For the first 20 or 25 years of my Christian faith, I was taught by good people who loved Jesus that God did not deal in signs, wonders, and miracles in our time. For them the Biblical witness that such things had happened in the past was sufficient. The view was that Jesus and the apostles performed miracles in the 1st Century in order to validate their claims. Miracles validated Jesus as the Son of God and miracles validated the apostles as those who represented him after his death and as those who spoke and wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Once those “validations” had been written down they provided the credentials needed for Jesus and the twelve for future generations and so miracles ceased after the New Testament was written and the miracles were recorded.
Not only were we clearly taught that God no longer operated in the miraculous but also that those who claimed to operate in signs and wonders were either deceived by their own emotionalism or were purposeful deceivers themselves who were simply taking money from the weak and ignorant who still believed in such things.
If any of our fellowship ever attended a healing service it was always with an eye to prove fraud in what was claimed. If a few claimed to be healed then they were viewed as plants by the evangelist or people whose illnesses were actually psychosomatic and, thus, when they “believed” they were relieved of a psychological condition rather than a real illness. Any in wheel chairs or on crutches who did not walk away were solid proof that the healing gifts claimed by the evangelist were fraudulent. Out view was that if the gift truly existed, all would be healed. Since all were not healed, then the gifts no longer operate. Since we never saw healings in our churches, it was easy to believe that God no longer operated through spiritual gifts. It never occurred to us that we might not be seeing healing or any other kind of miracles simply because we had no faith for it and never asked. As James, the brother of Jesus, put it, “You have not because you ask not.”
Even now, many Christians associate the claim of “signs and wonders” with backwoods, superstitious folks like snake-handlers in West Virginia or with “healing evangelists” who ask for money every fifteen minutes and who read letters about miracles that were made up by the public relations staff of the ministry. On rare occasion, these Christians may be confronted by a healing that has been confirmed by doctors to be both real and inexplicable. When asked about the undeniable healing, they will answer that the body and mind are complex and not yet fully understood by science (i.e. God wasn’t involved) or that God heals on rare occasions to give us brief windows into heaven so that we know what good awaits us on the other side. They then rush to affirm again that God rarely does such things. He may do it from time to time but only as a sovereign act and never through men or women who are operating in gifts of the Spirit.
But Mark says this, “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it” (Mk.16:20). These “signs” were exhibited after the ascension and were done by disciples, not just his apostles. If just telling the stories of what Jesus did when he walked the earth was enough, these disciples could have done just that. They could have done so even more powerfully than we can because many of them were eyewitnesses to the miracles.
An interesting phrase in Mark’s closing comment is, “and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word.” It seems that Jesus had no problem with continuing to work miracles through his disciples as evidence that what he had said about himself was true. It seems that Jesus did not feel as if just telling the stories was all that was needed. Earlier in Mark’s closing chapter he had quoted Jesus as saying, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up snakes with their hands, and when they drink deadly poison it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people and they will get well.”
The natural reading of these verses would never suggest that Jesus meant that those signs would accompany his followers for a few more years and then fade away. These are marks of the kingdom. Jesus preached the kingdom. The pattern has always been for the followers of Jesus to preach the good news of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God and then demonstrate its reality. The good news of Jesus Christ is that our sins are forgiven in him. The good news of the Kingdom of God is that the forgiveness of our sins provides access to the kingdom of God and access to the kingdom provides the blessings of “on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s provision is available to his children whether they are with him in heaven or still serving on planet earth. Miracles are part of that provision.
When God brought the Hebrews out of Egypt and led them to the Jordan River, twelve spies were sent into the land to confirm what God had said about the land he had promised to Abraham and his descendants. They came back with evidence from the land – huge clusters of grapes, pomegranates, and figs. This evidence was to confirm what God had already told them about Canaan. The intent was to bolster faith. God had told them that the land was a land flowing with milk and honey (an expression of abundance and fertility). Evidence of that truth was brought back and shown to the people so that they might have even more faith in the remaining promises of God. Of course, unbelief took over and instead of focusing on the proof that God’s word is true, they focused on the size of the enemy and their own weakness. Because they did not believe the word of God or the evidence of its truth, they never entered the land.
Signs and wonders are like grapes and figs brought back from Canaan. They are evidence of what else lies in store for those who believe and enter the kingdom through Jesus. Like all signs, they point to a greater reality that is accessible through faith. In addition, signs such as healing, prophecy, and deliverance point not only to the power of God but to his goodness and compassion.
The denomination that I was part of in my early years in the faith made the mistake of believing that Jesus only healed to prove that he was the Son of God. And yet, on many occasions in the gospels, he clearly healed and delivered out of deep compassion and not just to produce evidence that he was Messiah. In fact, he told many whom he had healed to tell no one about what he had done.
Signs and wonders should still accompany the preaching of the gospel and should still be part of the provision that God has laid aside for those who enter the promised land of God’s kingdom. Signs and wonders not only confirm the Word of God but continue to express his love and compassion for the suffering.
I believe the Spirit is awakening the church to these realities today but we still have far to go. The gospel in many places has been reduced to a simple doctrine to be believed intellectually and a call to moral living rather than an opportunity to share a supernatural experience with God.
Experience is always the greater teacher. Miracles allow us to experience God not just hear about him. An old adage says that a man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument. That is true in our faith as well. Of course, every experience must line up with the word of God and be grounded in scriptural truth but what is more consistent in scripture than the intervention of God on behalf of his people with miracles? That principle is at the heart of every great story in the Bible. If we want God to continue to produce great stories in our lives then we will need to ask and believe for miracles. Blessings today.
