seen some mass hysteria passed off as ‘the move of the Holy Spirit.’ I’ve seen ‘prophets’ so self-important that they have body guards, and TV people giving away miracles through the screen while living posh, disgusting lifestyles at the expense of the poor ‘sowing seed’ into their ‘ministries’. It’s easy to get disillusioned.
Disillusionment and disappointment make a powerful tag-team to pin us to the mat of unbelief, but what about Jesus’ words? He commanded his disciples to do miraculous, supernatural things! The great commission commands all who follow Jesus to obey and teach everything that Jesus commanded. Do we get to pick and choose which commands we like and don’t like?
If this little passage from Matthew was somehow out of character for Jesus, we might find room to question its demands on us today. But, Jesus pointed to the signs and wonders he performed as living proof to his identity.[iv] Paul considered supernatural gifts from the Holy Spirit, including healings and ‘miracles’, something followers of Jesus should eagerly pursue.[v] James declared that when the elders of the church (the leaders) prayed over the sick, the sick would be made well.[vi] Jesus told his disciples that they would even do greater works then he did on the earth[vii], which is hard to imagine being that he healed innumerable diseases, and even brought the dead back to life!
My point in all of this is that I need to reexamine the Scriptures, and my faith, and I think there are many like me that ought to do the same. I don’t want to be a crazy person, but I do want to obey Jesus Christ. If obeying him means I end up looking crazy at times, I must be willing to pay that price. And, if obeying him means I put faith higher than disillusionment and disappointment, so be it. If the Bible is true, I ought to expect a lot more evidence of the Holy Spirit’s empowering presence in my life than I see today. I refuse to become infatuated with signs and wonders; Jesus labeled those types wicked and adulterous.[viii] I also ought to refuse a compromise with comfort that leaves me disobedient to a direct command of Jesus. Miracles confirm the identity of Jesus, and display his glory[ix]; I want to declare the identity of Jesus, and display his glory.
Who’s with me?
[iii] In fact, as he continues his charge to the disciples to proclaim and perform miracles he tells them that they will be hated, arrested, flogged, and implies that they may be killed: Matthew 10:17-42.
[iv] See Matthew 11:2-6; Luke 4:18-19; Luke 9:1-6 (parallel of Mt 10); John 10:31-39
[vi] James 5:13-18 – This passage contains a reference to the prophet Elijah as an encouragement to the supernatural power of faithful prayer.
