Describe how Jesus was presented as a worker of miracles

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Paper 1-A(i)- Christianity Through a Study of Luke and Acts

Describe how Jesus was presented as a worker of miracles.

Luke shows Jesus as a miracle worker by writing about stories showing Jesus’ power in performing miracles. For example, ‘The Centurion’s Servant’ (Luke 7:1-10), this story and many other healing miracles show the love of God reaching to people who were suffering. Luke believed that Jesus came to offer salvation-he came to give freedom from oppression and sickness. The miracles were simply a sign of God’s salvation, they showed God breaking into history and saving the lost and the outcast. (Luke 7:1-10) explains how Jesus recognised the Centurion’s faith. Jesus recognised this faith and we know this from Luke 7:9. We also know that Jesus values this faith because it is shown in the healing of the servant. ‘Jairus’ daughter’ (Luke 8:41-56) shows an example of Jesus raising a child from death. Jairus showed great faith in Jesus’ abilities and so did the woman who touched Jesus’ cloak in the same Bible story. Great respect is also shown for Jesus when the daughter dies and the messenger is sent. 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. Jesus also shows subtlety and calm in his actions. Jesus obviously recognised Jairus and the woman’s faith otherwise he would not have healed them and showed his power to the world. An example of Jesus casting out demons is in ‘Jesus heals a man with demons’ (Luke 8:26-39). Jesus shows pity and acceptance for the man with demons and he symbolises this by casting the demons out of the man. Jesus even shows pity on the demons by sending them to some pigs which then drowned. Many people were afraid of Jesus and Jesus respected their decision to ask him to leave. This shows Jesus to be a very kind, sympathetic sort of person. Jesus also shows a lot of trust in the man and this is why many people respected him. Jesus showing his power over nature is indicated in ‘The marvellous catch of fish’ (Luke 5:1-11) and ‘Jesus calms the storm’ (Luke 8:22-25). In Luke 8, Luke records that Jesus calmed a fierce storm on Lake Galilee, which shows us Jesus’ complete command over the forces of nature. The story of the storm tells us that Jesus was powerful enough to calm a huge storm just by commanding it to, Jesus was mysterious because even his disciple we amazed and afraid of what Jesus had done, Jesus responded to people, if it had not been for the disciples waking Him, Jesus would not have commanded the storm to calm and lastly, Jesus had faith. Jesus believed that because He had ordered the storm to calm that it would, and it did. In these stories also, Jesus’ followers show great respect, trust and faith in Jesus, Son of God. The followers also seem to think that they are not worthy of Jesus’ presence showing how much respect and love Jesus had from people. It seems that Luke is trying to tell us God’s power in Jesus and also Jesus’ respect and love from the people around him. In Matthew there are at least eighteen miracles recorded. Luke can give us a reliable source of information and it is precise. Luke points out his reasons for writing the gospel and he writes with great attention to detail. Altogether Luke recorded twenty miracles performed by Jesus, which must mean that Luke thought Jesus was as powerful as God (ie. He was God) who had great power and was capable of anything but Luke also emphasized the humanity of Jesus Christ and his perfection as a human being. Luke wrote Acts as well. These books both tell the story of Jesus’ life from his birth until his death and after that they continue by telling how the followers of Jesus continued to spread Jesus’ teachings and recite his life.

In Luke’s Gospel, the humanity of Jesus and his perfection as a human is emphasized. Jesus was the man who sacrificed his life for the world’s sins and therefore provided the Saviour for mankind. Luke seems to be emphasizing prayer and joyfulness.

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Jesus’ miracles show the power of God. Jesus tells the paralysed man (Luke 5:18-25) that his sins are forgiven. The Jews believed that only God could forgive sins, but the man’s healing is more than simply physical. It is a healing of his relationship with God. The miracle of this man’s healing brings him into the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ miracles show the power of faith in God. When Jesus healed the centurion’s servant (Luke 7:1-10), he said, ‘I tell you, I have never found faith like this, not even in Israel.’ The centurion’s faith became part of Jesus’ miracle. It was not just the healing that was important but also that the centurion saw that Jesus’ power to heal came from God. Jesus’ miracles helped people to have faith in God and bring them into God’s Kingdom. Faith always comes before Jesus performing a miracle. Jesus’ miracles have another meaning behind the initial thought. They show the depth of God’s love. When Jesus saw the widow at Nain (Luke 7:11-15) he told her not to cry. He went over and touched the coffin of her son and brought him back to life. Jesus’ miracles were not just a show of power but an act of love. Jesus’ miracles helped people, changing their lives for the better. They showed people something of God’s power and how much God cared for all the people. No doubt Luke thought that Jesus’ miracles were very important because they presented signs of God’s power and His Kingdom. They also showed that Jesus was the Son of God and not just a phony or fake. If you read through the section with the miracles in, including the parts before and after each miracle, often another meaning is conveyed other than Jesus’ power. For example, His attitude towards a certain type of people. Finally, there is one last way to interpret Luke’s miracle stories performed by Jesus. It could be that Luke’s stories were not real but simply symbolic. Take (Luke 8:22-25), perhaps the stormy sea is not a real sea-it may be a picture of the troubles in life. The stormy sea may be symbolising the early church during its persecution. The boat is symbolic of the church and the disciples are the Christians crying out to Jesus (God) to save them. Remember that the boat is filling with water. Luke was writing for the Christians in the early church so this fits in well. Luke mainly tells us that Jesus had faith and also Jesus looked for faith in others. He also tells emphasizes prayer and joyfulness which Jesus found very important.

Bibliography:

Luke, a Gospel for today by Linda Smith and William Raeper