Thursday, May 31, 2007

miracles of christ and the kingdom

Herman Hendrickx in The Miracle Stories ...
The miracles do not merely disclose the fact that the rule of God is breaking in with the person and ministry of Jesus. They show also the way in which this happens: where God establishes his rule, people become 'healed'. This does not only mean 'healed' in a spiritual sense as, for instance, in the forgiveness of sins, but also denotes that the entire person, including his/her corporality, has been received by Christ and led to salvation. But just as the kingdom of God has indeed begun but has not yet reached its final fulfillment, so too Christ's healing activity has indeed started but is not yet completed. Jesus' works are the fully valid (in German: vollgültig) confirmation of his message; they are as valid as his word. But they are not the final, definitive (in German: endgültig) act of God in the bodily realm. The totally new creation which begins with the resurrection will be definitive. The miracles are not just prefigurations of salvation but a real gift of salvation at the present time. Jesus' healings are neither legitimation miracles nor mere omens: rather they are themselves already eschatological salvation. The 'already' of the salvation offered now is the presupposition and basis of the 'not yet' of the definitive, total salvation.

Amen.

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