preaching the miracle stories

Herman Hendrickx explains that when preaching the miracle stories found in the Synoptic Gospels, "the informed preacher will no longer treat these miracle stories simply as so many proofs of Jesus' divinity and miraculous power or as humanitarian acts, he will have to do justice to the fact that they are an integral part of Jesus' message in words and deeds and, therefore, of the Church's proclamation as well."

This is excellent! The King has come and has demonstrated for us what life in His Kingdom looks like. The 'already not yet' has come, at least in part, and now we His Bride, are called to do the the same. This is not simply as a proof. This not simply an overflow of His compassion. It is the nature of the Kingdom and it is our nature as ambassador of the King.

Hendrickx continues, "If the homolist isolates the miracle stories from the overall context of the gospel in order to demonstrate certain truths like, e.g., the divinity of Christ, he goes contrary to the intention of the evangelists, who want to proclaim the person of Christ and his place in our life today, leading to a total commitment to Christ."

Christ is the Truth. It is Him whom we seek. Many look for truths (or worse formula) in the Gospel stories and through that, the true message of the the story, Christ Himself, is missed.

Some Charismatics seem to search for ways to see more miracles in their lives while some Evangelicals battle to prove the uniqueness of Gospel miracles. In both of these I see a missing of the true target, Christ Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. What we see in the Gospels isn't there as a proof text for either view point, it is there for us to see the Kingdom. Let he who has eyes see.

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