Healer of diseases. Master of nature. Conqueror of demons and death. Jesus not only preached the Kingdom of God in word, but he demonstrated it in power through his miraculous deeds. The Miracles of Jesus in <a href="Deeper Connections reveal God?s heart to make people whole?physically, spiritually and relationally.
Do you think that Jesus still desires for people to be made whole?physically, spiritually and relationally? What role do miracles play in your understanding of the mission of Jesus?
The Miracles of Jesus explain the first century meaning of six of Jesus? miracles, along with their significance for us today:
Gary Burge teaches from a transitional home in downtown Chicago that houses 55 homeless men who are struggling with substance abuse or mental illness. This setting helps him to explain that the woman who hemorrhaged for 12 years was a social outcast who needed to be wholly restored by Jesus;
Matt Williams teaches from a vineyard about Jesus turning the water to wine to explain that this miracle fulfilled OT expectations about the coming Messiah who would bring lots of good wine when the Kingdom of God came;
Mike Wilkins teaches from the beach in Orange County, CA to explain that Jesus feeding the 5000 and walking on the water showed that King Jesus was not the warrior king that Jewish people of the first century expected;
Ben Witherington III teaches from Old North Church in Boston, where Paul Revere hung the lanterns when the British invaded, to show that the Canaanite woman who wanted Jesus to exorcise a demon from her daughter was seeking freedom: ?if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed;?
David Garland teaches next to a withered pine tree in the Rocky Mountains to explain that the cleansing of the temple needs to be understood in the same context as the cursing of the fig tree that was withered;
Mark Strauss teaches from a poor neighborhood in San Diego, with a ?rich? neighborhood in the background as a backdrop for understanding the healing of the ten lepers, and the surprising nature of the Samaritan leper returning to thank Jesus.