Describe how Jesus was presented as a worker of miracles, giving examples from Lukes gospel

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

RS Coursework

A1) i) Explain the term ‘miracle’.

On dictionary.com the definition is: an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.

A Fundamentalist Christian would say that the miracles of the bible happened exactly as they were recorded. Conservative Christians believe that the miracles of the bible happened but the writer changed some points of the story in order to get the story across clearly. Liberal Christians, however would think that none of the miracles of Jesus happened but that the message they hold is very important.

There are four types of miracles, and they are: when Jesus healed the sick, when Jesus raised people from the dead, when Jesus cast out demons (exorcism) and when Jesus showed his power over nature.

Some people describe miracles as supernatural, unexplained events that go against known human or natural powers and are believed by Christians to have been the work of God.

A1) ii) Describe how Jesus was presented as a worker of miracles, giving examples from Luke’s gospel

Jesus was presented in many ways as a worker of miracles in Luke’s gospel. Luke realised that miracles were important and had meaning, otherwise he wouldn’t have written about them. He wanted them to be remembered and wrote about twenty.

The miracles of Jesus show the power of God in Him. An example of this is in the miracle of Jarius’ daughter. This miracle shows the power of God because Jesus was able to raise someone from the dead. The miracles also show that miracles came as a result of faith in God. In the miracle of the woman with the haemorrhage, she had such faith in Jesus as the Son of God that she is healed even though no-one else could heal her. Also in this miracle Jesus doesn’t know that the woman is going to come to him so this shows that he doesn’t need to prepare to perform a miracle. The miracles also emphasise God’s love for the world. This can be seen clearly in the miracle of the widow’s son at Nain. Jesus does not only raise her son from the dead, but he also shows love and compassion. He changed her life for the better. Jesus performed miracles to show evidence that He was the Messiah as it was prophesised in Isaiah 61: 1-2.

There are four types of miracles which Jesus performed: when Jesus healed the sick, when Jesus raised people from the dead, when Jesus cast out demons (exorcism) and when Jesus showed his power over nature.

Some examples of Jesus’ healing miracles are: the centurion’s servant (Luke 7:1-10), the paralysed man (Luke 5:18-25), the woman with a haemorrhage (Luke 8:43-48), Jesus heals a leper (Luke 5:12-16), the blind beggar (Luke 18:35-43) and the man with a skin disease (Luke 17:11-19).

In the healing miracles of Jesus He shows that He is “universal” by not favouring one person over another. ...

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In the healing miracles of Jesus He shows that He is “universal” by not favouring one person over another. He also showed that he was “universal” because he healed many disabled people, women, and Gentiles who at the time would have been seen as outcasts.

In the Centurion’s servant (Luke 7:1-10), Jesus healed the Centurions servant from a distance. This shows the power of God and can be important today to help Christians believe that miracles still do happen if you believe. The healing of the Centurion’s servant shows people that Jesus is the Son of God because he has the power to heal the servant even though he was nearly dead. It also tells people that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah because in the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) it said that the Messiah would heal the sick. In the Centurion’s servant miracle Jesus says “I tell you, I have not found faith like this, not even in Israel.” it highlights Jesus’ authority as the Son of God because his power is so great that he can heal from a distance. Also the fact that Jesus performed a miracle not just for a Gentile but also for a servant shows that Jesus came for all people – universalism. Also in this miracle it is not only the healing that is important it is also the Centurion’s faith, for without it there would have not been a miracle. This shows that the miracles helped people to have faith in God and therefore bring them into God’s Kingdom. When Jesus healed the sick he is proving that God’s Kingdom has come on earth and God’s power is at work in him. He also shows the love of God reaching to people who were suffering.

Some examples of when Jesus raised people from the dead are: Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:41-42, 49-56) and the widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:11-15).

In the miracle of the widow’s son at Nain, Jesus brought the man back to life by touch and by speech. Jesus did this because he felt love and compassion for the widow. This shows that Jesus is powerful and that he has divine authority, even over death, if he can bring someone back to life just from a word.

When Jesus raised people from the dead he showed that the power of God was stronger than death and nothing could stand in God’s way. In the miracle of Jairus’ daughter Jesus shows his power because he can heal by words alone.

Some examples of exorcism miracles are: The man with demons at Gadara (Luke 8:27-35) and Boy with epilepsy and a demon (Luke 9:38-43).

In the miracle of the man with demons at Gadara it is clear that the man has faith in Jesus and that he thinks he is God. In return for his faith the man is healed. Jesus heals this man just by words alone which again emphasises the power of Jesus as the Son of God.

When Jesus cast out demons he showed that the Kingdom of God was stronger than the Kingdom of Satan. This is important for Christians as it shows that they should not be led astray from their faith. These miracles show that Jesus was the Son of God because one of the things that was prophesised about Jesus was that he would have a Kingdom.

Some examples of miracles where Jesus shows his power over nature are: Jesus calms the storm (Luke 8:22-25), Jesus feeds the 5,000 (Luke 9:12-17) and the marvellous catch of fish (Luke 5:1-11).

The feeding of the 5,000 must be a very important miracle because it is the only one that is included in all four gospels of the bible. In this miracle Luke is showing Jesus as the Messiah because he is linking God feeding his people in the desert with Jesus feeding people in the ‘lonely place’. This shows that Jesus is the Messiah because he is feeding his people physically (with bread and fish) and also he is also feeding his people spiritually (with his teachings).

When Jesus showed his power over nature (e.g. when he calmed a storm with just a command), he showed God’s power breaking into the world and also that God could do marvellous things for his people that were unexpected and seemed impossible like producing a catch of fish when previously there had been none and raising people from the dead.

In summary, Luke gave many examples of Jesus performing miracles and he must think that they are important. He is shown as performing miracles not to make an impression but out of love for all mankind.

Bibliography:

Websites

http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/miracles-of-jesus.htm

www.baptist.org.uk/

www.catholicchurch.org.uk/

www.dictionary.com

http://www.mb-soft.com/believe/txo/miracle.htm

Books

Linda Smith and William Raeper, Luke – A Gospel for Today

The Bible – Luke’s Gospel