About miracles

In the missionary journey of St. Paul, a certain pattern emerged. Paul always began in Jewish synagogues. It was the most natural and reasonable entry point into a foreign land. At first, he was well accepted by his fellow Jews. Later, when his popularity rose, whether due to his eloquence or to the miracles he worked, there were always jealous Jews to plot against him. Then Paul would turn to the Gentiles. This took place in Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:14-52), in Iconium (Acts 14:1-5).
In the reading today, Paul was preaching the gospel in Lystra and Derbe, two cities in Lycaonia (Acts 14:6-7). In Lystra, no mention was made of Paul's preaching in Jewish synagogues. Again, silence does not mean absence. Paul probably had preached in the synagogues but the focus of this pericope is about a miracle Paul worked in Lystra. It should be noted that due to his background as a physician, Luke described in greater details healing miracles. So, both Peter and Paul healed a lame man from birth (Acts 3, 14). In this Lystra miracle, Paul saw that the man was listening attentively to his preaching. Paul knew that this man had enough faith and he healed him.
He listened to Paul speaking; and Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well,
said in a loud voice, "Stand upright on your feet." And he sprang up and walked (Acts 14:9-10).
Faith was a pre-condition for this healing. But in the Jerusalem miracle, the lame man was more interested in begging alms than in his own healing. He did not show any signs of faith in Jesus because Peter had not started preaching at that moment. Yet, Peter healed him in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. It seems that faith was not a pre-condition for healing in this case. Of course, this undreamt-of recovery must later have instilled in this lame man faith in Jesus.
These two miracles brought about unintended consequences. Peter made good use of the miracle to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus in the Temple. Peter intended to win more people over to the truth. However, he was arrested by the priests and the captain of the Temple (Acts 4:3). Paul probably made the mistake of not mentioning the name of Jesus in his healing. Paul intended to strengthen his preaching with a miracle. However, the people thought instead that Zeus and Hermes had visited them and they wanted to offer sacrifice to Barnabas and Paul (Acts 14:11-13)! So, next time, when you want to work miracles, you had better do it in the name of Jesus!
We label such inexplicable and powerful events miracles δυνάμεις. However, biblical authors would like us to understand that these powerful events are signs σημεῖα of God's mercy. Therefore, if God wills them, faith is not necessarily a pre-condition. Faith can be a consequence. As long as we end up in faith or our existing meagre faith enhanced, God is generous to work miracles for our good in His time frame. Of course, to respect our freedom, God will not impose miracles on us. There are stubborn people and people who refuse to see the signs of God and be healed. But there are many more who have never heard of the existence of our heavenly Father.

The Pastoral Assistant of my alma mater has recently finished a project, publishing a booklet on the life of Wong Kwan Cheung 王鈞祥, aka Cheung Tze 祥仔. I am glad that he is still alive and kicking. Many of them do not live long but at 51, he is a living sign of God's grace. He is a miracle. He is currently living with his mentally retarded sister in Choi Hung Estate where I grew up. I was lucky enough to meet him in my school days. He is an inspiration to many. Nowadays, he is still actively engaged in voluntary services and sharing his life experience with students of various levels. I dare say his contribution in education is far greater than any teachers in Hong Kong. He has strong faith in God. But will he ask God to heal him? I doubt very much he will. Sometimes, it is far better not to work miracles even if He is able to. Can we then say God is cruel, allowing Cheung Tze to continue suffering like this? Only Cheung Tze is qualified to decide, not us. Our task is to continue loving our neighbours as ourselves. Leave the rest to God.

Dear Jesus, I pray for my friend Cheung Tze. I entrust him to Your loving care. I understand that You have a wonderful plan for him far better than we can ever dream of. I pray that through his witness, Your name be glorified. Amen.

Acknowledgement: The photo is downloaded from 大學線月刋 第65期 2004.12 at http://www.com.cuhk.edu.hk/ubeat/041265/story07.htm