What Makes a Miracle?
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Skeptics might scoff at the notion of miracles, but for those who believe in a spiritual realm – especially Christians – miracles are amazing circumstances that definitively point to the power and existence of God.
For instance, the very creation of the universe is a miracle (Genesis 1:1), as is the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22). Jesus’s incarnational birth and resurrection are miracles, too.
What is a miracle and what makes something miraculous? And are miracles confined only to the times of the Bible, or can we still see miracles being performed today?
What Is a Miracle?
The Dictionary of Bible Themes defines miracles as events, signs, wonders or experiences that demonstrate God’s greatness and power.
The word used for miracle in Hebrew is mowpheth, which also means wonder, sign, portent, or token of a future event. In Greek, it’s dunamis, meaning the work of a mighty force, or semeion, meaning sign or signal.
Something is considered miraculous when it goes beyond typical human expectations of what normally occurs in the world. For example, the creation of water out of nothing by God is itself a miracle, but a body of water today, even an especially beautiful one, isn’t considered a miracle. However, if that body of water were to behave in an unusual way, suddenly parting or bubbling or rising in a way that indicates only the work of the Lord made this happen, that is when it becomes a miracle.
Miracles defy usual laws of nature and indicate the supernatural at work.
Some miracles occur to meet a certain need, such as supplying food. Others occur to showcase the power of God.
What Are Some Miracles in the Bible?
The Bible is filled with miracles. Beyond the creation of the world and the parting of the Red Sea, the Old Testament contains many stories about powerful and mighty signs and wonders—that is, miracles—performed by God. Some of these are as follows:
- The pregnancy of Abraham’s wife, Sarah, who gives birth in her 90s to Isaac (Genesis 17, 21)
- Infertility of women in Abimelech's household, as their wombs were closed because the king of Gerar unknowingly took Sarah, Abraham’s wife, and then reopened when Abimelech discovered her identity and returned her (Genesis 20:17-18)
- Enabling the infertile Rebekah, wife of Isaac, to conceive Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25:21)
- Enabling the infertile Rachel, wife of Jacob, conceive Joseph and Benjamin (Genesis 30:22)
- Moses encountering God through a burning bush not consumed (Exodus 3:2)
- Moses’s rod turning into a snake (Exodus 4, 7)
- The plagues inflicted on Egypt (Exodus 7-10)
- Transforming the bitter waters of Marah into drinkable, sweet water (Exodus 15:25)
- Manna sent from heaven to feed Israelites and quails to provide meat (Exodus 16)
- Moses’s radiant, brilliant face after God talks with him and gives him the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:29-35)
- God sends out fire to consume Aaron’s sacrifice (Leviticus 9:23-24)
- God burns people in fiery deaths for disobedience (Leviticus 10:1-2, Numbers 11:1-3, Numbers 16:31-35);
- Miriam gets leprosy, then is healed, after criticizing Moses’s wife (Numbers 12)
- Water from the rock struck by Moses (Numbers 20:8-11)
- A donkey scolds Balaam for beating him, and Balaam sees an angel (Numbers 22:22-35)
- Parting of the Jordan River as the Israelites enter the Promised Land (Joshua 3:14-17)
- Walls of Jericho fall (Joshua 6)
- Sun and moon stand still to help Joshua’s army in the battle against the Amorites (Joshua 10)
- Samson gets water from a rock (Judges 15:19)
- God delivers the Philistines to David (2 Samuel 5)
- Uzziah killed for accidentally touching the ark of the covenant (2 Samuel 6)
- King Jeroboam's hand withers (1 Kings 13:3-6)
- Ravens feed the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 17:1-6)
- Widow’s food and oil replenished and her son resurrected (1 Kings 17)
- Fire consumes Elijah’s water-saturated sacrifice on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:38-39)
- Jordan River parts (2 Kings 2)
- Bears maul young men who taunted prophet Elisha (2 Kings 2:24)
- Elisha resurrects a woman's dead son (2 Kings 4:18-37)
- Poisoned stew becomes harmless and God uses small quantity of food to feed 100 people (2 Kings 4)
- Prophet’s servant sees invisible army of God (2 Kings 6:15-17)
- Dead man resurrected after body touches Elisha's bones (2 Kings 13:21)
- King David's census brings plague upon Israel (1 Chronicles 21)
- Prophet Daniel’s friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego kept from burning alive in furnace (Daniel 3:12-28)
- Daniel saved from lions (Daniel 6:16-22)
- Jonah is swallowed by a big fish for three days and nights, then is vomited onto dry land (Jonah 1:17-2:10).
What Are Some of Jesus’s Miracles in the New Testament?
In the New Testament, Jesus performed many miracles as a way to draw people to him so they could hear his message and believe:
- Peter walks on water (Matthew 14:28-31)
- Coin appears in fish’s mouth to pay tax (Matthew 17:24-27)
- Deaf man healed (Mark 7:31-37)
- Son of a widow resurrected (Mark 7)
- Demon exorcised from woman (Luke 13:11-17)
- Ten lepers healed (Luke 17:11-19)
- Jesus heals servant’s ear after Peter cuts it off during arrest (Luke 22:50-51)
- Jesus turns water into wine (John 2:1-11)
- Jesus heals a man who had been an invalid for 38 years (John 5:1-9)
- Blind man healed (John 9:1-7)
- Lazarus resurrected (John 11:38-44)
- Peter’s miracle fish catch in deep waters (John 21:1-14)
- Centurion’s servant healed (Matthew 8, Luke 7)
- Jesus feeds thousands (Matthew 15, Mark 8)
- Peter’s mother-in-law healed (Matthew 8, Mark 1, Luke 4)
- Hemorrhaging woman healed (Matthew 9, Mark 5, Luke 8)
- Jesus walks on water (Matthew 14, Mark 6, John 6)
Other miracles were performed by Jesus’s disciples:
- He sent them out two-by-two to cure disease, cast out demons, etc. (Matthew 10:1-42)
- After the resurrection of Christ, Peter and John heal a crippled man (Acts 3)
- Stephen performs “great wonders and signs” (Acts 6:8)
- Philip casts out demons and heals people (Acts 8)
- Paul blinded on road to Damascus, then healed (Acts 9)
- Paul and Silas freed from prison (Acts 16)
- A young man who fell to his death is resurrected (Acts 20)
Can Only God Perform Miracles?
God performs some miracles himself, but some he performs through his human agents, those imbued with the spirit who heal on his behalf and in his name.
Whether the miracle has to do with healing sickness or infirmity and showcasing god’s power and status as Almighty God matters not; what matters is that the miracle isn’t merely coincidence, but rather a big sign or unlikely occurrence that, when it happens, makes people automatically think of God.
Does God Still Perform Miracles Today?
Absolutely yes. Today, many people struggle with a situation or illness. For instance, a man riddled with cancer prays deeply, and when he goes for his next scan, he’s suddenly healed. A woman who couldn’t get pregnant or had a procedure preventing pregnancy is suddenly able to conceive. Sometimes, God answers prayers, and sometimes, He decides on His own to do something powerful in someone’s life. Whatever it is, the point is that it draws glory and attention to God.
Can I Pray for a Miracle in My Life?
It is certainly permissible to pray for a miracle in your life. A popular misconception is that God will never give you things you cannot handle. But in fact, God often allows situations far beyond our control or ability, and when we turn to God and ask for His help and He grants it, that might help you or another person to believe, too.
Indeed, in Matthew 15, a Canaanite woman cried out to Jesus, begging Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter, her persistence strong. Ultimately, he granted her request and healed her daughter, telling the woman, “‘You have great faith! Your request is granted.’ And her daughter was healed at that moment” (v. 28).
This indicates that it is indeed right and godly to pray for a miracle in our own lives.
Miracles are good things, for not only do they help us in some occasions, but they show God’s power, might, and glory to the whole world. Have you experienced a miracle in your life? We’d love to hear about it — share and comment below!
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