Life of Christ, Section 7: Later Galilean Ministry, Miracles

The church in
the wildwood -
the little
brown church,
Nashua, Iowa
Sunday, 15 September 13

The church in
the wildwood -
the little
brown church,
Nashua, Iowa
"The Church in the
Wildwood" was
written by Dr.
William S. Pitts in
1857 following a
coach ride that
stopped in
Bradford, Iowa -
the church was
not actually built
until several
years later.

There's a church in the valley by the
wildwood
No lovelier spot in the dale
No place is so dear to my childhood
As the little brown church in the vale.
(Oh, come, come, come, come)
Come to the church by the wildwood
Oh, come to the church in the vale
No spot is so dear to my childhood
As the little brown church in the vale.
How sweet on a clear Sabbath morning
To listen to the clear ringing bells
Its tones so sweetly are calling
Oh come to the church in the vale.

The Ministry of
Jesus
The later stages of Galilean
Ministry

Time for some
miracles!

Time for some
miracles!
Does God still do
miracles today - for
whom, by whom,
how...?

Everything in Christ astonishes me. His
spirit overawes me, and his will confounds
me. Between him and whoever else in the
world, there is no possible term of
comparison. He is truly a being by
himself….I search in vain in history to ﬁnd
the similar to Jesus Christ, or anything
which can approach the gospel. Neither
history, nor humanity, nor the ages, nor
nature, offer me anything with which I am
able to compare it or to explain it. Here
everything is extraordinary.
Napoleon Bonaparte

“Jesus’s teaching consistently attracted
the irreligious while offending the Bible-
believing, religious people of his day.
However, in the main, our churches
today do not have this effect. The kind of
outsiders Jesus attracted are not
attracted to contemporary churches,
even our most avant-garde ones. We tend
to draw conservative, buttoned-down,
moralistic people. The licentious and
liberated or the broken and marginal
avoid church.

“...That can only mean one thing. If
the preaching of our ministers and the
practice of our parishioners do not
have the same effect on people that
Jesus had, then we must not be
declaring the same message that Jesus
did.”
Timothy Keller

The synoptic gospels continue to deal with
Jesus’ ministry topically at this time - and
that is the simplest way for us to follow:
Parables Mk 4:1-34
Miracles Mk 4:34-6:6, 6:30-56
Sending out the 12 will be discussed
afterwards and the death of JTB has already
been dealt with
Withdrawal from Galilee Mk 7:1-9:50 -
critique of Jewish traditions (going north and
east) and then brief return before the journey
to Jerusalem

Miracles
Important questions for us to
consider:
- are the miracles of Jesus real
events, a breakthrough of
supernatural power?
- are they a way of deifying
Jesus much as Greeks/ Romans
would have done with their
heroes?
- can we still believe in miracles
happening today?
- are all miracles the same in
essence i.e. over nature,
healings, deliverances etc.
Stein says that:
34 separate miracles are
performed by Jesus in the
Gospels
Along with these are 15
references to Jesus’ miracle
working activity
Jesus is also the recipient of
miraculous activity - virgin
conception, events at baptism,
transﬁguration, resurrection etc.
Does that tell us anything?

Miracles
Important questions for us to
consider:
- are the miracles of Jesus real
events, a breakthrough of
supernatural power?
- are they a way of deifying
Jesus much as Greeks/ Romans
would have done with their
heroes?
- can we still believe in miracles
happening today?
- are all miracles the same in
essence i.e. over nature,
healings, deliverances etc.

Mark 4:35 - 6:36
Jesus has power and
authority over: disaster,
demons, disease and
death
Stilling the storm
Mk 4:35-41
- this is frequently applied
by believers to say Jesus
will ‘still the storms of life’ -
is this promised within the
passage?

Mark 4:35 - 6:36
Jesus has power and
authority over: disaster,
demons, disease and
death
Stilling the storm
Mk 4:35-41
- this is frequently applied
by believers to say Jesus
will ‘still the storms of life’ -
is this promised within the
passage?
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples,
‘Let us go over to the other side.’ 36 Leaving the crowd
behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.
There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious
squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so
that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern,
sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said
to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves,
‘Quiet! Be still!’Then the wind died down and it was
completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples,‘Why are you so afraid? Do
you still have no faith?’
41 They were terriﬁed and asked each other, ‘Who is
this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’

- the gospels use it to ask a question, “Who is this,
that even the wind and sea obey him?”
- God stilled the storm for Jonah
- a fragment from a Qumran manuscript promises
the heavens and earth will obey Gods Messiah
- we see Jesus having great power and the disciples
little faith (4:40)

The Gerasene
Demoniac

Jesus restores a demon-possessed man (NIV)
5 They went across the lake to the region of the
Gerasenes.[a] 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man
with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.
3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind
him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often
been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains
apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong
enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the
tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself
with stones.

6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on
his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his
voice, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the
Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!’ 8 For
Jesus had said to him, ‘Come out of this man, you
impure spirit!’
9 Then Jesus asked him,‘What is your name?’
‘My name is Legion,’ he replied, ‘for we are
many.’10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to
send them out of the area.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby
hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, ‘Send us among
the pigs; allow us to go into them.’ 13 He gave them
permission, and the impure spirits came out and went
into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number,
rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were
drowned.

14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in
the town and countryside, and the people went out to
see what had happened.15 When they came to Jesus,
they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion
of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind;
and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the
people what had happened to the demon-possessed
man – and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the
people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had
been demon-possessed begged to go with him.19 Jesus
did not let him, but said, ‘Go home to your own people
and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and
how he has had mercy on you.’ 20 So the man went
away and began to tell in the Decapolis[b]how much
Jesus had done for him. And all the people were
amazed.

The ﬁrst half of Mark is
dedicated to the
demonstration of Jesus’
authority over sickness,
laws of nature, and the
demonic world. He also
calls, appoints, and sends
out his disciples while
regularly teaching in a
unique and authoritative
way.

The ﬁrst half of Mark is
dedicated to the
demonstration of Jesus’
authority over sickness,
laws of nature, and the
demonic world. He also
calls, appoints, and sends
out his disciples while
regularly teaching in a
unique and authoritative
way.
A legion was the largest
unit of the Roman army and
at full strength had 6,000
soldiers.
The incident occurs near
Gerasa, a small town by the
sea.
A ﬁfth-century church
excavated in Kursi possibly
marks the traditional
location of this event, on
the eastern shore of Galilee.

Mk 5:1-20
- multiple demons
- a man with a history of being
very savage
- the demon is named “Legion”
- why did Jesus allow the
demons to go into the pigs?
Possibly as this is not the time
for ﬁnal judgement (cf Matt
8:29)
- the demon destroys life, but not
human life
- we assume the farmers are not
Jews (Gentiles) as pigs are killed

- the result is a testimony and
instilling of faith v19-20
- v17, why did the people plead
with Jesus to leave their area?
Did they see a holy man and
(much like Peter) feel the weight
of their sinfulness?
The Greek word daimonizo is
usually translated “demon
possession”- in fact the word
means “to demonise” so the
extent of possession or
oppression is not made clear
Cf 1 Jn 4:4

Blomberg observes 7 general
aspects of demonic activity
(from encounters with
Jesus):
1. Disregard for personal
dignity (naked)
2. Social isolation
3. Retreat to a simple shelter
4. Recognition of Jesus’
deity
5. Demonic control of speech
6. Shouting
7. Extraordinary strength

Raising Jairus’ daughter and healing
the woman with the ﬂow of blood
Mark 5:21-43
Jesus raises a dead girl and heals a sick woman
21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to
the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered
round him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of
the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and
when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded
earnestly with him, ‘My little daughter is dying.
Please come and put your hands on her so that she
will be healed and live.’24 So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed round him.
25 And a woman was there who had been subject to
bleeding for twelve years.26 She had suffered a
great deal under the care of many doctors and had
spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she
grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she
came up behind him in the crowd and touched his
cloak, 28 because she thought, ‘If I just touch his
clothes, I will be healed.’29 Immediately her
bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she
was freed from her suffering.
30 At once Jesus realised that power had gone out
from him. He turned round in the crowd and
asked,‘Who touched my clothes?’

31 ‘You see the people crowding against you,’ his
disciples answered, ‘and yet you can ask, “Who
touched me?”’
32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had
done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had
happened to her, came and fell at his feet and,
trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He
said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go
in peace and be freed from your suffering.’
35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came
from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your
daughter is dead,’ they said. ‘Why bother the teacher
anymore?’
36 Overhearing[c] what they said, Jesus told him,
‘Don’t be afraid; just believe.’
37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter,
James and John the brother of James.

38 When they came to the home of the synagogue
leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying
and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them,
‘Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not
dead but asleep.’ 40 But they laughed at him.
After he put them all out, he took the child’s father
and mother and the disciples who were with him, and
went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the
hand and said to her, ‘Talitha koum!’ (which means
‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’).42 Immediately the
girl stood up and began to walk around (she was
twelve years old). At this they were completely
astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone
know about this, and told them to give her something
to eat.

Jesus is summoned to help
with the daughter of a
synagogue ruler who is at
the point of death
How much courage would it
have taken for a man in his
position to come and seek
out Jesus?
How humbled would he
have felt that for all his
good religious practice God
does not appear to be
hearing or acting through
this prayers?

- along the way he encounters
a woman who has been
suffering for 12 years
- in both cases the person
requiring help would have
been ceremonially unclean,
impure
- also both are shown to
receive healing in some way
in response to faith
Is such faith still required
to see healing happen
today?
Is a lack of faith preventing
the church seeing people
supernaturally healed?

- along the way he encounters
a woman who has been
suffering for 12 years
- in both cases the person
requiring help would have
been ceremonially unclean,
impure
- also both are shown to
receive healing in some way
in response to faith
Is such faith still required
to see healing happen
today?
Is a lack of faith preventing
the church seeing people
supernaturally healed?
He said to her, ‘Daughter,
your faith has healed you.
Go in peace and be freed from
your suffering.’
35 While Jesus was still
speaking, some people came
from the house of Jairus, the
synagogue leader. ‘Your
daughter is dead,’ they said.
‘Why bother the teacher
anymore?’
36 Overhearing what they
said, Jesus told him, ‘Don’t
be afraid; just believe.’

Luke 7: Jesus raises a widow’s son
11 Soon afterwards, Jesus went to a town called Nain,
and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him.
12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was
being carried out – the only son of his mother, and she
was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with
her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her
and he said, ‘Don’t cry.’
14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were
carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He
said,‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’ 15 The dead man
sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his
mother.
16 They were all ﬁlled with awe and praised God. ‘A great
prophet has appeared among us,’ they said. ‘God has
come to help his people.’ 17 This news about Jesus
spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

This takes place at sometime
during the later stages of Jesus’
ministry in Galilee
- Blomberg describes it as
reviviﬁcation not resurrection,
explaining this applies to a
return to life but that will at
some point still end in death
- this is only found in Luke and
has similarities with Elisha
raising the Shunnamites son
2Kings 4:18-37
- Nain in fact occupies
approximately the same location
as Shunem did

Blomberg also suggests that Matthew 9:27-24, the
healing of blind men and a dumb demoniac
could be included here - they are similar to other
miracles we see later and will be talked about then
Jesus is rejected in Nazareth - Mk 6:1-6
- Probably the same rejection we dealt with in Luke
4
- it ﬁts in here as the comment that after doing
many miracles in other places...
4 Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honour
except in his own town, among his relatives and in his
own home.’ 5 He could not do any miracles there,
except lay his hands on a few people who were ill and
heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Interestingly this is the only passage
to name the brothers and sisters of
Jesus - and to name him a carpenter
Jesus left there and went to his home
town, accompanied by his disciples.
2 When the Sabbath came, he began to
teach in the synagogue, and many who
heard him were amazed.
‘Where did this man get these things?’
they asked. ‘What’s this wisdom that has
been given him? What are these
remarkable miracles he is performing?
3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s
son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a]
Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here
with us?’ And they took offence at him.

Interestingly this is the only passage
to name the brothers and sisters of
Jesus - and to name him a carpenter
Jesus left there and went to his home
town, accompanied by his disciples.
2 When the Sabbath came, he began to
teach in the synagogue, and many who
heard him were amazed.
‘Where did this man get these things?’
they asked. ‘What’s this wisdom that has
been given him? What are these
remarkable miracles he is performing?
3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s
son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a]
Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here
with us?’ And they took offence at him.
- Some say they are literally brothers of Jesus, sons of
Joseph and Mary.
- Others say they were his legal half-brothers, sons of
Joseph by a former marriage.
- Others that they were cousins of our Lord - sons of a
sister of Mary, also called Mary, the wife of Cleophas,
Clopas, or Alpheeus.
(There is evidence that there were four sons of Clopas
and Mary, whose names were James, and Joses, and
Simon (or Symeon), and Judas. Mary the wife of Clopas is
mentioned in Matthew 27:56 as the mother of James the
less and of Joses.)
Catholics suggest that the word used here means not only
"a brother," but generally "a near kinsman." In the same
way the "sisters" would be cousins of our Lord.

Feeding the 5000
Mk 6:30-44
30 The apostles gathered round Jesus and reported
to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then,
because so many people were coming and going that
they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to
them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place
and get some rest.’
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a
solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving
recognised them and ran on foot from all the towns
and got there ahead of them.

34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had
compassion on them, because they were like sheep
without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many
things.
35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples
came to him. ‘This is a remote place,’ they said, ‘and
it’s already very late.36 Send the people away so that
they can go to the surrounding countryside and
villages and buy themselves something to eat.’
37 But he answered, ‘You give them something to
eat.’
They said to him, ‘That would take more than half a
year’s wages[e]! Are we to go and spend that much
on bread and give it to them to eat?’

38 ‘How many loaves do you have?’ he asked. ‘Go and
see.’
When they found out, they said, ‘Five – and two fish.’
39 Then Jesus told them to make all the people sit
down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat
down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the
five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven,
he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave
them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He
also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all
ate and were satisfied,43 and the disciples picked up
twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.
44 The number of the men who had eaten was five
thousand.

Feeding the 5000 Mk
6:30-44
What was the motive for
Jesus performing this
amazing miracle?
- compassion
- sheep without a shepherd
reminds us of Ezekiel 34
where Israel’s leaders are
rebuked for their lack of
caring for the people

Feeding the 5000 Mk
6:30-44
What was the motive for
Jesus performing this
amazing miracle?
- compassion
- sheep without a shepherd
reminds us of Ezekiel 34
where Israel’s leaders are
rebuked for their lack of
caring for the people
- Dt 18:18 - I will raise up for them
a prophet like you from among their
fellow Israelites, and I will put my
words in his mouth. He will tell
them everything I command him -
which had led people to expect
greater miracles along the lines
of Moses feeding the people in the
desert
John 6 has an account pointing
more directly to Jesus as Messiah
and including the bread of life
statement
In fact having seen the miracle
they wanted to make him king by
force Jn 6:15

Jesus walks on water
Mark 6:45-52 / Matthew 14:28-31
- where Peter walks on water too
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the
boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while
he dismissed the crowd.23 After he had dismissed
them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to
pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and
the boat was already a considerable distance from
land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was
against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them,
walking on the lake.26 When the disciples saw him
walking on the lake, they were terriﬁed. ‘It’s a
ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear.

Jesus walks on water
Mark 6:45-52 / Matthew 14:28-31
- where Peter walks on water too
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the
boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while
he dismissed the crowd.23 After he had dismissed
them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to
pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and
the boat was already a considerable distance from
land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was
against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them,
walking on the lake.26 When the disciples saw him
walking on the lake, they were terriﬁed. ‘It’s a
ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take
courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’
28 ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to
you on the water.’
29 ‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the
boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and,
beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and
caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you
doubt?’
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind
died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat
worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of
God.

Only Matthew's version has the
incident with Peter
- in fact in 14-18 Matthew has ﬁve
incidents which do not make
Peter look good
15:15, 16:17-19, 17:24-27, 18:21
- possibly this is correcting an
exalted view of Peter which had
started to exist in the early
church?
- the confession will appear again
in Matt 16:16ff though Mark ends
with a declaration of lack of
understanding due to hardened
hearts 6:52

Matthew and Luke ﬁnish this
subsection with a rebuke of
cities which failed to recognise
and respond to Jesus - Matt
11:20-30
- it will be less bearable for
these cities than for those in the
OT which symbolically were
God’s enemies (tyre, Sodom,
Gomorrah and Sidon)
- Matt then contrasts this with a
call to take up the yoke of Jesus
vv27-28

Life of Christ, Section 7: Later Galilean Ministry, Miracles

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Life of Christ, Section 7: Later Galilean Ministry, Miracles