Posted on December 11, 2007 14:19
Scott:
Thanks Bob! I agree that we have to be careful not to try and explain that which we cannot know (why someone is struggling, why a paryer "didn't work", etc.).
Posted on December 11, 2007 14:34
Scott:
Larry, I appreciate you stopping by. When I talked about remaining broken I feel the need to clarify. I wasn't talking about remaining broken on purpose. Also I think the brokeness (is that spelled right?) can be physical or spiritual. Paul prayed for a removal of a thorn and some believe that was a physical affliciton, others don't. Either way I know I've prayed for removal of my own thorns. Some God saw fit to remove. Others he's given me grace to deal with. That's what I mean there.
Posted on December 11, 2007 14:38
Scott:
Brokenness. Boy that just doesn't look right.
Posted on December 11, 2007 14:41
pinakidion:
Steve: I read from your post the hows of a miracle.
- The people receiving the miracle believed it was possible, and
- The person facilitating the miracle (or at times, someone on their behalf) believed it was possible. That seems to be an incredibly common factor throughout. Enough of a factor that I don’t think we can dismiss it too easily.
With these criteria, the Widow of Nain miracle is an odd event. It was done without the faith of those present.
When Paul cast out the demon from the fortune-telling slave girl, her owners certainly did not have faith. In fact, they did not even want the spirit out of her. Paul did it to basically silence the spirit, even though it was giving positive testimony about Paul and his companions.
If the faith of the facilitator is all that is needed, then Jesus would have been able to perform miracles in Nazareth, despite the lack of faith.
Back to the Widow of Nain for a moment. When the people declared that a great prophet was amongst them, there is no record that Jesus corrected them. To say that this miracle was for the Kingdom message, it would seem odd that the people were not corrected in their error.
Along those lines, maybe Paul wasn't so pragmatic as to allow a spirit to testify to his message.
It could be that the Widow of Nain miracle was done for the faith of John the Baptist. (Luke 7:14 - 23 follows the text of the Widow of Nain) I would still like to believe that it was done because, and only because, Jesus had compassion on a woman that literally lost everything she had when her only son died.
As for my view, I'd do the best I can. In short, God's will is not subject to our control. We cannot make God heal someone. Fact is, there are some people he does not heal despite prayers, faith, testimony, and the like. No one knows why except God alone.
Point is that miracles are like any other prayer. God can say 'no'. Why he didn't say 'no' to Paul or early Christians is his prerogative. He said yes to a church during Irenaeus's time. To quote:
But so far do they come short of raising the dead, as the Lord raised them, and the apostles through prayer. And oftentimes in the brotherhood, when, on account of some necessity, our entire Church has besought with fasting and much supplication, the spirit of the dead has returned, and the man has been restored through the prayers of the saints.
So that leaves me to believe that miracles are the realm of the God's Will. Not the message, the promise, the evidence or the anything else...