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| Jesus many miracles included raising people back from death |
The claims he made in regard to himself were a direct threat to the Jewish authorities.
The ruling class that had power over the people during his day was a group of highly educated religious leaders.
Jesus was a common man, the son of a carpenter who had no formal religious training. Few seemed to know about his miraculous birth, or that his birthplace was Bethlehem, the city of David, and the place where the Messiah was to come from, according to Old Testament prophecies.
So when Jesus began his public ministry, he seemingly just appeared out of obscurity. He came from a town called Nazareth, which was not considered a significant town. So when Jesus claimed that he was the Son of God and the fulfillment of prophecies regarding the Messiah, the Jewish King, who was to come from the family of David and lead the Jewish people, the authorities of those days were extremely concerned.
So how did this common man with no formal education and seemingly no royal heritage become so popular among the people, that he very quickly became a threat to the ruling authorities?
It was primarily through his miracles, most of them miracles of healing that made people aware of him.
His miracles validated his teaching and claims as to who he was. Jesus taught with great authority, and he backed up what he taught by casting out demons and healing people, and in some cases even raising dead people back to life.
This was a huge threat to the ruling class for a variety of reasons. The most obvious threat, of course, was that people were claiming that he was the Messiah, the rightful heir to the throne of David. So the ruling party looked for ways to discredit Jesus both in his actions and in his words. Some of the ruling party were Sadducees, and did not believe in the resurrection of the body.
So when Jesus raised people back to life (particularly Lazarus who was quite well-known in the capital city of Jerusalem), it was a direct attack on their teaching and authority.
Contrary to what some Pastors are saying today, it is worth noting that there are multiple accounts throughout the Gospels of Jesus healing of all that were brought to him, which means coming to Jesus or being brought to him was the first step towards getting healed of any and all kinds of sicknesses, and even being brought back to life..
Jesus never separated or distinguished between, what some of us today would call "good people" ; devoutly religious, praying daily, paying their taxes, never opposing the government rules,with happy marriages, and those people, one would call thugs, swindlers, prostitutes, fornicators, gays, lesbians, divorcees, who came to him in faith, seeking for help, and knowing he was the only one who could.
When we sit down to play a game that we’ve never played before, we often ask, “ what are the rules?” People often think of Christianity in the same way. They want to know, “What are the rules?”
Basically there are no more rules, since Christ died for us all on the cross.We are forgiven, even before we sin.
Most of the metaphors in the New Testament that describe our walk with Christ, have to do with relationship, rather than rule-keeping. Christ is the bride-groom and the church is the bride, He is the Shepherd and we are His sheep (John 10). Christ is the Master and we are His servants (Luke 17:7-10). Even the metaphor of the body (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12) is about the church’s relationship with each other and with Christ, the head of the Church.
There is no representative of God on earth, regardless of what some religious sects proclaim. We as Christians are all his representatives.
Here are some of the problems a rule-keeping spirit creates: in the same way that game players say, “I checked, it’s not against the rules,” many people do the same thing with the Bible. They believe, whatever they are doing is OK, as long as the Bible doesn’t specifically say something for or against it.
That is not the way to go, specially for those who believe that Jesus died for them on the cross, so that they could experience eternal life.
If you truly believe in Jesus, pray about the problem you are facing. You will get a guaranteed answer in your heart. For some, the answer might even come before you start praying about it.
The answer to the question, "Do miracles still happen today is therefore a resounding "Yes they do".
Miracles happen everyday, all day long. God still has a covenant with his children. All it takes is faith and prayer for that which you truly are in need of, either for yourself or for others, and it will happen.
EU-Digest
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