What is a miracle? Describe how Jesus was presented as a miracle worker, giving examples from Luke's Gospel.

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

RE Coursework – Miracles

R.E COURSEWORK

‘MIRACLES’

By Liam Murphy 10.1

Contents

A1) What is a miracle?

A2) Describe how Jesus was presented as a miracle worker, giving examples from Luke’s Gospel.

Discuss the meaning of healing miracles with reference to present day beliefs and Christian practice.

C) Healing miracles do not happen today. Do you agree? Give reasons to support your answer and show that you have thought about different points of view.

A1: What is a miracle?

The Griffin Savers Oxford Dictionary defines the word ‘miracle’ as a remarkable and welcome event that seems impossible to explain by means of the known laws of nature and science, which is therefore attributed to a supernatural agency. This means that not just anyone can do this sort of thing, so if it is performed then the thing that performed the miracle would be greater than us, humans.

Today, the word ‘miracle’ is used in a different context as it is used to show that something may not happen or that there are high odds against something happening. For example: it will be a miracle if Welling United get to the Premier League.

During the years, the word ‘miracle’ has been used for an amount of different meanings, which include:

Explaining something that is not impossible but non-understandable, e.g. someone may call an operation, which saves someone’s life a miracle.
Explaining that something may never end up happening, e.g. it will be a miracle if my mum lets me lie in on Saturday.

One example of something that may be called a miracle but I don’t think it should be called one; is if we managed to create AI.

One example of something that I would call a miracle if it happened would be if we could travel through time.

One person who is said to have performed miracles is Jesus. This claim will be explored in the next section.

A2: Jesus the miracle worker

At the time of Jesus, the attitude towards miracles was very different to now. They were expected and had become commonplace. They were mainly associated with Elijah, Elisha and God.

I think that the reason Luke wrote so much about the miracles is because they are so important in the Jesus story and they each have different meanings. Luke thought that these messages or meanings were important for everyone not just the people who witnessed them.

The amount of miracles that were performed by Jesus is unknown, but the amount of miracles that were recorded by Luke is 20.

The miracles recorded in Luke’s Gospel can be placed into four different groups.

These are as follows:

When Jesus healed the sick (An example of this is Luke 18:35-43) – including blindness, deafness and dumbness
When Jesus raised people from the dead (An example of this is Luke 7:11-15) – the two examples of this in Luke’s Gospel are the widow’s son and Jairus’ daughter
When Jesus cast out demons (An example of this is Luke 9:38-43) – people believed that these demons caused illnesses and mental disorders
When Jesus showed his power over nature (An example of this is Luke 8:22-25) – Jesus walked on water, fed 5000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, and calmed a fierce storm

The miracles showed that the kingdom of God existed and was at work in many ways.

Here are some of them:

When Jesus healed the sick – he showed the love of God reaching to people who were suffering
When Jesus raised people from the dead – he showed that the power of God was stronger than death and that nothing could stand in God’s way
When Jesus cast out demons – he showed that the Kingdom of God was stronger than the Kingdom of Satan, and that Satan was being defeated
When Jesus showed his power over nature – he showed God’s power coming into the world and that he controlled everything in our world

Below are some examples of the miracles that fit into the four groups:

When Jesus healed the sick

The blind beggar (Luke 18:35-43) – A beggar was begging in Jericho when a crowd following Jesus started to come into the city. When the beggar asked what was happening and told that Jesus was approaching, he shouted out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Leaders of the crowd ignored him but Jesus called him over and asked “What do you want me to do for you?” to which he answered “Lord, I want to see.” Jesus proceeded to heal him ...

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Below are some examples of the miracles that fit into the four groups:

When Jesus healed the sick

When Jesus raised people from the dead

The widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:11-15) – When Jesus approached Nain, a widow, followed by some of the townspeople brought out a coffin with the body of the widow’s son inside. Jesus felt sorry for the widow, touched the coffin and said “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead boy sat up and started to talk. Jesus then gave him back to his mother.

When Jesus cast out demons

Boy with epilepsy and a demon (Luke 9:38-43) – When Jesus and his disciples came down from the mountain, a man came up to him and said "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not." Jesus asked that the boy be brought to him and healed the boy.

When Jesus showed his power over nature

Jesus calms the storm (Luke 8:22-25) - One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. 23As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!"
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."

These two examples shown below are taken from the New International Bible:

Jesus and the woman with a haemorrhage

(Luke 8:43-48)

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
"Who touched me?" Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you."
But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."
Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."

Jesus and the man with demons at Gadara

(Luke 8:26-39)

They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, a demon-possessed man from the town met him. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture me!" For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"
"Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

The following explains what the passages in the above headings mean:

Jesus and the woman with a haemorrhage

This miracle shows Jesus’ power over illness.

The story of Jairus’ daughter is interrupted by the appearance of a woman with a haemorrhage. The woman had an illness, which made her bleed without stopping.
When the woman touched Jesus, Jesus felt healing power come out of him and told the woman to tell the crowd what she had done.

Jesus did this to show that it was not just his power, but her faith that cured her. This is one of several miracles, which showed faith in God being rewarding. It is meant to encourage us all to have faith in God.

Jesus and the man with demons at Gadara

This miracle shows his power over demons.

The man was alone and lived among the tombs. He was occupied by 6000 demons. The demons knew Jesus was there and came out at his command.
The demon fled into some pigs, which then drowned, which showed that the demons were completely gone.

Jesus had shown that it was Satan’s army and not the Roman army that he wanted to defeat. It also showed that God was more powerful than Satan was. When people were raised from the dead, it showed God’s love and that his power extended even over death, giving us all hope of life after death. The miracles showed that the kingdom of God had arrived, as Jesus had said, when he preached at Nazareth.

B: Healing miracles and their meaning

There are three different types of healing – physical, mental, and spiritual. I will now explain the meanings of each type:

Physical – this type of healing means that you are healing from an injury of the body, e.g. heart attack
Mental – this type of healing means that you are healing from an injury of the brain, e.g. amnesia
Spiritual – this type of healing means that you are healing from an injury of the soul or when you no longer close to God, e.g. mourning

A healing miracle is when someone has one or more of the above types of problems and is instantly cured of them by something that possesses supernatural abilities.

Since the 1950s, the medical industry has been coming so far forward in healing, e.g. able to perform surgery to remove a bad organ, etc. Another example is that they are now able to create vaccinations for diseases like meningitis.

One example of what I think would be a healing miracle if it happened would be if our scientists created something that could kill off any disease ever made or found as it would have to evolve for every new virus.

One example of what I think would not be a healing miracle if it happened is if scientists found out how to stop the common cold, as it would just evolve again.

When Christians ask God for help – for him to perform a miracle, they do it for a number of reasons. Some of these reasons are listed below:

Christians turn to God because they know that God loves us, cares for us, and would do anything for us.
Christians turn to God because they know that God has the power to make and destroy things, and that he is all powerful as he created Earth.
Christians turn to God because the miracles that Jesus performed show how much we mean to God and the amount of power that he has.
Christians turn to God because they want to show that they believe in him, and that they worship him and only him.

When Christians ask God for help, they do it in a variety of ways. Some of these ways are listed below:

Through prayer – Christians often ask God for help through prayer as it is the easiest way to reach God
Through the sacraments – Christians often look for help through the sacraments because of what they represent. The main sacraments are reconciliation, baptism, and extreme unction (Anointing of the Sick)
Through pilgrimage – Christians often take pilgrimages to place like Lourdes and Fatima because of the stories of appearances from saints, etc, e.g. Mary, mother of Jesus. They also go there as it helps people who are dying to face up to their problems.
Through services for the sick – Christians often look for help through services for the sick as it is a form of prayer and also a group has more power than an individual.

In Jesus’ day, the attitude towards miracles was very different to today. When Jesus performed miracles, they were expected and were part of peoples’ lives. But now that we have gone through changes in science, religion, etc, we have came to completely forget about miracles as they very rarely happen.

The Christian Churches often help people searching for God’s help by organising parish pilgrimages and prayer groups for local members of the congregation amongst other things to try and help a group to find the help they need from God.

C: Healing Miracles, do they happen today?

Today, we have a very different opinion to the Christians of Jesus’ time. In Jesus’ time, a ‘healing miracle’ was referred to as when someone has physical, mental, or spiritual problems and is instantly cured of them by something that possesses supernatural abilities.

However, at the moment, many people would say that in their minds they think of a ‘healing miracle’ as something that is non-understandable. For example: if a heart transplant was performed, someone who didn’t know a lot about the procedure may say that the operation was a ‘miracle’.

The reason most people come up with this explanation is because we do not have as much faith as we did during the beginnings of Christianity. Also, we have came up with this explanation because we are not used to marvellous things happening unlike the Christians during Jesus’ time, or if they do happen, we think there is a scientific explanation.

If one of these healing miracles did happen, I think that the general public would get excited as it would be a completely new experience for them and would want the person / thing that performed the miracle to do more miracles and so he would become famous. An example of this is if a man walked into a hospital, touched every patient in that hospital and they instantly recovered from their problems, walked out of the hospital and never had another illness ever again.

One event that the media covered in Early 1999 talks about a man who was cured from multiple sclerosis after receiving the ‘sacrament of the sick’ at the Lourdes shire. For twelve years, the Lourdes medical experts have been studying the case of medical worker, Jean-Pierre Bély, who recovered from his illness on 9th October 1987, which was one day after receiving the ‘sacrament of the sick’. He was the 66th person in the history of Lourdes whose claims to be cured by a visit to the shrine have been approved by the Catholic Church. 6,500 other cases like this have been dismissed.

There are many reasons why a practising / believing Christian would believe in miracles. I will list some of these reasons below: -

He / She would believe in miracles because of what the teachings of Jesus say and what he did to show God’s love.
He / She would believe in miracles because they believed that they had witnessed a miracle.
He / She would believe in miracles because

The churches attitude to ‘healing miracles’ is that they only accept miracles which have been confirmed by a committee (e.g. the Lourdes Medical Office and the Lourdes International Medical Committee) or if it was performed by a biblical figure (e.g. Jesus).

I think that in time, all of these miracles will be explained by science and that all of these miracle workers will become known as a type of magician, but until then they will always be looked on as a message from God showing that he cares.

After doing this work, I have decided to put my own views down.

I believe that in the future, we will become technologically advanced enough to be able to heal any injury, disease or mental problem. Although we may not be able to heal spiritual injuries in the future by medication, I believe that the solutions to that type of healing are found inside us anyway. Therefore, when we do come to this stage, I think that we will decide that although they were near impossible to do in the first century, they would become like a magic trick where everyone knew how to do the trick.

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