[written for the 2016 Great Lent Giveaway]
On Miracles in the Holy Bible and Now
Miracles in the Old Testament
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of heaven, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that moves on the earth. So God made man; in the image of God He made him; male and female He made them. Then God blessed them ; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of heaven, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
(Genesis 1: 26-28)
When God made us in His image, He was doing more than giving us intellect, creative instinct and the like: He was creating us to be His “imagers” to the world. Everything in it was designed to respond to our intentions and actions. We were given this power so that we would spread the harmony and order of Eden throughout the earth. Created innocent and simple, we were meant to grow in wisdom through the tutelage of God and His holy angels. When one of those angels, the tempter Satan, led us away from that plan, we were cut off from regular communion with God and His holy ones; we had broken our covenant with God and our ability to be His imagers to the world was corrupted.
Despite this, nature still responded to our intentions and actions; it’s just that we became as much a curse to it as we were blessing; for instance, the Lord pronounced that the ground would be “cursed” through our labors (Genesis 3:17b) and that it would only yield food through toil and sweat, and it would offer up brambles alongside the fruit of our intent (Genesis 3:18-19). Because of our sin, we were expelled from Eden into a place where hostile gods (rebellious members of the heavenly host) and our own fallenness conspired to keep us from away from the fulfillment of our purpose (i.e. to order ourselves and the world according to God’s will).
But God did not give up on us, and did things both mundane and miraculous for us.
You, O God, in Your righteous judgment, expelled him from paradise into this world, returning him to the earth from which he was taken, yet providing for him the salvation of regeneration in Your Christ. For You did not forever reject Your creature whom You made, O Good One, nor did You forget the work of Your hands, but because of Your tender compassion, You visited him in various ways: You sent forth prophets; You performed mighty works by Your saints who in every generation have pleased You. You spoke to us by the mouth of Your servants the prophets, announcing to us the salvation which was to come; You gave us the law to help us; You appointed angels as guardians.
From the Anaphora of St. Basil
The Old Testament describes how God chose a nation (Israel, see e.g. Deuteronomy 32:8-9)) to protect, guide, and prepare for the redemption of humanity (and creation) through a “New Adam” (Christ); the other nations gave themselves over to the worship of fallen angels and idols (Psalm 95:5; 1 Corinthians 10:20). The miracles described in the Old Testament must be understood within this context.
Despite this, most of the things that are described in this part of the Bible can seem fairly mundane; there are family squabbles, migrations, famines, enslavement, wars, the election of leaders, the warnings of prophets, etc.; but these events are inseparable from the supernatural context. God uses – and delegates to select representatives – His power to provide His chosen people direction, protection, and encouragement (e.g. Daniel 10:13). For instance, one of the most spectacular miracles in the Old Testament is Elijah’s calling down of fire to consume the water-soaked wood offered to the true God, Yahweh (1 Kings 18:17-40). God did is done to show the Israelites that they should follow Him alone because He is the their God and supreme among all the gods (e.g. Psalm 135:2; Deuteronomy 10:17).
And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Eli′jah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that thou, O Lord, art God, and that thou hast turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”
(1 Kings 18:36-39)
To reiterate, God gave mankind power to effect His will throughout creation. Some aspects of this power would now be considered “miraculous”, and although man’s power is subdued and largely misdirected, it is still a constant part of the Old Testament narrative (as is that exercised by the angels, both good and rebellious). At times God uses His own power in miraculous ways. When He does, it is always for the furtherance of His plan of salvation, first for Israel, then for all mankind and the entirety of creation.
Miracles in the New Testament
And when the fullness of time had come, You spoke to us through Your Son Himself, through whom You created the ages. He, being the splendor of Your glory and the image of Your being, upholding all things by the word of His power, thought it not robbery to be equal with You, God and Father. But, being God before all ages, He appeared on earth and lived with humankind. Becoming incarnate from a holy Virgin, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, conforming to the body of our lowliness, that He might change us in the likeness of the image of His glory. For, since through man sin came into the world and through sin death, it pleased Your only begotten Son, who is in Your bosom, God and Father, born of a woman, the holy Birth-giver of God and ever virgin Mary; born under the law, to condemn sin in His flesh, so that those who died in Adam may be brought to life in Him, Your Christ. He lived in this world, and gave us precepts of salvation. Releasing us from the delusions of idolatry, He guided us to the sure knowledge of You, the true God and Father.
From the Anaphora of St. Basil
God guided, protected, and admonished His chosen people until the fullness of time had come. Again, most of the miracles described in the Old Testament were part of that project. They worked in conjunction with “the Law”, a mundane (i.e. non-supernatural, although they were given in a very supernatural setting! E.g. Deuteronomy 33:2, Psalm 67:17-18, Acts 7:53, Hebrews 2:2, Galatians 3:19, , Deut. 33:2) set of moral, theological, and ritual rules. But the nature and strategy of God’s work changed with His glorious incarnation. Whereas both His miraculous actions and the Law in the Old Testament were for the protection and deliverance of the Jews alone, the new actions were directed towards the salvation of all, even when they were performed among the Jews.
It is true that many of the miracles Jesus performed improved the quality (or even presence!) of life for many people (i.e. by healing their infirmities); but that was not the main point of His actions. The purpose of His incarnation was not to alleviate the suffering of a handful of men, women, and children – despite the real effect He had on them; the purpose of His incarnation was to be the new Adam, the Human that could be the Imager of God that the old Adam could not – and then to allow all humanity to join Him as the new Adam (i.e. the new humanity; there is a play on words in the Hebrew here).
Because He was both perfect man and perfect God, He was the unmitigated blessing to the world that fallen man could not be. It wasn’t just that He could control the weather, control demons, and heal diseases through His words and actions, it was that His being corrected and perfected the space around Him. For instance, rather the than the thorns and brambles that grew up around the Old Adam, Jesus’ very presence transformed water (a sign of chaos and disorder in the Old Testament) into the “blessing of the Jordan” and healed people of their diseases (St. Matthew 9:20; note that it is useful to compare this to the way God’s presence at the Arc of the Covenant affect the space around it as in Joshua 3 & 6). The spiritual vision we have of the Incarnate Christ is that grace flowed from Him the way water flows from a fountain, offering an abundance of “Living Water” with everything and everyone that was willing to accept it.
But the greatest miracle of the New Adam – Jesus Christ, our God – was when He allowed everyone who believes in Him to become part of the New Adam, the Church. The Church became the new nation of Christ, the new humanity through whom the blessings of Christ would be experienced and shared with the world. This, and not the comfort of the afflicted, was the purpose of His public miracles in the New testament (after all, the restoration of the health of all the new humanity would be and were already accomplished in the age to come).
Miracles Today
He [Jesus Christ] acquired us for Himself, as His chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Having cleansed us by water and sanctified us with the Holy Spirit, He gave Himself as ransom to death in which we were held captive, sold under sin. Descending into Hades through the cross, that He might fill all things with Himself, He loosed the bonds of death. He rose on the third day, having opened a path for all flesh to the resurrection from the dead, since it was not possible that the Author of life would be dominated by corruption. So He became the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, the first born of the dead, that He might be Himself the first in all things. Ascending into heaven, He sat at the right hand of Your majesty on high and He will come to render to each according to His works. As memorials of His saving passion, He has left us these gifts which we have set forth before You according to His commands. For when He was about to go forth to His voluntary, ever memorable, and life-giving death, on the night on which He was delivered up for the life of the world, He took bread in His holy and pure hands, and presenting it to You, God and Father, and offering thanks, blessing, sanctifying, and breaking it, He gave it to His holy disciples and apostles saying: Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you and for the forgiveness of sins. Likewise, He took the cup of the fruit of vine, and having mingled it, offering thanks, blessing, and sanctifying it, He gave it to His holy disciples and apostles saying: “Drink of this all of you. This is my blood of the new Covenant, shed for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this Bread and drink this Cup, you proclaim my death, and you confess my resurrection.” Therefore, Master, we also, remembering His saving passion and life giving cross, His three; day burial and resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven, and enthronement at Your right hand, God and Father, and His glorious and awesome second coming. We offer to You these gifts from Your own gifts in all and for all.
From the Anaphora of St. Basil
This brings us to the topic of miracles in the present day. While there is no doubt that the supernatural is a regular part of life, it is also true that many of the things that are called “miraculous” are distractions. Jesus Himself warned us that this would be the case when He walked among us (e.g. St. Matthew 7:21-23, 24:24 & St. Mark 13:22; see also 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 & Revelation 13:13-14, 16:14, 19:20). The useful (God-given) miracles that do occur are either a natural result of saintly grace (e.g. the levitation of St. Mary of Egypt, the radiance of St. Seraphim, and the healing efficacy of holy relics) or an invitation to greater faith and repentance (as with miraculous icons).
Foremost of the modern miracles are the ones that follow the purpose of God for the new nation of Christ (a nation that all are called to join through faith).; these are the miracles that we refer to as “Mysteries” or “Sacraments”. St. John Chrysostom makes the point that these modern miracles are greater even than those accomplished before;
Do you not rather feel transported straightaway into heaven?…Imagine the scene when Elias stands with the immense throng surrounding him, the victim laid on the altar, and everywhere is stillness and profound silence. The prophet stands alone and prays: and immediately the fire comes down from heaven upon the altar. Then change the scene to the sacrifice which is now offered, and you will see a wonder; rather, something beyond admiration. For the priest as he stands there brings down not fire, but the Holy Spirit. His long prayer is not that fire may come down from heaven to consume the oblation, but that grace may descend upon the sacrifice, and through that sacrifice kindle the souls of all, to make them brighter than silver which has been tried in the fire.”
St. John Chrysostom, found in Daily Readings from the Writings of St. John Chrysostom edited by Anthony M. Coniaris, pg. 6)
Remember that all of God’s miracles are an attribute of His holiness and the result of His will “that all be saved and come to a knowledge of the Truth” (i.e. become His holy people). The miraculous changing of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, the use of the water to for spiritual death and resurrection, the use of oil and spices to seal the Holy Spirit in the person of the believer, the use of Confession to turn tears of repentance into a new birth, the use of crowns to unite to bodies into a single life, and the laying on of hands to grant the power to loose and remit sins (along with the other charisms of ordination)… these are all given to the Church by God to bring about the salvation of humanity. Christ began that work when He was incarnate as a Jew, but He continues it through His people. This was His plan and promise;
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.”
St. John14:11-14
The promise is not that God will grant to each believer magical spells and powers, but that through His living in us and us in Him, the grace and will that He has would flow through us, as well. This power is most powerfully manifested in the worship, sacraments, and service of the Church because this it is His body (with Him at His head).
May we be thankful for the grace that God has granted to His people, and may that grace flow from us as readily as it does from Him!
