Do You Believe in Miracles?

It’s hard to get away from talking about miracles when we’re looking at the book of Jonah. Yet when people ask about believing in miracles, often the question is academic, philosophical or sort of whimsical. The Bible tends to take a different approach to miracles than we do.

Sure, people in biblical times believed that God intervened, and that may be different than today. But the kinds of miracles that people experienced is perhaps the biggest difference. When you look at the Gospels and the record of all that Jesus did, even though so many of us have not seen it, there’s a major, major theme: Jesus worked miracles for those on the edges of society and each one was in some way a pushing against systems of injustice. Every leper he cleansed, each woman he touched, each demoniac he restored, each crowd he fed - they were gifts to those in need. Jesus primarily intervened to bless those pushed down by patriarchy, religion, poverty, and status. In fact he starts off his ministry with this vision statement (borrowed and adapted from the book of Isaiah):

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free. - Luke 4:18

So perhaps the kind of miracles we end up debating are not the kinds of miracles that Jesus did. Perhaps he was looking for justice, while we’re looking for certainty. As the famous liberation theologian James Cone quipped, “While churches are debating whether a whale swallowed Jonah, the state is enacting inhuman laws against the oppressed.”

Let’s end pondering these prophetic words:

So perhaps a better question than “Do I believe in miracles?” is “Am I acting like I do?” Am I including the people who are typically excluded? Am I feeding the hungry and caring for the sick? Am I holding the hands of the homeless and offering help to addicts? Am I working to break down religious and political barriers that marginalize ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities and people with disabilities? - Rachel Held Evans, Inspired