What is a Miracle?

A miracle is an event or occurrence which

goes against the laws of nature.

1) Get out your prep and share your miracle with the
person next to you.
2) Decide whether your example fits the definition
above.
3) If it does, explain why.
4) If it doesn’t – what would you need to change to
make it a true miracle?
 Miracle or no miracle?
In pairs, discuss the scenarios listed and decide whether you believe they are
miracles.

  Luck Coincidence  Miracle  Other 

 
Winning the lottery        
       
 
The sun rising every morning        
       
 
A baby being born        
       
 
Being cured from cancer        
       
 
Surviving a Plane Crash        
         
Seeing a vision        
       
 
A disabled person walking        
         
Scoring 100% in an end of term test        
       
 
Seeing a ghost        
       
 
 Jesus and Miracles.
In the Bible ther
e are different t
of miracle perfo ypes
rmed by Jesus. 3

1 2

he se im ag es to
Use t they
o u t w ha t
work
might be…
 Jesus and Miracles.
Raising to life miracle – Jesus raises someone from the dead
Nature miracle – Jesus shows his power over the natural world
Healing miracle – Jesus heals someone from a disease
Jesus arrives at a house where a little girl Jesus is teaching a large crowd of people.
has just died. There is much crying and The people are a long way from home and
weeping, but Jesus goes to the girl and do not have any food with them. Jesus
says ‘little girl, get up’. The girl is raised to feeds the whole crowd of more than 5,000
life again. people with 5 loaves and 2 fish.
 

Jesus and his disciples are out on a boat Jesus is teaching in a house when 4 men
when suddenly a huge storm blows up. bring to him a man who cannot walk. Jesus
The disciples are afraid their boat may sink says to the man ‘get up and go home’. The
but Jesus says to the wind and he waves man is suddenly healed and walks off
‘be still’ and the storm suddenly stops. carrying the mat he was lying on.

Jesus’ friend Lazarus dies suddenly and is A man comes to Jesus who has been blind
buried in a tomb for 4 days. Jesus comes from birth. He asks Jesus to heal him, so
and commands Lazarus to come out. Jesus puts his hands on the man’s eyes, and
Lazarus comes back to life again and heals his sight so the man can see again.
comes out of the tomb.
What do Miracles teach Christians
about….

God
Jesus
• All-Knowing
– He knows what the people desire
– Mastery over nature points to knowledge
– It points to existence

All-Good
• He cares for His creation
• He listens to prayers and responds to faith
• He builds relationships with His creation
• All-powerful
– He can break the laws of nature
– He can intercede, demonstrating His mastery over His
creation
 Jesus heals a paralysed man
Mark 2:1-12
2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he
had come home.2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left,
not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came,
bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get
him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by
digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw
their faith, he said to the paralysed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why
does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God
alone?”
8 
Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their
hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to
say to this paralysed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat
and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to
forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go
home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed
everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Read the story and summarise it in a flow chart.

1) What part did faith play in this story?

2) Explain why the Scribes were angry with Jesus.
3) What did Jesus show by forgiving the man’s sins
and healing him?
 Jesus Calms the Storm
Mark 4:35-41
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!”
Why did Jesus question the disciples’ faith?
What does the story reveal about who Jesus is?

There is another way of looking at the miracle

which is about the Early Church at the time of
Mark writing his Gospel. Explain what it might
be.
 PREP
prep
Choose a miracle and
write a newspaper
article which explains
THE DAILY MESSIAH
what happens. Miracle shows God’s power in
J.C.!
You must include- a
Biblical reference
text text text text
Interviews with text text text text text text
different eye- text text text text text text
text text text text text text
witnesses or
text text text text text text
characters in the PICTURE… text text text
story. text text text text text text
text text text text text
What the miracle text text text
tells about GOD,
FAITH AND JESUS.
 Jesus walks on water
1) Read through the accounts of Jesus walking on water from
Matthew and John. What differences are there?

2) Something happens in Matthew’s account which does not

happen in John’s. What is this?

3) There is much less dialogue in John’s account. Who speaks

and what does he say?
 
4) What do these gospels tell us about why Jesus performed
miracles?
 Did Jesus really perform miracles?

At the time of Jesus, both his followers and his enemies accepted that
Jesus had unusual healing powers. It was taken for granted that he did
perform miracles. The problem was – with whose power did Jesus
perform miracles? His own magical power? The power of a demon?

Where do Christians believe Jesus’ power comes from?

_____________________________________

It can be difficult to prove that performing miracles is evidence for

Jesus being the son of God. Many Christians believe that miracles
performed by Jesus were signs - showing the arrival of God’s Kingly
Rule.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycncqy7S66E
What are the differences between Dynamo
and Jesus walking on water?

Dynamo Jesus
  Think of the reasons they
might have for walking on
water

‘Why did Jesus run the risk of rejection and

ridicule by performing miracles?’
Christians believe there is a special meaning for each of Jesus’ miracles.
When Jesus healed the paralysed man he told him that his sins were forgiven. The people
who heard him say this knew what he meant. He was claiming to have the power of God -
because people believed that only God had the power to forgive sins. Jesus was showing, by
performing miracles that he was God. He was the promised Messiah, the saviour, the Christ -
God walking on the earth.

The Greek word used in the bible actually means signs - Signs of the kingdom of God.
Sometimes modern readers do not understand the signs in the same way as the people at the
time would have done, for example, the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5000 with five loaves
and two fish. In the scriptures it said that a Messiah would come to establish the rule of God.
When he came he would call everyone to a great banquet. Christians believe that the feeding
of the 5000 was a sign that the Messiah had arrived.
 
Making the blind man see is a metaphor about going from spiritual blindness to having faith.
Christians believe Jesus is the light of the world and when people see him for who he is, they
have sight. They are no longer blind.
 
Through his miracles Jesus was stating that he was the Messiah, God’s king- the Christ. He
was claiming to be the fulfilment of the prophecies of the ancient Jewish prophets. He was
the Son of God.