"If we do away with the miracles in the life of Jesus," a columnist in the Korea Times writes, "we have the flower without the perfume." Followers of Jesus need to have the freedom of heart to accept the miracles. A miracle is something we can't explain and, according to the columnist, is often misunderstood.
When we can explain a miracle it is not a miracle. He is surprised to hear so many drag down to our level of understanding what Jesus did in his miracles. We even have priests who do this in their sermons. The famous Catholic Japanese writer Shusaku Endo has also done this.
Most often this is done with the miracle of the loaves and fishes. The miracle is explained away by having Jesus move the hearts of those present to share the food they had brought along. The columnist considers this a clever explanation that deserves a medal for ingenuity. We admire the skillfulness, he says, but we lose the sense of Jesus' authority. After his prayer to God, Jesus' majesty, mercy, and power suddenly vanishes and in its place there is merely an exceptionally good orator.
When we can explain a miracle it is not a miracle. He is surprised to hear so many drag down to our level of understanding what Jesus did in his miracles. We even have priests who do this in their sermons. The famous Catholic Japanese writer Shusaku Endo has also done this.
Most often this is done with the miracle of the loaves and fishes. The miracle is explained away by having Jesus move the hearts of those present to share the food they had brought along. The columnist considers this a clever explanation that deserves a medal for ingenuity. We admire the skillfulness, he says, but we lose the sense of Jesus' authority. After his prayer to God, Jesus' majesty, mercy, and power suddenly vanishes and in its place there is merely an exceptionally good orator.
Shouldn't we either accept or not accept the miracles instead of using these subterfuges? There are two miracles, he says, that we should not put any conditions on: they are the birth of Jesus and the resurrection. And to accept these miracles we have to have the heart of a child.
Obviously, there are many things that can't be explained. He uses the example of Uri Geller when he came to Korea. He appeared on TV and told the watching audience to take a spoon and tell it to bend. The columnist took stainless steel chop sticks in his hand and standing before the TV set: "bend, bend" he said, and before his eyes, they melted 4 or 5 degrees, and he has those chop sticks to prove what happened. He adds that Geller did not come to him for help in doing this trick. He is not able to explain what happened, he is not concerned whether Geller is a fraud or not, whether it was preternatural or some strange power, all he knows is those chop sticks did melt in his hands, and he has no way to explain it.
Why do we have so many problems with accepting the miracles of Jesus? Life is full of mystery and miracles; life acquaints us to the many facets of love. Miracles come from love, and Jesus was a bundle of love. He did not use tricks. Why should it be difficult to accept the miracles?
