Describe the importance of the healing miracles of Jesus for Christian life today. Jesus was presented as a worker of miracles in Luke's gospel throughout many different stories

In a lot of miracles Luke recorded they show how Jesus was a great healer both spiritually and physically. In Luke's gospel Jesus shows how he physically heals in the story called 'Jesus heals many people' (Luke 4:38-41). This is shown when in the story it says ' Jesus placed his hands on every one of them and healed them all. Demons also went out from many people.' This is an example of Jesus spiritually healing people as he is cleansing them of their demons and making their souls clean. This show how Jesus cared and was fair to everyone by treating everyone the same and he healed them all. It shows that Jesus was here for everyone and paid no attention to peoples circumstance or wealth as he saw everyone for the person they really were. When he was healing people it did not occur to him to think of what the person looked like or where he came from, Jesus was a saviour for everyone.

Jesus shows he has great physical power in the story called 'The Calming of the Storm'. In the story Luke describes how quickly Jesus can perform a miracle and how effective it can be. ' Then he woke up and rebuked the wind and the rough water; and they subsided and it was calm again' (Luke 8:22-25) . Luke has written this story so that it is very short and simple but it has more of an effect on the reader as the main point of it is clear. Jesus shows that he has the power over nature here and that he has the power no one else has. Although in this miracle the disciples he was with were not that sure of him and did not know the power of his miracles. The fact that the disciples shouted ' Master we are about to die!' shows that they did not have faith they were safe with him but after Jesus calmed the storm they were obviously amazed.

In the miracle stories that Luke wrote he has shown how Jesus is a saviour to everyone and how he reaches out to the outcasts and those on the margins of society. Jesus does not care about peoples appearance or if they are poor, old or diseased; everyone is the same to him and he tried to help as many as he can. He came to earth to get rid of sin and bring people closer to God. He did not come to add to sin or create conflict. In the story called 'Jesus heals a man' Jesus shows how he wants to heal and is willing. ' "Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean!" Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. " I do want to," he answered. "Be clean!" At once the disease left the man.' Luke 5: 12-16. This story shows the great power of Jesus and also how is healing. Also in this story the man who Jesus heals is described as someone who is very desperate and an outcast to the town he lives in. He is described to have a dreaded skin disease so people are obviously not going to go near him. Here Jesus shows his compassion for his fellow people on earth and how he has mercy on the sick.

One of the main things that is linked in all the miracles is that there is faith shown and that is what Jesus needs to see if he is to heal. Jesus came from God to make people happy and as related to God as we can be while on earth, and by performing the miracles of healing he is also increasing peoples faith and helping turn people towards God. Jesus turned peopled towards God and gave them the faith to believe both in the stories in Luke's gospel and still to this day. In the story ' Jesus heals a man' Luke wrote, ' the news about Jesus spread all the more widely, and crowds of people came to hear him and be healed from their diseases.' this shows how people that would not have had the same faith and belief in Jesus did because of the great miracles he performed.

In the healings miracles that Luke recorded he shows us that Jesus had four main powers. Jesus had power over evil, power over death, power over illness and power over nature. These are all powers that no one else had and were unique to Jesus. God gave Jesus these powers so that he could go out and help people that needed him and increase peoples faith so that their lives were better. Although Jesus died on the cross God raised him back to life again and that is what God wants for us, to be fully alive. ' The glory of God is a human being fully alive' St. Irenaus.

Luke believe that Jesus came to offer salvation and came to give freedom from sickness and oppression. The fact that Luke recorded the miracles tells us that they were important and had a meaning. Each miracle tells us something about Jesus' life, person and ministry and all contribute to the meaning of Jesus. From Luke's stories they give a strong idea of what Jesus was like. The strongest view they portray of Jesus is how he was a great miracle worker which he then goes on to show in many ways.

In Lukes gospel very strong messages about god are sent out and he is portrayed in a certain way. In the miracles that Jesus performs we can see how he has great compassion, care, mercy and forgiveness and these are three very important things. They also show us that God can heal without being there.

In the miracles Jesus shows great compassion towards the people through the way he approaches people and how he acts towards them. In some of the stories in Luke Jesus is shown to go out of his way just to heal someone. This is shown in the story called 'Jesus heals a Romans servant'. In this miracle Jesus is approached by Jewish elders sent by the Roman officer to ask Jesus if he would come and heal the Roman's servant who was very dear to him. Jesus went straight away even though the servant did not think he was worthy. 'Neither do I consider myself worthy to come to your presence, the servant said when Jesus entered.

Also in the miracles recorded by Luke Jesus is shown to have forgiveness and mercy to many people. In the miracle called 'Jesus heals a paralysed man' Jesus is shown to forgive the man of all his sins. Though in this miracle it is crucial to realise how important having faith is, because Jesus needed to see faith before he could heal.

B. Discuss the importance of the healing miracles of Jesus for Christian life today.

Healing miracles are very important to Christians life today. This is because as Christians we have to try to live as God wants us to and follow Jesus' examples. In the healing miracles we are shown ways in which we can change our lives to be better people and we learn more about Jesus.

For us to follow and learn from Jesus as God wants us to we have to be able to have an understanding of him. This is not easy as we have never actually met Jesus and to believe in what we have been told about him. In Lukes gospel the healing miracles give us an insight into what Jesus was like and enable us to take things from them to help us in our daily lives. In the stories we can see how Jesus reacts and deals with things tat he is faced and this is how we can learn more about him and become closer to God.

In the healing miracle called the 'Healing of a paralytic man', we are shown the importance of faith and how we should act as Christians towards others that need our help. In this miracle Jesus spiritually heals before physically healing. In the story Jesus says to the man after he saw how much faith they had ' you're sins are forgiven'. This shows Christians that sin can make us sick and that Jesus can cure it by forgiving us. By reading this miracle it increases Christians faith and encourage them to pray more. This is also showing that we as Christians need to forgive others who have sinned against us as it says in the prayer Our Father. 'Forgive those who trespass against you' .

All Christians should seek to become more like Jesus in their everyday lives by what they do and how they act. By reading the healing miracles Christians try to find the inspiration to follow God in their lives and do something positive. Jesus was giving his power to heal the sick by God and God has also given us power that we need to use. We have the power to become better Christians and help change things for the better.

After reading the good work that Jesus has done through his miracles we should ask ourselves what can we do? We all know that we do not the great power to work the miracles Jesus did but we are able to small things that can help a lot. There are many places in which we can become better Christians and become close to God. By joining special organisations and groups, in our work place, at school and at home. We can help out in our parish by reading or doing the collection or offertory at mass, giving money to the church or help out at fundraising events. By helping out in our parishes we are helping all the people that are in the parish and the priest. At your work place and school we can become better Christians not being prejudice or racist and treating everyone as equals. This is shown by Jesus when he heals people of different sexes and races. He shows us that everyone is the same and should be judged. At home we can become better Christians by attending church every week which shows our faith as Jesus showed us we needed to.

In the healing miracles Jesus gives Christians a very important message about how we should treat each other. Jesus is shown to heal a variety of people in his miracles who are of different races, sexes and disabilities. In the times when Jesus was alive women were not treated the same as men. They were looked down on and thought of as less. In the miracle called 'Jesus heals many people', Jesus heals Simon's mother and it says 'at once she began to wait on them' . This miracle shows how Jesus heals a woman because he cares and wants to help he is showing people that they should try their best to help the marginalized in society. Christians can learn from this by not judging others and treating everyone the same. It is teaching Christians to stand up for what is right an don't just go along with what is happening if it is wrong. If Jesus had of followed what people were doing in his time he would of just ignored the woman he healed but he did not.

In Lukes gospel there are many different healing miracles recorded that each have an important message and can help Christians today in their lives. A few examples of these miracles are when 'The man with the skin disease', 'The blind beggar' and 'The centurions servant'. These examples are all miracles where Jesus helps the marginalized and those who would of at the time be looked down on. He has shown Christians by doing this that they need to show respect and love for their neighbour. Jesus reaches out to all different kinds of people in different miracles and therefore Christians can learn from this how to it in their parish, school and home life.

Although a lot of people doubt the miracles as they can say there's no proof that they happened and nobody knows if Jesus was actually alive or could have had the power to perform these miracles. For Christians the proof that Jesus had the power and was the son of God id through his resurrection. This is the confirmation that Jesus existed and rose from the dead. After this people had more faith in him an believed him more as he had shown himself to be the true son of God and after that he then went to help people.

Christians are taught to follow the ten commandments and one of them is to 'love God and our neighbour'. Christians have to think about how they are going to follow this commandment with the help from the miracles. They can do this in many ways and by reading and understanding the meaning of them. The examples of the way in which Jesus treats people is the way Christians should treat their neighbours and as Jesus shows how devote he is to God by what he is doing on earth it is showing Christians to love God.

C. 'Healing miracles do not happen today.'

Do you agree? Give reasons to support your answer and show that you have thought about it different points of view. You must refer to Christianity in your answer.

In society today people believe that miracles both did and did not happen. Christians are taught to believe miracles happen as they in the bible and help Christians in their everyday lives. Though people of other religions and cultures have different opinions. One of the main reasons is that they do have proof or doubt that Jesus existed. Everyone has there own opinions of this even Christians. Some say that they have even experienced healing miracles and some do believe that they can happen. Though there is reasons and evidence to support both arguments.

Those who agree with the statement 'healing miracles do not happen today' believe this for many reasons. Science has proved in the past that a lot of things that have been classed as 'miracles' can be scientifically explained. In the 1800's people would have thought television or aeroplanes would be miracles but now today they are just accepted as every day things. So for some people today they think that healing miracles do not happen as thy can be explained by doctors or it's the medicine that has healed the person.

This means that even if a healing miracle did happen they would not recognise it and just put it down to the scientifically developments of today. Also some people can just look at the miracles as coincidences that have nothing to do with God. When someone is miraculously cured doctors usually try then to prove why and with all the technology today they probably can.

Atheists who do not believe God would not believe that healing miracles happen today. As they do not believe in God, if miracles are linked to God then miracles do not exist. This would also be the view of people of some other religions that do not believe in God. Another view that people could take is that the so called healing miracles that happen today have just been changed and spread, but they did not actually happen.

Although some people today do believe that healing miracles happen. Lourdes is one of the most famous places were healing miracles have been known to happen. This is a place that has helped many believe in miracles and there has even been scientific proof to show that the occurrences could not be explained. One of the best known miracles that has happened at Lourdes is the case of Gabriel Gargam. He was in a train crash and was paralysed from the waist down, he could not help himself even in the most trifling needs. Two trained nurses were needed day and night to assist him. Nothing seemed to work even prayers but then his mother pleaded with him to go to Lourdes and he did. When he was there he was carried to the miraculous pool and placed in its waters. This had a bad effect and he was pronounced dead. But then when a priest passed carrying the Sacred Host, he pronounced Benediction over the sorrowful group around the covered body and suddenly there was movement. The man then said in a full, strong voice that he wanted to get up. He then got up and was fully cured. This is a miracle that doctors and scientists can not prove happened scientifically.

Peoples personal experience in life can influence them to either believe in miracles happening today or not. People that have had a miracle happen to someone in their family or close to them may not have believed in miracles before but now do. Also what each person classes as a miracle is different. Some would see someone recovering from an illness was a miracle even though it could be down to the certain medicine they were given