Expecting Miracles
Mark 16:9-20
What does it take to believe?
Photo by Kyros Vaziri on Unsplash
Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it. - Mark 16:9-20
Mark tells it straight.
Despite all the appearances and all they were told by Jesus before he was crucified, his apostles failed to believe.
Jesus had to appear to them in person and yell at them so they would see that the stories of his resurrection were true.
At first, we can get upset with them, the eleven who had been with him daily for three years. But what if they were quick to believe?
What if all it took was for them to hear what Mary had told them, or what the couple along the road said they saw and experienced?
Wouldn’t we be skeptical?
They wanted to believe, we would say. It was mass hysteria.
But their reluctance makes the story more believable for us.
If the ones who walked with him and heard him tell them he would rise again in three days had trouble believing, then when they do come to believe, it is more powerful for us.
There are churches today that include these practices of snake-handling, drinking poison, and performing healing by touch in their services, but most Christian denominations don’t.
Like the apostles, we are all skeptical. We look at these signs as examples, more figurative than practical.
Are we right to think that? Or are we lacking in faith?
Isn’t belief based on faith better than belief based on signs?
Jesus tells them that these signs will accompany those who believe. He doesn’t say there is no belief without them, though.
We may see someone become healed through faith, and we may believe playing one of the hands in prayer is one way to help us show our faith to the sick, but it doesn’t mean we are doing the healing.
We are merely instruments of God.
Yes, it is powerful to witness someone become physically healed in the presence of a congregation actively praying for them.
There is power in the assembly. The more of us who come together in our belief in the power of the Holy Spirit, the better. Being surrounded by faith and love can help a person believe that all is possible through Christ.
So, what should we do? Should we put on a show of faith, or quietly pray as individuals?
Jesus tells us we will see signs because of our faith, so maybe we should approach life with a willingness to see what could be as something truly possible, and maybe we should expect miracles once in a while.
More to come...