Because the story of Jesus is so impressive - God among us! God speaking a language we can understand! God acting in ways that heal and help and save us! - there is a danger that we will be impressed, but only be impressed. As the spectacular dimensions of this story slowly (or suddenly) dawn upon us, we could easily become enthusiastic spectators, and then let it go at that - become admirers of Jesus, generous with our oohs and ahs, and in our better moments inspired to imitate him.
It’s Luke’s task to prevent that, to prevent us from becoming more spectators to Jesus, fans of the Message. Of the original quartet of writers on Jesus, Luke alone continues to tell the story as the apostles and disciples live it into the next generation. The remarkable thing is that it continues to be essentially the same story. Luke continues his narration with hardly a break, a pause perhaps to dip his pen in the ink well, writing in the same style, using the same vocabulary.
The story of Jesus doesn’t end with Jesus. It continues in the lives of those who believe in him. The supernatural does not stop with Jesus. Luke makes it clear that these Christians he wrote about were no more spectators of Jesus than Jesus was a spectator of God - they are in on the action of God, God acting in them, God living in them. Which also means, of course, in us.
Introduction to ACTS from Eugene Peterson.
"The supernatural does not stop with Jesus." Then why do the supernatural workings of the Spirit, the miracles (healings, etc...) seem to have disappeared? Why do we not see them?
ReplyDeleteGreat question, anonymous. Here are my thoughts, and that's exactly what they are--just my thoughts, not intended to be the end of the matter. In the first century, miracles were a universally accepted proof of God's power and the truth of the Christian message. So when the apostles performed miracles, it established them as legitimate, and Christianity as legitimate, wherever they went. This is certainly not true in 21st century western culture. The legitimacy of Christianity is challenged in other ways, and the miraculous is met with skepticism. That being said, there are many who would argue your assumption that miracles have disappeared. I have recieved many reports from missionaries abroad who experience the miraculous often in cultures that are more mystical than ours. I have also experienced this myself both at home and abroad. While it may be true that the apostles were specially equipped for the enormity of the task of establishing the church in the world, I don't think the stakes in the Kingdom have gone down much since then, and I'm moved to at least consider that my own complacency plays more a part in what I experience than God's change in plans. Lastly, and at the risk of sounding cliche, I do not beleive that the Holy Spirit is any less at work today, and I believe that changed lives have always been more important to God than "signs and wonders," and are no less miraculous. And no, this is not a cop-out answer. Lives are not transformed unless God steps in. Biblically, this has always been the end game, and other signs and miracles only a means to this end. 1 Corinthians 13:1-7, "If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love."
ReplyDelete