The Purpose of the Miracles of Jesus

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The Purpose of the Miracles of Jesus
Notes from Morna Hooker
George R.
Beasely-Murray
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The amount of space Mark devotes to miracles It
is important to him. Two broad groups
Healing miracles Nature
miracles The calming of the
storm (4.35-41) Walking on
the water (6.47-52) Two
feeding miracles The barren
fig tree (11.12-14, 20-25)
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Healings to two individuals (in section
1.14-3.6) 1. Each implies that the power of
Jesus to heal is universal. 2. The link
between Jesus authoritative teaching and
his power to heal (1.21- 28).
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The theme of Jesus teaching (1.14) The
proclamation of the Kingdom of God. --This
proclamation involves healing in Jesus the power
of Gods Kingdom is at work, destroying the
unclean spirits. --Healing miracles means
more than mere physical healing (1.44 5.15, 34
those who were excluded from the community are
restored to membership of Gods people).
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• Out of pity for people?
• Yes, but still more out of obedience to the call
  of God.
• 2. He had a foreordained ministry to fulfill.
• 3. He had come to reveal the kingdom of God in
  word and deed.
• 4. His ministry of healing was an integral part
  of his deliverance of human beings, and it
  belongs to his mediation of the kingdom of God as
  much as his preaching does.

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His miracles and his proclamation were integral
to the redemptive process whereby the saving
sovereignty of God was inaugurated in the world.
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The miracles were significant beyond expressing
his sympathy for people, and that they were of a
piece with his message and even declarative of
it. Actions always show a persons
character. They testify to (a) the fact of his
messianic lordship, and (b) the nature of the
lordship. Both these aspects of their message are
indissolubly bound up with his teaching on the
kingdom of God.
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Miracles not only demonstrate the power of Gods
Kingdom but reveal the identity of Jesus himself
The authority of the Son of God (1.11).
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• Healing takes place when his authority is
  acknowledged (either by the unclean spirit or by
  the sick).
• No faith ( no acknowledgment of his
  authority), no healings (6.1-6 his home town
  8.11-13 his refusal to the Pharisees)
• 2. A healing outside the context of the
  proclamation of the Kingdom is inappropriate
  because it does not belong within the context of
  faith in the power of God (7.24-30 the
  Syro-Phoenician woman).

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In Marks presentation, miracles are thus
essentially christological. 1. They present us
with the authority of Jesus and demand a response
from us. 2. They are able to serve as symbols
for belief in Jesus as the Son of God (8.22-26
10.46-52 two blind men).
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True faith in Jesus is not simply faith in his
power as a mighty man of God but faith in him as
the Christ who is proclaimed as Son of God
through suffering. True faith is born at the
very end of the story, but already some in the
story see and hear part of the truth about him.
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Marks miracles function as signs like
Johannine signs, but Mark avoids the term
(e.g.,13.22). The miracles are signs of Jesus
authority. They are not signs which lead to
faith, but signs to those who have faith.
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The way of Jesus is not a sequence of exceptions
to the ordinary, but a way of living deeply and
fully with the people here and now, in the place
we find ourselves.
--Eugene H. Peterson
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The fact that Jesus heals and exorcises demons is
not denied by his opponents, but wrong
explanation. 1. They cannot deny the authority
of Jesus, but they attribute the authority to the
wrong source. 2. Jesus authority is unique and
points to his identity.
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In 9.14-29, the story (the dumb spirit) reminds
us of faith for healing. 1. Jesus alone has the
faith. 2. Because Jesus life is rooted in the
Kingdom, he has the faith to grapple with Satan
and defeat him the disciples are not yet wholly
committed.