July 7: Why are you amazed?

While he was holding on to Peter and John, all the people, greatly amazed, ran toward them in what is called Solomon’s Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Or why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk by our own power or godliness? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you. You killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead; we are witnesses of this. By faith in His name, His name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Him has given him this perfect health in front of all of you.   (Acts 3:11-16 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Peter’s two questions to the people running over to stare at them and the healed ex-beggar were so appropriate. But the same questions apply today. Why are we amazed at miracles? Why are we tempted to worship men or women of faith that cause miracles to happen, as though they were the miracle-workers? If we truly believe in God, miracles should be a normal part of our lives, and though they’re wonderful, they should not be shocking, they should be expected.

 C.S. Lewis, in his book “Miracles”, has a great quote: “Miracles do not, in fact, break the laws of nature.” They are a normal part of the world that God created. All through the Bible God intervened to bless, protect, heal, and rescue His people, it’s a part of His nature. If we removed all the miracles from the Bible we would have a very incomplete picture of who He is. In fact, we could say that calling miracles supernatural is incorrect. Nothing could be more natural for true children of God than to experience their Father’s intervention and care.

Though most of us are familiar with the facts of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we don’t always comprehend their far-reaching effects on people’s lives. Here Peter explains that this man’s healing was made possible because of what Jesus had done. His death on the cross makes it possible for anyone of us to press the reset button on our lives — we are healed, forgiven, freed from the past, freed from curses, given a new sense of worth, given a future and salvation. Though this crowd could easily have grabbed Peter and John and had them arrested and killed like Jesus, Peter had the boldness to speak the undiluted truth, and accused this crowd of killing the Anointed One of God who had come to save them. Though risky, he knew this was his chance to save people that were lost.