THE KINGDOM OF GOD: SIGNIFICANCE OF JESUS’ MIRACLES.
Once a foreign substance, say paint drops on a white piece of cloth, this piece of cloth may never get its original color again because it has been stained by the foreign substance. So is the kingdom of God without its history, since the fall of man, God has been in the business of restoring of making his kingdom white again.
The major subject of discussion in this paper are some of the striking aspects of Jesus’ ministry, the miracles. Today, the miracles of Jesus still raise a lot of dust among scholars however, the major focus of this paper are the significance of Jesus’ miracles and how they relate to the kingdom of God. But to better expound on this paper I will bring up the general significance of miracles and later ponder on four miracles performed by Jesus: these include demon possessed men Matthew 8:28-34, raising of Jairus’ daughter (Matt. 9:18–26), healing of the blind men (Matt. 9:27–31) and the Coin in the Fish’s Mouth (Matthew 17:24–27).
The term “healing miracle,” and “miracle” in general, are themselves tricky terms for scholars. The word “miracle,” or at least its Greek equivalent, is never used in the Synoptic. The terms “works” or “deeds” are employed. John Cadenhead (2008) quotes from Eve Eric (2002) who provides a helpful definition for miracles: “a strikingly surprising event, beyond what is regarded as humanly possible, in which God is believed to act, either directly or through an intermediary.” Working off this definition, for this essay “healing miracles” will be understood as a miracle where some sort of physical healing is provided to a person. Jesus also performed exorcisms, removing “demons” from people, which can be seen as a type of mental healing, and Jesus’ physical healings are often accompanied by spiritual healings as well. This essay, however, will focus only on healings that cause a physical restoration to the ailing or infirm.
My inspiration to write about this subject is drawn from the fact that miracles are an extraordinary record, and it raises many questions. For many modern people, at the top of the list of questions is whether the miracles really took place. And then, if they did take place, what is their meaning? How did they happen? Why did they happen? Why did the Gospels record them? And what are we supposed to make of them? How are they relevant to us? In this particular paper, I propose to explore the meaning, nature and discuss the significance of the miracles that Jesus performed in relation to the kingdom of God drawing examples majorly from Matthew’s gospel.
This paper has majorly two objectives first, to show a clear purpose of miracles towards an authenticate character of Jesus and his relationship with his heavenly Father and the restoration of the kingdom of God. In this regard, miracles demonstrate the following: God is with Jesus, Jesus is from God, God has sent Jesus, Jesus has authority on earth to forgive sins, Jesus is approved by God, the Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father, in Jesus the kingdom of God has come and Jesus is the Messiah; and the Son of God. Secondly, the purpose of miracles was to authenticate the message about Jesus which is restoring the lost Kingdom of God characterized by shalom. This was the major function of the miracles as far as the ministry of the apostles was concerned. Mark says that the Lord "confirmed his word [that the apostles preached] by the signs that accompanied it? (Mark 16:20). When Luke was describing the ministry of Paul and Barnabas at Iconium, he said that the Lord "confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders? (Acts 14:3). Notice that in both of these texts the Lord does not confirm the apostles themselves but rather "his word? or 'the message? That the apostles were preaching. Signs and wonders do not testify to the apostles but to the message of salvation preached by the apostles. So the two principal things that are authenticated by miracles are the Lord Jesus and the message about the Lord Jesus.
A glimpse of this restoration starts with the call of Abraham, then the formation of Israel, the Davidic kings, the role of the prophets and finally how the coming of Jesus is related to the kingdom of God. Jesus comes as a fulfillment of the prophecies to restore the Davidic kingdom just like other kings that came as a result of the fall. This has been God’s plan to restore his dwelling place with creation. The ideal Eden filled with shalom. Characterized with joy, peace, life, order, unity, love, and light. Therefore the coming of Jesus was to restore this lost glory and this was through his identity, disciples, the words and teaching, suffering and death, resurrection and ascension an finally his deeds which is the main focus of this paper but all in all Jesus ministry directly relate to the restoration of the kingdom of God.
In the Bible, the four Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John record miracles that Jesus performed when He was on the earth. He healed leprosy, blindness, and many other diseases. He multiplied five loaves and two fish. He cast out demons. He walked on water. He raised the dead. These miracles help us understand who God is and who Jesus is. The gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ. Through understanding who Jesus is and what he did, we are invited to place our faith in him. John is the most explicit about this purpose of miracles: Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30–31).
As we all know, one of the most striking aspects of Jesus’ ministry on earth was the miracles he performed. The Gospels do not treat the miracles of Jesus as if they were weird or irrational events. They are certainly extraordinary, and they make good sense as indicators of the character of Jesus’s ministry as a whole. The people who saw Jesus’s miracles interpreted what happened. For example, when Jesus raised from the dead a widow’s son in Nain, the people reacted in this way: Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” (Luke 7:16). There is some evidence that Nain may have been near to Old Testament Shunem, where Elisha restored to life the Shunammite’s son (2 Kings 4:18–37). Elijah also raised a widow’s dead boy to life, in Zarephath (1 Kings 17:17–24) . The people saw that Jesus’s miracle was analogous to those of the two Old Testament prophets. The miracles showed the power of God at work, and they attested to the authenticity of the prophet. So the people saw Jesus’s miracle as a work of God: “God has visited his people!” And they saw Jesus as a prophet of God: “A great prophet has arisen among us!” The people did not yet realize that Jesus was God come in the flesh. But they did realize that God was at work through him. This miracle shows that the kingdom of God has life a major characteristic of shalom.
Miracles signify truths concerning God, concerning Christ, and concerning the salvation he has brought. John and the other Gospels as well urges us to listen. By taking to heart the significance of signs, we hear what God himself is saying to us; and by hearing we may be transformed, both now and in the future. For example all the gospels record the miracle of feeding the 5,000. However, John alone includes later in the same chapter Jesus’s discourse about the bread of life (John 6:25–59). This discourse took place on the day after the miracle (v. 22). Jesus declares, “I am the bread of life” (v. 35). Thus the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 has a symbolic significance beyond the fact that it displays divine power. Its significance goes beyond confirming and testifying to the fact that Jesus is an authentic messenger of God, like one of the Old Testament prophets. The miracle shows in symbolic form what Jesus is doing spiritually through his life, death, and resurrection he is bringing eternal life, and giving lasting spiritual nourishment to everyone who comes to him in faith. And this truth about Jesus and God.
The miracles as works of divine power confirm Jesus’ deity. John 1:1 indicates that Jesus is God. From all eternity he exists as the Word, the second person of the Trinity. In the minds of many Christian readers, Jesus’s deity is what stands out in the miracles. But the people who originally saw Jesus’ miracles did not understand their full significance right away. We already observed that in Luke 7:16 the people identified Jesus as “a great prophet.” He was indeed a prophet; but he was more. He was God come in the flesh (John 1:14). Consider the miracles in the Old Testament that took place through prophets like Elijah and Elisha. These miracles were works of divine power. God brought them about. Elijah and Elisha did not accomplish them by their own innate power. Should we say exactly the same thing about Jesus? No, because Jesus made claims that went beyond those of Old Testament prophets. He is the unique Son of the Father, and his name is honored alongside the name of the Father and the Spirit as a divine name (Matt. 28:19). In fact Jesus’ claims, caused him great opposition from the Pharisees who plotted to kill him. When we understand the miracles of Jesus in the context of who he is, we see that they are works that Jesus did by his own divine power, not merely works of God done through a human prophet.
Another significance arises because of Jesus’ full humanity. Beginning with the time of his incarnation, Jesus is fully man as well as fully God (Heb. 2:14-18). He is one person with two natures, the divine nature and a human nature. This is a deep mystery. As a man, Jesus performed works similar to those of Old Testament prophets. This is true in addition to the truth that we just observed about Jesus doing works by his own divine power.
Besides the above, the miracles signify Jesus’ unique role as the Messiah, the great deliverer in the line of David who is prophesied in the Old Testament. For example, Isaiah 9:6-7 and 11:1-9 foretell the coming of the Messiah in the line of David. Isaiah 61:1-2 describes the servant of the Lord as one filled with the Holy Spirit in order to release captives. Jesus quoted from the passage in Isaiah 61 while in the synagogue at Nazareth, and indicated that it was fulfilled in him (Luke 4:18-21). When John the Baptist sent messengers to Jesus, Jesus pointed to his miraculous works as signs of fulfillment (Luke 7:22), against the background of Isaiah 35:5–6: Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped, then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. Thus, Jesus’s miracles fulfill Old Testament prophecy. This is again related to God’s work towards restoring his kingdom.
Better still, the miracles signify a vivid picture of Christ’s glory and of his mission of salvation. The miracles tell stories that show analogues to the grand story of redemption. God redeems people from sin so that they may enter into the glory of God’s presence. The stories of redemption point especially to the climax of redemption in Christ’s crucifixion, death, resurrection, ascension, reign, and Jesus’ impending return. These stories have pertinence to us because God’s call to salvation still goes out to sinners today : The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31).
Having looked at the general significance of the miracles of Jesus in relation to the kingdom of God, I will now resort to the side of the coin and discuss the miracles of Jesus in relation to the kingdom of God but to further stimulated this discussion I will pay much more focus on only four of the miracles in Matthew. These include demon possessed men Matthew (8:28-34), raising of Jairus’ daughter (Matt. 9:18-26), healing of the blind men (Matt. 9:27-31) and the Coin in the Fish’s Mouth (Matthew 17:24-27).
In the story of the Gadarene demoniacs we see the kingdom of God extending to encompass within its power people whose humanity has been wrecked by the presence of demons in (Matt. 8:28-34). The story shows the desperate state of the demoniacs. They were “fierce,” like beasts. They came “out of the tombs,” reminding us of death and the near-destruction of the humanity of the two men. Jesus delivered them from their affliction, and in addition accomplished judgment on the demons. The pigs perished in the sea, symbolizing how the destiny of demons is for them to be judged by God and consigned to hell. The key role of the demons in the story about the Gadarene demoniacs leads to reflections on the way in which the coming of the kingdom of God saves people from demonic oppression and accusation as well as from sin. The kingdom of God opposes the kingdom of evil, which has Satan as its head. Satan tries to control people through more than one method. Demonic oppression, such as we see with the Gadarene demoniacs, is only one form. The coming of the kingdom of God is the defeat and undoing of the kingdom of Satan: The demons did not go to hell at this point in time. But the fact that they went down to the sea, into an abyss, symbolized in a striking way that they were defeated by Jesus. This initial defeat anticipates the final defeat that they will experience on the Day of Judgment (Rev. 20:10).
The kingdom of God reaches out even to the realm of death and to those who seem to be hopeless. We see this reach of the kingdom in the story of the raising of Jairus’ daughter: (Matt. 9:18–26). This narrative contains two miracles in one. The main story tells about Jesus raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead. In the middle we hear about a woman with a flow of blood. Both miracles involved touch. The woman touched Jesus’s garment (v. 20). Jesus touched the dead girl by taking her by the hand (v. 25). In both cases, the Mosaic Law indicated that the touch communicated uncleanness. A woman with a flow of blood was unclean (Lev. 15:25–27), and a dead body was unclean (Lev. 22:4–6). But instead of Jesus becoming unclean, “cleanness” passed by divine power from him to the unclean person. Jesus’ spiritual healing on the cross reaches the depths of human need. He triumphed over death itself, and this triumph was foreshadowed by his ability to raise Jairus’ daughter from the dead. Just as he gave new life to the woman and to Jairus’ daughter, he gives new spiritual life to us. Remember the kingdom of God is about shalom and a key characteristics of this is life which Jesus gives to Jairus’ daughter.
The kingdom of God reaches one of the most debilitating diseases, blindness (Matt. 9:27–31). The Significance of Faith in the preceding miracles involving Jairus’ daughter and the woman with a flow of blood both emphasized faith (Matt. 9:18, 21–22). If anything, faith is even more prominent in this miracle with the two blind men. Jesus specifically inquired, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” And they answered affirmatively, “Yes, Lord.” Matthew picks up this theme, and announces that light has come in the person of Jesus: The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned. (Matt. 4:16; quoted from Isa. 9:2). But have the people seen the light that has dawned on them? The two blind men had begun to see the light, spiritually speaking. They had faith that Jesus could heal them. In addition, they called him “Son of David” (Matt. 9:27), which hints at their expectation that he was the promised Messiah. Jesus consented to their request and healed their physical blindness. But through the mention of faith, this physical healing is tied to the issue of spiritual healing from spiritual blindness, a healing that moves people from unbelief to faith in Jesus. The relation between physical sight and the spiritual sight of faith is worked out more explicitly in John 9. But we can see it in this passage as well. Faith was dawning in the two blind men and in some others who responded to Jesus’s earthly miracles and his teaching.
The kingdom of God has control even over nature and is the owner of all that is on earth and underneath the earth, the Coin in the Fish’s Mouth (Matthew 17:24–27). Skeptics have expressed their doubts especially in this case concerning the miracle with the coin. This miracle seems to them to be more arbitrary and less related to the broader purposes of the kingdom of God. Instances of healing express Jesus’s compassion for the sick and the demoniacs. This miracle seems to be much less helpful, or perhaps even selfish it just conveniently supplied Jesus and Peter with money, which could less conveniently have been supplied from the common purse (John 12:6). But a closer look at the episode reveals hints of its significance. This particular episode does not focus on the miracle of the coin but on the discussion that led up to the miracle. “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” (Matt. 17:24). Jesus indicated that Peter and other “sons” of the king are “free.” Their status as sons made them free. Jesus was using an analogy between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world. In the kingdom of God, God is the king and the disciples are his sons. They have the privilege of intimacy with God, and this intimacy supersedes the physical temple and its need for physical maintenance. Jesus himself is the way to God (John 14:6) and the true temple (John 2:21). His name, Immanuel, means “God with us” (Matt. 1:23). The disciples have intimacy with God through him. God “has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13–14).
So, concluded Jesus, his disciples, as sons of the kingdom, are “free.” But if, to avoid offense, the sons wish to pay anyway, God the king has plenty of resources that he gives to his sons. The miracle has a double symbolic significance. First, it confirms Jesus’s claim that he has a unique status as Son of God. It implies also that his followers through their relationship to him inherit an analogous status. They too are sons, because of their relationship to him. Second, the miracle shows that God can supply directly whatever resources are appropriate. All resources in the world belong to God, theologically speaking. But a miraculous provision from God underscores the privilege of son-ship. It displays more vividly the bounty of God’s resources and his willingness to supply them to his sons. The lesson is similar to what Jesus gives when telling his disciples to seek first the kingdom of God: The miracle is thus a miracle speaking of divine resources given to the sons of the king of the universe. It anticipates the climactic supply of blessing through the death and resurrection of Christ. The ultimate “resources” are the riches of salvation in Christ.
Conclusion.
We understand that until the kingdom of God is fully established through the miracles of Jesus. They are indeed signs of redemption. They show the power of God, the power of kingdom, and the lordship of Jesus who is the king of the kingdom and the divine Son of God. But in addition they foreshadow that great central work of Jesus in his crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension. By pointing to Jesus, they also proclaim the gospel in its various aspects. The miracles then serve as the gospel again in its freshness. Christ’s redemption has accomplished everything we need. And so it finds application not only in each individual at the time of conversion, but in daily living as well.
The grand challenges of researching about Jesus miracles, no matter what group they are hailed from, in this century are huge and the church has the potential to tackle and to bring an elaborate understanding of the Jesus miracles. Importantly, the young biblical scholars, who are in universities, colleges and seminaries, are the ones that can work towards bringing sumptuous understanding of the miracles, but it is the responsibility of those teaching these students to make sure they are equipped with right thoughts of miracles to make sure they are able to work with multicultural multidisciplinary teams to convey a common understanding of these miracles.
The stories of miracles are relevant to people in all circumstances, whether they are elated or struggling or distressed. They are also pertinent to any friend who wants to encourage someone in distress, and to professional counselors who have many people coming to them in distress. No human being has the power to change the heart. Only God does. He has demonstrated that power in the miracles of Jesus. And he continues to demonstrate that power as he applies the healing of Jesus’s death and resurrection to all kinds of situations of human sin and human need. And one of the applications to us is that we are enabled to praise him and glorify his name.
On the other hand, the chief limitation of this research paper is the fact that there is lot of control over the research subject, in such a way that, the paper is limited to one gospel and yet gospels like John present Jesus’ miracles and other gospels present these miracles in different ways that would be interesting to study. Another limitation that may upset further research of this study are the miracle skeptics. They mainly focus on whether the miracles happened at all. For some scholars, even go ahead to resist the existence of Jesus Christ. This poses a challenge to the church and Biblical scholars.
References
Published material
France, R.T. 2007. The New International Commentary on the New Testament, Michigan: Eerdmans
Keener, G.S. 2009. The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, Michigan: Eerdmans
Nyende,P., 6th, 2017. Class Discussions, Law Library, Uganda Christian University.
Nyende, P, 13th June, 2017. Class discussion, Law Library, Uganda Christian University.
Nyende, P, 26th July, 2017, class discussion, Old Library, Uganda Christian University.
Nyende,P. 2017. Lecture Notes, Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology, Uganda Christian University
Stock, A. 1994. The Method and Message of Matthew, Minnesota: Liturgical Press
Online sources
Cadenhead, J, 2008, the significance of Jesus’ healing miracles: a study of their role in the synoptic gospels and their importance to early Christianity, thesis, Georgia State University.
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/rs_theses/18
Poythress, S V. 2016, The Miracles of Jesus: How the Savior’s Mighty Acts Serve as Signs of Redemption, USA, Crossway
https://frame-poythress.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/PoythressVernTheMiraclesOfJesus.pdf accessed on 10th July, 2017 at 4:35am.