Anatomy Of A Miracle

As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road. When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening. They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was going by. So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Be quiet!” the people in front yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus heard him, he stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too. [Luke 18.35-42]

Here is a very clear anatomy of a miracle.

The blind man had a need.

The blind man heard of Jesus.

The blind man cried out to Jesus.

The blind man told Jesus what he wanted.

The blind man was healed.

Simple, right? It is simple indeed. 

There is one step that we are not told exactly at what point it is applied however. Jesus acknowledged the blind man's faith although we do not know at what point that faith was activated.

When did the blind man begin to believe? To be sure it was sometime after he heard of Jesus and before he cried out to Jesus. Right?

Had the blind man not believed in Jesus after hearing about Him, it is not likely he would have ever cried out to Jesus - that just makes sense. Or, would he have?

Today, we have many people crying out to Jesus that are not healed. The logical reason is that they do not have faith. Oh sure, proud religious folks have fabricated lies (they call them doctrines) to explain why miracles don't take place even though "faith" (supposedly) was present. However, we have nothing in the life and teachings of Jesus to validate these "doctrines."

So, if we have people who do not realize miracles, then some ingredient is missing - some key component in the anatomy of a miracle is absent. That key component is (and can only be) faith.

Yes, faith is not the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over expecting different results! Every instance Jesus discussed faith, it always produced results. And yet, many of us (yes me too) keep talking about having faith but with no results (works) to show for it. It seems James wrote that "faith without works is dead." In other words, it is not faith. It may be religion, but religion is just as dead as faith without works (because they are exactly the same thing).

So what do we do when we take inventory of our miracle-less lives? Fabricate a doctrine that justifies us? No, our doctrines do not justify us. Only faith justifies us. If we see no miracles, we obviously have no faith.

I am truly sorry if this offends. Be sure of this however, it offends me too. But I am not going to fabricate a lie to justify myself - instead I choose to repent.

Father, forgive me for not believing - help my unbelief.