Signs and Wonders: Finding Deeper Significance in the Miracles of Jesus

By Paul Vincent Turner

Signs and Wonders will transport you into the distant and unfamiliar world of first century Palestine. There you’ll walk with Jesus through dusty hill towns and along rocky shorelines of Galilee as He begins to gather and train His band of young disciples, revealing Himself to them through His miraculous signs.
The journey begins with an exploration of the miracles as a comprehensive body of work by Jesus, comparable in every way to His sermons and parables. The miracles are revealed as far more than isolated displays of power; they are in fact multi-faceted tools used by Jesus to teach, reprove, reward and strengthen faith, refute false teaching, fulfill prophecy and, above all else, glorify His beloved Heavenly Father.
Gripping narratives recreate not just the miracles but the rich tapestry of personalities and circumstances which surrounds them. You’ll experience these incomparable acts with an immediacy and depth of context rivaling that of an actual first century eyewitness. Throughout it all you’ll be immersed in the sweeping history and exotic customs of the time, discovering along your way the answers to some of our most perplexing questions about the miracles:
• Why did Jesus use so many different “techniques” to heal?
• How could a woman be healed without Him even knowing about it?
• Why did Jesus have to try a second time to restore one man’s eyesight?
• How did Moses help to put the silver coin in the fish’s mouth?
• Why was Jesus so rude to the Canaanite woman…and to His own mother?
• What “destructive” miracle did He perform, and what lesson did it teach?

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 3, 2024
• ISBN: 9798385020041

Paul Vincent Turner

Paul Turner holds a Certificate in Theology from Luther Rice Seminary and is a long-time student of the miracles. His love of scuba diving helps to inform his understanding of the miracles, as both are windows into areas of God’s creative activity which receive far too little examination and appreciation. Paul lives in Social Circle, Georgia with his wife, Cheryl, and a collection of beloved dogs and horses.

Book preview

Copyright © 2024 Paul Vincent Turner.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 979-8-3850-2002-7 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-2003-4 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-2004-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024903983

WestBow Press rev. date: 5/31/2024

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV Bible® (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked HCSB®, are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. HCSB® is a federally registered trademark of Holman Bible Publishers

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ASV are taken from the American Standard Version Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked WEY are from the Weymouth New Testament

by Richard Francis Weymouth, 1912. Public domain in the United States.

Scripture quotations marked BSB are taken from The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible, BSB. Copyright ©2016, 2018 by Bible Hub. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1A Framework for Understanding

Chapter 2The Seventh Vessel

Chapter 3Deep Water

Chapter 4Walking Dead

Chapter 5Which is Easier?

Chapter 6The Higher Lesson

Chapter 7The Tassels

Chapter 8Other Sheep

Chapter 9He Who Has Ears…

Chapter 10The Higher Lesson

Chapter 11If…

Chapter 12The Four Drachma Coin

Chapter 13The Fourth Day

Chapter 14The Higher Lesson

Chapter 15Epilogue

To Ed Dabney

The words of encouragement and the small,

precious gift made all the difference.

Thank you.

For every grownup who stood as a child looking at a flannel board Jesus walking on flannel board waves and sees little more significance in the story now than then;

For every restless seeker challenged by the complexities of twenty-first century life who struggles to find relevance in the archaic story of a first century leper;

For every grey-haired saint poring for the hundredth time over a bare-bones gospel account, searching for a key phrase long neglected, a clarifying nuance somehow overlooked, thinking in silent frustration, There must be more to the story than this…

There is.

There is deeper significance.

There is relevance.

And, yes, there is much more to the story…

PREFACE

A NOTE TO THE READER

Before we begin our journey, a few helpful words are in order regarding what this book is, and what it is not.

It is not a comprehensive examination of every recorded miracle of Jesus. In fact, of the thirty-seven plus miracles recorded in the gospels (numbers vary based on possible duplicate accounts) I chose only fourteen to explore in detail. More accurately, the Holy Spirit chose them, since I conducted no sort of systematic selection process, responding instead to what resonated in my spirit concerning which miracle to write about next. In fact, in those instances where I started an account with a faulty premise or labored early due to a weak narrative approach, my efforts were quickly shut down until I reoriented in an acceptable direction.

The book also is not intended as even a quasi-scholarly dissection of the miracles in terms of doctrine or theology. I have been labeled as many things over the years but scholar is not on the list, and rightly so. These miracle accounts, as you will see, are presented in a visceral narrative form designed to put you on the ground and among the spectators, immersed in the everyday reality of a culture far removed from what is comfortable and familiar to us. Through them you will experience the breadth and majesty of Jesus’ incomparable acts with not only the immediacy of an eye witness encounter, but with the advantage of background, context and character insights not available to the actual first century observers.

That being said, the very first chapter, A Framework for Understanding, is different. It is a broad overview of the miracles as a body of work by Jesus, and will expose you to insights which will greatly inform and enrich your appreciation of the narratives that follow. I encourage you absorb and refer to this chapter as you proceed. It will equip you with the tools to mine on your own the inexhaustible riches of the miracles.

A final word on narrative accuracy. I have striven for the utmost fidelity to the gospel record. I have put no words put in any person’s mouth except those which are taken directly from scripture, with no changes or additions. The only variation results from the translation used, and that is noted in every instance. Any interpretations or elaborations upon such quotes are my own thoughts entirely and are clearly identified as such. Descriptive details, narrative elements and chronologies are based upon scriptural references or upon reliable non-scriptural historical sources. Any thoughts, predispositions or emotional reactions that I attribute to any person are based upon direct scriptural evidence of that individual’s known personality and character traits, or inferred from basic human nature when it can be reasonably applied. In cases where such attributions can only be considered as supposition, I have gone to great pains to characterize them as something that I consider likely rather than factual.

In the end, everything I have written is in support of one overriding goal, to bring glory to the Son and through Him, to the Father. A worthy goal it must be, since it is shared by Jesus Himself, as He expressed in His ‘High Priestly’ prayer:

…Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.¹

"The weeping mother -the dead man borne in the

midst. They were going to the house of death,

But Life was between them and it, and was walking to meet them…"

-GEORGE MACDONALD

INTRODUCTION

001_a_lbj23.jpg

Occasionally I run across a dusty old copy of National Geographic Magazine, and it always gives rise to a flood of memories from my youth. My Dad was a lifelong subscriber and we dearly loved that magazine. A while back I saw an issue from the 1980s chronicling an ambitious project undertaken by the Vatican to clean and restore Michelangelo’s magnificent frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. I clearly recall that time. Along with art lovers around the world, I waited in near breathless anticipation for the glories about to be revealed. But, to our collective surprise and alarm, we were confronted with something totally unexpected. Our view of the great masterwork was not going to be enhanced. It was going to be fundamentally altered.

As the grime of centuries was painstakingly peeled away, the original pigments underneath seemed shockingly brilliant, almost cartoon-like in contrast with the muted sepia tones we were all so familiar with. Surely, this could not have been Michelangelo’s artistic intent. Something in the restoration process must be radically altering the original colors!

Alas, this turned out not to be the case. Despite initial worldwide cries to stop the ‘restoration’ before more damage was done, the realization soon dawned that this was, in fact, the artist’s original vision. How could it be so disturbingly different from what we were accustomed to, so jarringly out of line with our long-held assessment of Michelangelo’s particular genius? As the laborious stripping and cleaning process inched across the great ceiling, the side-by-side contrast of existing and original had an almost visceral impact. The newly restored portion seemed garish and unsettling next to the pleasantly homogenous patina layered on by five centuries of candle smoke.

But wait…candle smoke! It slowly dawned on me that the artist in his wisdom had made his colors particularly intense because he knew they would be viewed from a distance, dimly lit from far below by candle or torchlight. The Renaissance, for all its advances, afforded no quartz-halogen floodlights to illuminate the lofty recesses of a seventy-foot ceiling.

Something else became strikingly apparent as the restoration inched beyond the halfway mark: the shrinking, as-yet unrestored portion itself began to look somehow out of place, pale and washed-out alongside the growing intensity of the newly cleaned expanse. What initially had seemed garish and unfamiliar now glowed with increasing power, vibrancy, and life. Gone was the comfortable, static depiction of a few familiar Bible stories. In its place, Michelangelo’s restored masterpiece imparted a new energy and immediacy to the ancient events it illustrated. Suddenly the artist’s glowing depiction of these age-old stories grabbed and commanded our attention, compelling us to revisit their scriptural foundations, and to reflect on them with a renewed intellectual vigor.

Along with the rest of the world, I soon came to marvel at this newly manifested evidence of the artist’s mastery. Yet, at the same time, I was troubled by the realization of how strongly we had clung to the comfortable and familiar, reluctant to exchange it for the power and majesty of the original.

But this is not an art history text. This is a book about the Miracles which Jesus performed when He walked among us as a man. More accurately, it is a search for greater meanings and deeper truths than those we ordinarily associate with the miracles, wondrous though we acknowledge them to be.

As with the Sistine frescoes, it is remarkable the extent to which centuries of familiarity can dull the impact of such astonishing events as the miracles of Jesus. Eons of countless retellings impart a distant, fable-like quality even to events that form the very bedrock of our beliefs. One hundred generations of cultural and technological upheaval conspire to obscure the immediacy and power of first-hand experience. This is not the fault of the scriptures. This is our fault. The Gospel accounts, though spare in form and detail, still speak through the ages with clarity and power of the Lord’s time here on earth. They still bear witness to every nuance of meaning imparted by our Savior through His splendid deeds. But, after twenty centuries, how attentive are we, still? How much of the original color still shines through, and how much is muted by the accumulated soot layered on by two thousand years of religious ritual and formulaic teaching? How can the two-dimensional flannel-board Jesus walking stiff-legged across flannel waves on a Sunday School bulletin board be revealed once again, in blinding Truth, as the divine agent of all creation, ripping asunder and re-weaving the very fabric of the universe according to the power and majesty of His will?

Perhaps, in some small way, the following pages can equip us to begin peeling back the deadening stains of time and familiarity so that we may marvel anew, through His incomparable miracles, at the majesty and glory of the living Christ.

one

A FRAMEWORK FOR

UNDERSTANDING

image2.jpg

T he miracles of Jesus occupy a strange place in the overall study of the gospel accounts. I’ve never been quite able to shake the notion that they are fundamentally regarded as things Jesus did, and not really as part of who He was or what He came to say . The parables, sermons, and teachings are all looked upon as integral to the very character and message of Jesus. The miracles, by contrast, seem to be treated more or less as isolated displays of divine power that are unconnected in any meaningful way with the other broad areas of Jesus’ ministry. Compared to His spoken words, they are not seen as particularly revelatory of the challenging and revolutionary message He brought to mankind.

The goal of this book is to foster an appreciation of the Miracles of Jesus as a substantive, purposeful component of His overall message and ministry, just like the parables, sermons, and teachings. Our challenge is to approach the miracles in a way that will allow us to see broad patterns and relationships that are otherwise overlooked in a traditional one-by-one examination. Although our approach in this chapter will be somewhat structured, this is only to aid in our understanding as we later examine the miracles in a narrative form. Our goal is not simply to create a checklist by which we can catalog and compare various aspects of the miracles. Our goal is, and forever should be, to grow in our appreciation of the Lord’s limitless majesty, grace, and authority and thus in our devotion to Him.

Our general tendency in looking at any miracle is to oversimplify Jesus’ motivations (notice the plural) for performing it. As a result, we often miss any broader significance that extends beyond the immediate circumstances. And, while His exercise of supernatural power is dazzling and inspiring by its very nature, we somehow rarely experience a sense of true awe approaching that of a first-hand observer. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve become more than a bit jaded after a lifetime of