“A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick.” John 6:2. So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?” John 6:30. In John 11 He raised a man back to life who had been dead for four days. Did they believe? No. Miracles really don’t work. They are in some fashion a show that can easily be fraudulently duplicated by charlatans, magicians and false prophets. Miracles never have been the proof of someone in whom we should believe.
The power of Jesus was His message. It was truth about His Father and their nature. The authorities did not crucify Jesus because He performed miracles. They crucified Him because of what He was saying. The authorities were not stupid men. They quickly saw the implications of Jesus telling us to call God, Our Father, and to go into our closets to pray. With a single sentence Jesus eliminated the middle man. Each person became their own priest. An entire economy built around the priesthood, sacrifices and pilgrimages was jeopardized. God was not a divinity to be bought off with gifts. He was a personal friend who cared for the poor just as much as the rich.
No one in history had ever spoken the truths for personal living that Jesus outlined in the Sermon on the Mount. He revolutionized religion. No longer were we unclean because of what went into our mouths but because of what came out. It is the vomit of the heart that fouls us. Look not for miracles. Look for truth and you will find it in Jesus’ words. He is the Word.
Written by Roger Bothwell on September 4, 2012
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org