I love reading through the gospels and other parts of the New Testament when Jesus or one of his followers performs a Miracle. Whether it is feeding thousands of people or walking on water, there are 36 recorded miracles in the first 4 books of the NT alone, 9 of these recorded found in the 8th and 9th chapter of Matthew. Lets take a minute and explore some of these.
First one is about the leper who came to Jesus with full belief that Jesus could heal him if e chose to do so. Here is some context. Jesus has just finished preaching the Sermon on the Mount, probably the most well-known sermon in scripture. Surrounded by multitudes of people, this leper walks right up to Jesus and says, "Lord, If you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus stretches out his hand and responds, "I am willing, be clean." Immediately, the leper is cleansed and is then instructed to go to the priest to perform the ceremonial cleansing as laid out by the law. Now let me point out that back in those days, lepers were considered to bring fear into people's eyes, because leprosy was highly contagious and if anyone touched a leper, he was then considered unclean. But here, we see that Jesus does not looks at the outward appearance of the man, nor at the disease within his body. Instead, he sees a man who fully believes that Jesus is who he days he is and has the ability to make him well. This is a beautiful picture of the way we should approach God. Despite the sin or the shame the world sees on the outside, our hearts should be so tuned in to God's that nothing will stop us from receiving his touch. Another example of this is found later in the chapter when a woman pushes through the crowd to also receive her healing. Jesus is following a centurion to his house to heal his daughter, who was dying. People hear about and crowd around Jesus on all sides. A lady in the crowd, who has a medical condition that causes her to bleed uncontrollably, says in hr heart that if she can get herself close enough to Jesus and touch the corner of his cloak, she to will be healed. Upon touching his garment, she is instantly healed and Jesus pauses to see who it was that touched him, for he felt the power flow from him. When the woman reveals herself. Jesus says to her, "Your faith has made you well." Wow! 2 different people with different histories decide in their heart that nothing will prohibit them from getting to Jesus. No matter the circumstance, or the obstacles, both of these people received what they set out for because they knew Jesus had the power to heal.
Do you believe that God still does this today? The hurting and the broken can still come to his side and be healed of their past hurts. All we have to do is not let anything stop us from getting there.
In these chapters, we see another cool miracle. Out at sea, in a boat with his disciples just chilling on the water, Jesus decides to go below deck and take a snooze. A short time later, a storm arises so great that even the disciples, which most of were sea faring men, were terrified to the point of shaking in their sandals. They cry out, "Lord, save us. Don't you care that we are perishing?" Wiping the sleep from his eyes, Jesus looks at them and says, "Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?" Then he speaks to the violent winds and the capsizing waters and simply says, "Be still", and they become steadily calm. The disciples then marvel at "this man who even has power over the sea." What is the punchline for this? Glad you asked. No matter the things that have risen around you, God is in control of it all. At the sound of his voice, he can calm any storm that you find yourself in. Granted, some storms in life are meant to make us stronger, both in body and in spirit. Some of the hardest storms we face more likely than not will push us into the next big thing God has for us. I can imagine the disciples perspective of Jesus changed exponentially after this event, because they saw first hand that God can and will protect through life's upsets.
The Jesus who did miracles back then is still the God who does them today. He still comes right down to where we are, looks at our storms and simply states, "Be still" Sometimes, that calms the waters, most of the time, it calms our soul. It reminds us that throughout every trial, Jesus is below deck just waiting for us to put our trust in him to call out to him in our time of need. Don't let the waves stop you from the one who calms them.
Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Mission
