“The very idea of supernatural magic – including miracles – is incoherent, devoid of sensible meaning,” so says famed doubter and atheist, Richard Dawkins.
Miracles- Are They True?
Dawkins personifies all those who have grown up with the scientific method so ingrained, that they can no longer see that anything exists beyond what they can measure and comprehend. Thus any religious belief is consigned to the trash bin as unprovable and therefore invalid.
With kids using iPhones and computers from a very early age, they are exposed not only to the latest in scientific facts, but also to the opinions and nay-sayers of all those who have no room in their lives for the God they think they know about and thus reject.
Personally, I think all the mentions of Jesus’ miracles in the New Testament throw modern folks into a tizzy. Because they deem them impossible or unbelievable and something which they could never accept, they dismiss everything else.
They “throw the baby out with the bath water”- toss out the golden nugget of truth without ever discovering it.
Why the Use of Stories and Parables?
A large part of the problem is that people don’t understand the way those 1st century writers thought and wrote. Like for Jesus himself, and teachers, parents, preachers and inspirational speakers of today, stories are ways of teaching deeper truths.
People remember stories, especially if they relate to their own life experience. Difficult concepts can be made clearer and more relevant.
Thus “truth” lies in the underlying message, whether or not the story is true- or is merely made up as an illustration.
Consider This…
Think of your childhood. Remember stories about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy? As kids we took those stories literally without realizing they were symbols of celebration and love.
Did you ever do something wrong and then were confronted by an adult saying, “a little birdie told me?”
As a child I was so weirded out by this explanation, that I started pulling the blinds down at my window so no “little birdie” could fly by and spy on me. It never dawned on me that my Mom might have other ways of knowing what was going on.
So…did the miracles attributed to Jesus actually happen, or were they used as a teaching moment, and never intended to be taken literally? And does it really matter?
Generally speaking…
“When you look at all the miracles attributed to Jesus, they’re all about change.” Michael Sheen
For Example- “The Wedding at Cana”
Let me illustrate this point by using what is called Jesus’ first miracle- the wedding at Cana where the water was changed into wine.
John 2:1-11 English Standard Version
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.[a] 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
To Ponder
On the surface this is the extraordinary story of six jars filled with water used by the Jews for purification, with that water being miraculously changed into fine wine.
Factual or not, what was the message or truth being put forth? And why did the writer of this Gospel have this as Jesus’ first miracle?
First off- this is extremely early in Jesus ministry, as he sets forth on his journey. It’s also only recorded in the Gospel of John, and not in the other three Gospels. John’s Gospel has several layers to it, one being a mystical element spotlighting who the writer believed Jesus was. (See verse 11)
All of John’s Gospel focuses, pinpoints, and highlights Jesus as the expected messiah.
But what people expected of Jesus as messiah was that he should be a king like David and push the Romans out of their country, and they were not prepared for a wandering rabbi. Jesus, however, had a very different understanding of his mission.
And what was his mission?
His Message? His purpose?
The ancient Old Testament teaching, or “torah”, was that Israel was bound to God in a relationship which was expressed by a strict obedience to a code of law. “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord…” ( See Psalm 119)
Jesus believed that the Jewish people had become so wrapped up in their rules and rites, their practices and “the law”, that they had lost their sincere love of, and personal relationship with God. He sought to introduce the people to a God that Jesus called Abba- Daddy – a God that was not distant, uninvolved, “ way out there somewhere”. He preached a God who cared about their personal issues, their day to day problems, their illnesses and concerns.
AND…what eventually got him in trouble with the authorities- that no matter who you were, or what station in life you were- slave, pauper, merchant, military, Jewish leaders and priests- all could personally approach this God and be loved; which didn’t sit well with the temple priests and leaders, but which endeared him to the common folk.
Back to Cana
Water was used for washing and purifying in certain of the Jewish ceremonies. It wasn’t drunk, but used symbolically. So let this water represent the external cleansing of sins done in ritualistic ways- which were part of Jewish religious practices.
In the story Jesus mother asks him to act, to do something about the lack of wine. But in verse 4 he replies it’s not yet his time. His ministry has just begun, his message had not yet been heard and absorbed.
Nevertheless, he responds by turning the water into wine-“You have kept the good wine until now”, says the master of the feast.
“The “Golden Nugget”
So…what is the deeper “truth” in this miracle story?
The God that Jesus preached was not just about rites and laws, so much as it was about God being intimate and approachable. To understand and live in this relationship was to drink it in as this would nourish one like fine wine. Not external practice, but internal- literally ingesting the message.
Whoever was the writer of the Gospel According to John, had a brilliant way of getting his point across. Written about 100 AD, and the last of the Gospels written, notice how he starts and ends Jesus ministry with the elements of Communion or Eucharist. Wine to drink at Cana, and in John 21, giving the disciples bread and urging Peter and the others to “feed my sheep”. Those two events are the “bookends” that frame Jesus’ ministry, which is why the writer had the Cana wedding as Jesus’ first miracle.
“Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.” C.S. Lewis
Call to Action
The Wedding at Cana is just one example of how a Bible story takes on a particular poignancy when you dig below the surface to find the essential “truth” or meaning. Taken at face value the story may be implausible. Take the time to unearth the spiritual message and you’ll discover all new meanings to the stories and parables.
I challenge you to take the time with at least one other story to dig deep and find the “true” message. If you have any questions, or wonderings, you can always write in the comment section below, and I will answer. Also- I would welcome suggestions for future blog posts.
Here are some suggestions for digging deep:
Matthew 5:23-24- Reconciliation Matthew 13:3-9- Sowing Seeds
Mark 4:30-32- The Mustard Seed Mark 10:17-22- Give to the Poor
Luke 5:4-11- Fishers of Men Luke 6:39-42- The Speck and Log
John 4:31-38- Harvest Time John 11:38-44- Raising of Lazarus
“The miracles seem to me to rest not so much upon faces or voices or healing power coming suddenly near to us from afar off, but upon our perceptions being made finer, so that for a moment our eyes can see and our ears hear what is there about us always.” Willa Cather
