John 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
In 1804 Thomas Jefferson started cutting and pasting all the passages in the Gospels he liked to write an account of the life of Jesus. Consistent with his naturalistic leanings, he left out all references to the miraculous or supernatural. His book ends with the stone being rolled over the tomb of the crucified teacher. What is now referred to as the Jefferson Bible has no account of the resurrection, the Virgin birth or any of the miracles Jesus performed.
It is now 2024, 220 years later, and Pastor Mark Batterson suggests those today who reject miracles might just as well be reading from the Jefferson Bible. Jesus sans divinity is a great and kind moral teacher, but powerless to affect change.
Yet Jesus was crystal clear about his power and the source of it. He said all his works came from the Father (making them supernatural). In fact, he said if we didn’t believe him because of what he said, believe him because of the miracles. And not only that. He declared believers would do even greater works than he did. All to point people toward their powerful, loving Father God.
It’s a big call.
A call never realized if we don’t take miracles seriously. God doesn’t give us miracles so we experience a temporary high. He doesn’t grant miracles so people put faith healers on pedestals. He moves through all believers in miraculous ways for the same reason he moved through Jesus. To point people to Himself.
C.S. Lewis writes in Miracles that if we hold a philosophy which excludes the supernatural we will attribute anything extraordinary to an illusion. Let’s not let that happen. Embrace this big call. Begin looking for the Lord to move in miraculous ways. Ask him to heighten your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit in the midst of daily life.
And if you’re living according to the Jefferson Bible, pick up a new version that contains the whole truth! And make sure it includes the book of Acts!