“JESUS
CHRIST - A
MAN APPROVED OF GOD (Acts 2:22)”
Miracle #2-
Dear
Reader, the key to the meaning to this
miracle lies in the history of Israel with their God … in particular
with their
murderous dealings with their God-sent prophets (Matthew
23:34-37,38-39).
Indeed,
Christ knew the stiff necked and hard
hearts of his people, that he would be faced with, in his coming to
earth (Matthew
1:21; Ezekiel 3:7-9).
Since
Abraham believed God (Genesis 15:6), Israel’s
history was the great sin of unbelief (Hebrews 3:12, 19; 4:6,11) as
evidenced in Paul’s writing to the Hebrews “… for the sin which
doth so
easily beset us (Israel)…” (Hebrews 12:1), and this,
despite having
more miracles and deliverances per square foot, than the rest of the
world put
together.
In short,
Israel’s history can be summed with the
cyclical repetition of the following five steps … 1. Temporary
belief 2.
Unbelief 3. Apostasy 4. National devastation 5. Deliverance ….
1.
Temporary belief 2. Unbelief etc.
After 400
years of God’s absence after the prophet
Malachi, Israel is one big mess with disease, palsy, Roman domination,
pestilence, leprosy … in short … Israel is a physical, mental and
religious
catastrophe.
God’s
purpose was always to have nation, made up of
countless generations of “Abraham’s” that would simply believe God.
Christ’s 2nd
miracle gives Israel the Abrahamic template of “believe” as
their basis
to be strong in faith … that is … to be fully persuaded (Romans
4:20-21).
The characters
in Christ’s 2nd
miracle are the desperate Jewish nobleman at his wit’s end
concerning
the physical healing of his fevered son at the point of death. Both
represent two aspects of Israel.
The father
can be likened to a frantic,
desperate Israel not knowing where to turn for help
… having
tried all the other “false doctors and
healers” of other nations’ gods, for close to 1900 years.
The son can be
likened to another aspect of Israel, who, after 400 years of misery, is
at the
point of death.
Both in
absolute need of grace and mercy, the
nobleman confronts Jesus, who says to the father “… thy son
liveth. And
the man believed …”.
Here is
Jesus reminding Israel, 1900 years later,
that their father Abraham did the same concerning Abraham’s seed
(Genesis
15:6). Israel’s sin that doth so easily beset is unbelief.
Christ
presents to Israel the belief needed toward
him … that of whosoever believeth on him shall not
perish but
have everlasting life (John 3:16) … and of course they didn’t.
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“JESUS CHRIST - A MAN APPROVED
OF GOD (Acts 2:22)”
Miracle #3-
in synagogue (Luke 4:33-36,37)
