What Miracles and Parables Have in Common

Miracles and parables are both instructive for followers of Christ because they both point to something greater and they both lead to repentance. Mark’s gospel majors on the activities of Jesus, which were all linked together to reveal God’s Messiah, Jesus Christ. The miracles of Jesus were one of the major activities of Jesus in Mark’s gospel. But like the parables, who many heard but did not receive, the miracles, for many, were just “magic tricks.”

Herod was one of those who wanted to be entertained by Jesus, “When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him.” Luke 23:8. Jesus did not come to entertain us, but to save us from becoming the kind of people that need to be entertained all the time with more and more glitz, smoke, and special effects.

There are churches today that have more special effects than sound doctrine. When the lights go out, special effects also go out, but sound doctrine will keep a light shining in the dark, driving back the darkness from the inside out! Church, keep the Light on in the lives of people by giving them sound doctrine from God’s word, and less tricks!

In Matthew 11:20, an instructive statement is made about the purpose of the miraculous, “Then he (Jesus) began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.” One of the things this verse teaches is that the purpose of a miracle is to lead a person to repentance, to change their mind about something. The cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum had witnessed many of the miracles of Jesus, but they did not repent. John 12:37, says, “Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him.”

Having faith in Jesus means losing faith in something or someone else. This is the definition of repentance. The people in those cities and the people that John was talking about only saw the activities of Jesus, but never saw or heard Jesus. They only saw and heard what they wanted rather than what they needed. To see and to hear what you need from God’s perspective, rather than what you want from your perspective is the definition of humility.

When Jesus healed the leper in Mark 1:40 – 45, He gave him strict instructions of what he needed to do next, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded for a proof to them.” The instructions Jesus gave the healed leper were the biggest part of the miracle, which the healed leper missed, because rather than obey Jesus, he went out and spread the news openly.

Why wouldn’t Jesus want everyone to know what He just did for the man? The answer is because the main experience of the miracle was the worship experience following the miracle, according to God’s word, which would include a priest. The leper was still healed, but Jesus wanted to reach a priest with the miracle! It never happened.

When you hear of some miracle, do you say, “Wow!” or do repent, knowing that miracles are God’s gift of repentance for you. When His mighty power is demonstrated it means that He is present, and that He desires to do something even greater with the emphasis upon Him, not me. When that happens, a changed life is the result, not entertainment.

Miracles Teach Truth

Mark’s gospel is known as the gospel of action. Most believe that John Mark wrote from Rome under the guidance of Simon Peter around 60AD. Peter was one of those “ready-fire-aim” kind of people; always in motion with thinking a few steps behind. Many of us can identify.

Mark’s gospel is also the one to use the word “immediately” more than the others. The Greek word is you-thoos, and is used to link one event to another in real time. Mark uses this word twelve times in chapter one alone. This is more than Luke uses it in his entire gospel.

Linking the events of the life of Jesus with this word teaches an important truth; no single event can be understood apart from the others, they all connect to present the whole life. Every event is linked, from beginning to end, to reveal the new relationship, the new covenant, that God the Father invites you to in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is significant especially when you study the miracles of Jesus. They do not stand alone, but rather teach, like the parables, of the Kingdom of God now here in Christ, and offered to those who would believe in Him.

As you read an account of a miracle of Jesus you must ask the Lord what it points to that is greater and what truth it teaches about God’s Kingdom. In Mark, the link word, you-thoos, will help you to learn the greater truth from the single event.

For example, in Mark 1:9 – 13, you will find the account of the baptism of Jesus, linked to the miracle of the heavens being ripped apart, the Spirit descending, and the Father speaking, which is then linked to the miracle of the Spirit driving Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for forty days, from which Jesus miraculously emerged victorious. These events are connected with the word you-thoos in verses 10 and 12.

Together they teach an important truth; through Christ’s sacrificial death and miraculous resurrection you receive His Spirit and His word, which empower you to overcome Satan’s lies and live victoriously in this wilderness, just as Jesus did His whole life.

Jesus was baptized to demonstrate how He would save us. Being lowered into the water and then raised up out of the water is a clear picture pointing forward to what would happen to Jesus on the cross. As Jesus went out to John to be baptized, He was embracing the Father’s will for His life to give us new life in Himself.

“When he came up out of the water, immediately, the heavens were torn apart…” 1:10. The word Mark uses for “torn apart” is the Greek word skidzo, and literally means to rip into two pieces. He will use this word again in 15:38 to describe what happened to the Temple curtain, which separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place, when Jesus died on the cross; it was skidzo, ripped apart into two pieces, from top to bottom! The barrier between God and man had been violently opened wide by the Father through the death of His Son.

The next event, linked to the ripping apart of the heavens, is the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus with the Father speaking from His word in Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1. With the barrier removed, now God’s Spirit is with man and God’s word is clearly understood, “You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased.” 1:11. 

All that the Father has said in His word is understood in Jesus Christ and the well-pleasing relationship of the Father with the Son. This is what it means to worship the Father in spirit and truth. And this will to be continued tomorrow.

  

When Veiled Worship is Unveiled as Worship

Matthew’s gospel is arranged around five sermons that have been used over the centuries as solid teaching for new and maturing believers. The fifth sermon is found in Matthew 24 – 25. It is called the Olivet Discourse because Jesus shared it with His disciples from the Mount of Olives, which overlooks Jerusalem from the east.

The occasion for this message was when Jesus and His disciples were walking through the Temple compound,“…when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.” Matthew 24:1. But Jesus said, “You see all these, do you? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” Then they asked Him, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

They actually asked Jesus three questions in one; when will the Temple be destroyed, how will we know you are coming back, and how will we know when the end has come? The Olivet Discourse answers all three, but not necessarily in the order or in the way that the disciples asked.

One of the things that Jesus teaches about these things is that the destruction of the Temple would happen in their lifetime, which it did, in 70 AD by the Romans. It has never been reconstructed. Another thing that Jesus taught was that false doctrine will abound in the last days before He returns. Jesus said there will be many powerful religious and political leaders promising the answer to man’s problems with solutions that will only cause more problems, while the gospel continues to spread without slowing down, 24:4 – 14.

Jesus said that the gospel will spread in the midst of growing turmoil and tribulation (24:9-10), while false leaders will be growing and proclaiming that “all is well” (24:24). It will be a day when sound doctrine will be the only truth strong enough to sustain the true worshiper and follower of Christ.

The majority of the teaching of Jesus on this subject of His return and the end of the age is on being ready for it, because they would not know when it was coming, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” Matthew 24:36 – 25:46 is the longest teaching from Jesus on this question of His return. He said to be ready by being His faithful and wise servants. Jesus told three parables on the wise and faithful servant 24:45 – 51, the wise virgins in the wedding parable 25:1 – 13, and the faithful servants in the parable of the talents 25:14 – 30, each time in contrast to the unfaithful and foolish.

Jesus concludes the message with the well-known vision of His return as the Good Shepherd separating the sheep from the goats, the “…blessed by my Father…and the cursed…” 25:31 – 46. This vision is of the end of the age when veiled worship is unveiled as worship! The faithful were worshiping their King through ministry to the least, the last, and the lost, and didn’t know it! The unfaithful were more selective in their ministries, wanting to be more wise than compassionate, and also not knowing that it was the King who was being culled and overlooked.

The message for us is clear: when you faithfully share what God has blessed you with, you become a blessing to everyone, especially to Christ your King, and ministry becomes worship that pleases the Father. This is what it means to worship Him in spirit and truth.

Being Forgiven Means Being Forgiving

The fourth sermon of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel is found in Matthew 18:1 -19:1. The chapter opens with the disciples asking Jesus this question, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Matthew 18:1. The theme of this message answers that question with four attributes of greatness in God’s eyes. The Greek word mega is the word for “greatest,” and means being first in terms of importance, something that is a priority before something else.

It is interesting that the disciples were thinking in terms of a person compared with other persons, while Jesus answered with attributes of a person. His answer teaches of the powerful attributes of the Kingdom, the mega-attributes of a follower of Christ.

The first of the first is humility, 18:2 – 6. Jesus illustrates humility by placing a child in their midst. The word “humbles himself” is the Greek verb tapinos, and means to view yourself as a servant to others. In the Bible days, children were servants. In our day it seems like they have become the masters. But they were first taught to have mega-respect for elders. It was the priority teaching a child learned. This stands to reason since this is the only way to become a student, to humble yourself, and in so doing, you are in the right state of mind to learn.

Jesus links this to the second mega-attribute of a disciple, which is to choose your teachers, your elders, wisely, 18:6 – 11. Jesus teaches this truth with the image of one who would take advantage of a child. The Bible calls them false teachers. They teach others to sin. The source of this evil is the world, the flesh, and the devil.

False teachers have always been around and are still with us today. And Jesus taught in this passage that my own thoughts, emotions, and bodily desires can become false teachers. This is one of the places where Jesus taught of how our bodily desires can become like control freaks, and must be disciplined to learn their role as servants, not masters.

The third mega-attribute in God’s Kingdom is the activity of bringing others into it. Jesus taught this attribute with the well-known parable of the lost sheep and the shepherd that goes out to find it. Each of these attributes is seen most clearly in the life of Jesus, especially this one. He came to find you, and to bring you back into a right relationship with the Father. When you do this, you are most like Christ, which pleases the Father, giving Him mega-joy, 18:13.

The fourth goes under the heading of being forgiving since you have been forgiven, 18:15 – 35. This is one of the major teachings of Jesus because He came to provide forgiveness and to inaugurate God’s Kingdom on earth as the Kingdom of the Forgiven, whose main activity on earth is to forgive others because they have been forgiven of so much!

The instructions are very clear that when you seek to forgive and reconcile with others, Christ Himself is in your midst to answer your prayers to accomplish this mega-activity. Jesus then gave a stern warning with a parable about a servant who was forgiven a $3 billion debt (10,000 talents = 200,000 years of wages of a laborer), but refused to forgive a $5,000 debt (100 denarii = 100 days salary of a laborer). The consequences of such an action, as Jesus describes, will cause you to shutter, 18:34 – 35.

Today, meditate on the mega-attributes of humility, choosing good teachers, bringing others into the Kingdom, and forgiving others since you have been forgiven of so much. As you do, these mega-attributes of the Life of Jesus, will begin to show up more and more in your life, as your life, which pleases the Father. This is what it means to worship the Father in spirit and truth.

Spiritual Truth in the Flesh

The third sermon of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel is a collection of parables that Jesus told on the nature of the Kingdom of God, Matthew 13:1 – 53. The word “parable” is from the Greek word para-boley, which literally means to set beside.

A parable is one thing is set beside another thing in order to understand the first thing. In the parables of Jesus, spiritual truth is set beside some kind of everyday occurrences so that the truth of spiritual truth can be seen and understood. Another word for parable is incarnation, spiritual truth in the flesh.

The parables in Matthew 13 reveal the spiritual truth of God’s Kingdom, the new creation, along side of God’s created order in which we now live. From the parables of Jesus you come to see that God’s new creation, His Kingdom, is now here just as much as the old is in which we now live. You do not have to wait for the new, receive it, turn and follow Christ and walk right in!

The disciples wondered why Jesus taught in such an indirect way, with parables. To them it seemed as if He was trying to veil the truth rather than speaking it clearly. They asked, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 13:10. The answer Jesus gave raised even more questions, “…the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” 13:12.

The parable that Jesus told about the seed and the four soils, 13:3 – 9, answered their question. It is the parable of all parables because it points to the way to understand all of the parables. Parables point to something greater. If you miss the point, all you have is a nice story, which does not bear fruit, but rather at some point is taken away from you.

When Jesus told this parable, the disciples went to Him and asked Him to explain it to them. This is the key to understanding the parables; you must go to Jesus and ask Him, or the spiritual truth will never be seen no matter what everyday occasion it is placed beside. Jesus Christ reveals spiritual truth as you follow Him.

Everyone knows that food comes from plants, which comes from seeds, which are planted in soil. But some soil seems to partner with seeds better than others. The fruit is locked up in the seed, every seed, but when planted in good soil, the fruit grows and develops and is given, in abundance, but only when the seed is received in good soil.

This parable points to the spiritual truth that a new heart, good soil, is needed before God’s word will bear the fruit that pleases Him. The new heart is the fruit of the Life of Jesus, which died and was planted in the tomb, which the Father raised from the dead.

When that Fruit and the Seed of that Fruit is received, new soil is created, which becomes ideal for Him to grow and develop in so that more and more of His Fruit can be given to the Father. Every believer has a mixture of the four soils, but as the new soil expands into the other “dead fields,” more Fruit is produced and given! Hallelujah!!!

This is called spiritual growth, which pleases God. This is what it means to worship the Father in spirit and truth. Today, receive more of God’s word in the good soil of the new heart so that you become more and more of a parable, an incarnation, of spiritual truth for the Father and the watching world around you.

Giving All That You Are to Receive All That He Is

Matthew’s gospel is arranged around five sermons. At the end of each one you will find the phrase, “…when Jesus had finished these sayings…” which all five share (7:28, 11:1, 13:53, 19:1, 26:1). Together, these five sermons cover the full range of Life with God on earth through faith in Jesus Christ.

The second sermon is found in Matthew 10:1 – 42. The theme of this chapter is the missionary nature of God’s Kingdom, we gather to scatter. This pleases the Father because He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, on the same mission to earth. When you follow Christ, He sends, just as He was sent, because He knows that when you go, it pleases the Father.

In this chapter there are several clear instructions for missionaries, the first of which is sometimes overlooked, “And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them…” 10:1. Sometimes, all that comes after the phrase gave them is focused upon; the authority, the instructions, the warnings, the promises.

But the main point is sometimes missed. Ambassadors of God’s Kingdom only go out after they have been with Jesus and received from Him all that He gives.  Because, of all that the Lord gives, He first gives Himself, so that everything that follows has Him in it, so that of all that is shared, He is shared first, even if it is a cup of cold water to one of the little ones, 10:42.

The warnings, 10:16 – 39, are the major part of this sermon, the hard part. But one of the major points in the warning section is best part of the sermon, which is that regardless of the response or the reaction, God works it together for His purpose of revealing Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. This leads to knowing Christ more and more (the rewards), which leads to greater and greater glory for the Father and greater and greater joy for you (more rewards)!

Another verse that is often quoted in the context of our mission on earth is Romans 8:28, “And we know that God is working all things together for good for those who love Him, for those who are called according to his purpose.” The key phrase in understanding this verse, as well as of the warnings in Matthew 10, is a single word in Greek, the word soon-ergo, which literally means, “works together with and through.”

The idea is of something going through something else and producing something with something. The first “something” is a Person, the Holy Spirit. The second “something” is a person, you. The third “something” is a Person, Jesus Christ. The fourth something are the events of your life with Christ.

The Holy Spirit is forming Christ in you, with you, through you, seen and known as you, before the Father and the watching world around you, with everything that happens to you. And He will not do this without you!

Every event that happens to you, He forms Christ in you, whether it is something good or something bad, something easy, or something hard. But only as you give it all to Him, knowing what He will do, which is to form Christ in you. This is the method God has chosen to spread His Kingdom on earth. This is what it means for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, to worship the Father in spirit and truth.

Today, give all that you are, to receive all that He is, so that as you go, you go with Him, by Him, for Him, knowing that you are becoming more like Him through every event of the day. He gets the glory and you get the joy! Hallelujah!!!