Miracles

“People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. [Acts 2.22]

What Peter said here is interesting.

Why would God publicly endorse Jesus? The answer is simple: because God sent Him - Jesus was doing God's will.

Now, look at something Jesus said:

Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” [John 20.21]

For anyone to think God would not then endorse us in the same way as Jesus is just ridiculous.

This is even further amplified by the rest of what Jesus said in context of John 20.21:

Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” [John 20.21-23]

What are miracles about anyway? Miracles are, in fact, the direct result of forgiveness of sins (both general and specific). One can choose to turn to limitless commentaries and volumes of explanations based on who knows what, or one can look directly at the Scriptures in Deuteronomy 28 and see that the results (curses) of sin (disobedience) are all spelled out there in both general and specific descriptions. Miracles are the erasure of these well-defined curses through forgiveness and the subsequent implementation of blessings in their place (again, defined both generally and specifically).

As we see in John 20, Jesus commissioned His followers to mirror His ministry on earth. Then, He empowered them with the Holy Spirit with clear instruction what that empowerment does: it forgives. And, if this is not convincing enough, we have Jesus on record identifying healing as the act of forgiveness:

Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts? Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” [Matthew 9.4-6]

Jesus also gave us a clue here to understand something else He said in another passage that might, to the novice follower of Jesus, seem contradictory:

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” [John 9.1-5]

The key to understanding this is to remember what Jesus said in Matthew 9: So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins. The authority to forgive sins is what Jesus was given and sent to do and subsequently what we are given and sent to do. Because of what Jesus was trying to get His disciples to see about "not judging," it was imperative they stay focused on forgiveness rather than judging! Time is limited that Jesus is on the earth! That time is carried on through the lives of all who are "in Christ" and "in whom Christ is." Judgement is coming, but it is not us who bring it!

So, why don't we see more miracles today? Perhaps miracles are not the problem, but forgiveness.

Jesus said this unapologetically:

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. [Matthew 6.14-15]

What is God's endorsement of forgiveness? Miracles.

This is what the Bible says.

Father, I want to live and walk in forgiveness. As Christ is in me, time for the earth is limited to receive that forgiveness.