The Greatest Miracle of All
We’ve seen how the miracles of other religions always glorify a creature or created thing. But the miracles of the God of Creation always glorify Himself, the messengers He sends, or His message. The Bible lists some 250 miracles.
But what is the greatest miracle of all? Perhaps it’s that God sent his Son to earth to live as a man, work in the heat and cold like the rest of us, and then to die on the cross and rise to life again—all for a race of men who repeatedly reject Him and turn away from Him. What kind of love is this? Before it occurred, who would ever have thought this possible?
We read the story of the crucifixion and resurrection from Luke 23:33–24:9 (NLT):
33 When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.
35 The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. 37 They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”
39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”
40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
44 By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 45 The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. 46 Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.
47 When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.” 48 And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow.
49 But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.
… Here Joseph of Arimathea took the body down from the cross and brought it to his own tomb in a cave in the hillside and there they placed it. The soldiers guarded it and rolled a heavy stone across the entrance…
54 This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation, as the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 As his body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where his body was placed. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint his body. But by the time they were finished the Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by the law.
24:1 But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 3 So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.
5 The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? 6 He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”
8 Then they remembered that he had said this. 9 So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened.
One of the Trinity, a part of God Himself, appearing on earth in human form, had died for mankind. And then Jesus rose again from the grave. This, surely, is the greatest miracle of them all. That God would send His Son to die for us.
This is the last blog in the “Miracles” thread. I will begin a new thread the first week in June. The subject? The meaning of life.