John 10:19-21 (NIV)
At these words the Jews were again divided. Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”
But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
It was Jesus’ clear, unambiguous statement that He could lay down His life freely and take it up again just as freely that pushed some of the crowd to denounce Jesus as demon possessed and raging mad. Many over the centuries had laid down their lives for good causes, many arguably for the cause of Israel. But all of them had died and were still dead. Not a single one of them, no matter how noble or spiritual, had been able to raise themselves to life again.
But here was Jesus, claiming authority to do precisely that! They could tolerate Jesus’ claims to have a special relationship with God, and even to being the true Shepherd of the people. But to claim authority from God to die and then authority to simply rise from the dead – that was insane!
Quite a few others, however, were not ready to write Jesus off as a lunatic. Remember that just hours before He had healed a man born blind, an unheard-of miracle. Those others reasoned that you might not like what Jesus was saying, but you had to take into consideration the fact that He had done something that was completely impossible, totally miraculous, before you discounted or ignored what He was saying.
This, in fact, was one of the big reasons that Jesus did miracles in the first place. It was a demonstration of divine power, a testimony that His words were not the idle speculations of an ivory-tower academic, but came with such authority and power that they had to be listened to. And it was the reason that the people of the Church were and are empowered to do mighty works in the name of Jesus. Theology can be debated, personal experience can be doubted, but a miracle is solid evidence of God’s presence with and in a person.
Father, thank You for not only the testimony of Your presence in Jesus and in those of the early Church, but also for Your continued presence and power at work in Your people today. Thank You for the miracles You have allowed me to be a part of, and how You use those demonstrations of Your presence and power to touch and change people’s lives. Amen.