Category: Miracles

An Epic Miracle

7/14/2022

Scripture Reading: Mark 6:38-44 NASB95
And when they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” [39] And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass. [40] They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. [41] And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all. [42] They all ate and were satisfied, [43] and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish. [44] There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.

How in the world do you feed 5,000 hungry men with five small barley loaves and two small fish? In the natural course of events this cannot happen...period! It is an impossibility! When Jesus instructed His disciples to feed the crowd of people, and then commanded them to go and find what food was available; according to the Gospel of John, Andrew found a boy with a lunch of five small barley loaves and two small fish. This lunch was an adequate lunch for one boy, not 5,000 hungry men.

The reaction of the disciples is not recorded, but I would guess that about half of them were in a panic and the other half felt vindicated for questioning Jesus' choice of taking the responsibility for feeding the crowd. Jesus responded by doing an epic miracle. He fed 5,000 hungry men with five loaves and two fish. If there was any doubt among the disciples as to whether Jesus was the Messiah, it probably vanished as He broke the bread and broke the fish...and then continued to break the bread and fish. Jesus continued this on-going miracle until the entire group was fed and there were 12 baskets of left-overs.

What does this tell us about Jesus? It tells us that Jesus was God in the flesh; and with God, "All things are possible." What happens to the person who is able to perform epic miracles? They become famous. In our time, the video would have gone viral. Everyone on the planet would have seen the miracle, and Jesus would be famous! On a smaller scale, Jesus fame did begin to grow as the reports of the miracle began to spread. The people of Judea knew one thing with certainty, "Jesus was no ordinary Rabbi!"

Questions to Consider:

How long do you think it would take to "tear" up enough food for 5,000 people? (This was a long, continuing miracle)
The people being fed must have been electrified while watching Jesus do the impossible. How would you have reacted to such an epic event?
What is the most "super-natural" thing that you have experienced or witnessed?

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"We Have Never Seen Anything Like This!"

3/18/2021

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Text: Mark 2:1-12 When Jesus came back to Capernaum a few days later, it was heard that He was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer space, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. 3 And some people came, bringing to Him a man who was paralyzed, carried by four men. 4 And when they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and after digging an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralyzed man was lying. 5 And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking it over in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins except God alone?” 8 Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were thinking that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you thinking about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk'? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralyzed man, 11 “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet, and go home.” 12 And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Questions to Consider:

1. Have you ever experienced something so amazing at the hand of God that caused you to say "I've never seen anything like this!"?

2. What is it that keeps us from experiencing things today, like what took place in the story of this man?

3. What do you think is needed for our church and for the church at large to have people come and go saying "I've never seen anything like this!"?

And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

This sentiment of "We have never seen anything like this!" was common in the life and ministry of Christ and the first church.
Is it the same with the church today?
From RJ Dugone:
Let me propose something radical: We need less tradition and more, “We have never seen anything like this!” We need less tried and true and more, “We have never seen anything like this!” We need less of mundane, same old, same old, and more, “We have never seen anything like this!” We need to experience God in a way that causes people to say, “We have never seen anything like this!” To experience something that is so outside the box, so outside the expectation, so outside experience that people would proclaim, “We have never seen anything like this;” It would need to be something that is out of the ordinary. Perhaps even supernatural. By definition “supernatural” is a force that is beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature.
When it comes to a supernatural move of God—where do we even begin? Well, you begin by believing enough to make God your first stop in prayer. You begin by believing enough to bring your two loaves and a few fishes to Jesus, so that He can feed 5,000. You begin by believing enough to haul your friend who is paralyzed to Jesus by any means possible. You begin by fighting through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. You make running to Jesus (who is your advocate and makes intercession for you) the person that you turn to when you are faced with things that are difficult, and maybe even impossible—never forgetting that with God, all things are possible!
Missionary/Author Nik Ripken was asked, “Why don’t we see God doing miracles in our time like we read about in the Book of Acts?” (Let me paraphrase Nik’s answer) “If you want to see healings, and demons being cast out, and miracles; go serve as a missionary in a third world country where Believers are forced by circumstances to trust in God. When there are no doctors, no hospitals, no medical facilities of any kind; going to God becomes the default position for Believers. They ask for prayer and they are healed. In the American church, going to the doctor has become our default position, and we have not, because we ask not.”
Listen to the exhortation of James. He is giving us the default position of faith when we are sick. James 5:14-15 (NASB) 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
Is anyone among you sick? HE MUST call for the elders of the church. He must…we must! This is our default position when it comes to sickness. We start by calling for the elders to pray for us. Why do we call for the elders to pray over us? Because we know that the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. When we do this, we have taken the first step to move away from the mundane.
Do we want to see God move in a way that causes people to say, “We have never seen anything like this?” It all starts with believing in Jesus enough to ask, to knock and to seek. In the case of the paralyzed man, his friends believed enough to push through all the natural barriers that stood between them and Jesus. Even the roof was not enough to deter them from the miracle that was waiting to happen.

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An Epic Miracle

"We Have Never Seen Anything Like This!"

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