Paul used this word figuratively elsewhere in his writings (Rom. What are the “idle” words referred to in Matthew 12:36? One question requiring attention is, “How did Jesus perform these miracles? Now Jesus did go into the region of the Decapolis, which began as Greek colonies and at that time were heavily influenced by Rome. Was Philip transported miraculously after the Ethiopian was baptized? It was at that point that the Holy Spirit came upon Him. This means that they couldn’t do whatever Christ did. 2:9). In particular, they should “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. 17:2; Mk. When in Matthew 24:36 Jesus says that not even the Son knows the time of Jesus’s return, I take him to mean that the Son — Jesus Christ, considered in his human nature — operates with a kind of limitation. ( Log Out /  John 19:25-27. This miracle links Jesus to the story of Genesis 1, where God speaks and creation happens. Which means his promise in John 14.12 that his followers will be able to do all the things he did and “even greater things than these” is more than just words. “You can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move” (Mt. He had a strong grasp of His own purpose for being on the earth. God can never be or become less than God. hast thou not recognised Me, as in John 14:7.Comp. 5:16; 6:12; 11:1). Luke 4:14 says that Jesus, after the temptation, “returned in the power of the Spirit ” (and be it noted that John informs us that the Father gave to the Son the Spirit without limitation, John 3:34). Jesus often prayed to the Father and received daily instructions from Him (Mk. • “gave this up” WE What about not knowing the date of the second advent? It doesn’t mean that God can do anything; because He can’t sin and He can’t deny who He is (2 Tim. But the independent and prideful only experience his power in discipline. Jesus, also called Jesus Christ, Jesus of Galilee, or Jesus of Nazareth, (born c. 6–4 bce, Bethlehem—died c. 30 ce, Jerusalem), religious leader revered in Christianity, one of the world’s major religions.He is regarded by most Christians as the Incarnation of God. He appeared to over 500 people after His death. Was it a pen name, a stage name, a patronym, or a job description?…. This means Christ laid aside aspects of His equality with God or the form of God (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon). Jesus goes on to say that there is one who DOES seek his glory (I think this might be a reference to the Father). The night before His crucifixion, Jesus, praying for His followers, said to His Father, “They [His disciples] are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” . Here’s a link to my post on: Read through John 6:1-13 and notice all the times Jesus had his disciples minister to the people during this event. He terminated his life by suicide and went to “his own place” (Acts 1:25), i.e., the place he had prepared for himself by his rebellion. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. 13 There was great diversity in Jesus’ miracles. When Jesus said, “Be gone, Satan!” the devil had to obey him (Matt. He also came as a Servant that was obedient to God the Father and said that “a servant does not know his master’s business” (Jn. In this context it means acts of Christ, to rouse people to believe in Him and to accomplish their salvation. Instead, Jesus’ relationship with God above was such that he was able to tap into the power of God to do his ministry. Satan has power, but Jesus has ultimate power over all creation. It means that everything to do with the miracle of salvation is only possible through God’s power. Instead, He chose to limit the use of these unlimited powers. He could say He would raise up His body on the third day because He, being God, has power over death. The Holy Spirit is mainly mentioned at Christ’s baptism, His temptation and when He visited His hometown Nazareth. But he will not be killed. Jesus brought the power of forgiveness from heaven to earth. 24:36; Mk. So now, in John 20:21, he is giving that same authority to his apostles. 9:5). This is not meant as an attack, but as a respectful discussion, maybe that I am having with myself, out loud. It is not an unconditional promise. We have to believe that JESUS did DIE ON THE CROSS that GOD did send HIS only SON down here for us for our sins. Jesus went from a place of power and glory (ruling in heaven) to a place of humiliation (dying on earth like a criminal). After Jesus ascended back to heaven, believers were able to pray to the Father in Jesus’ name, and Jesus Himself promised to answer these prayers (Jn. Of course God the Son and the Holy Spirit are under the authority of God the Father (Jn. • Jesus’ power over nature was clearly divine. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Explaining the dynamics of this self-emptying and the permanent assumption by the second Person of the Trinity of genuine and complete humanity is another matter altogether and is largely an unfathomable mystery. Luke 9:18-23 This means that He didn’t need to do them in the power of the Holy Spirit. • “lowed (meeked) Himself” WYC. Here, we see Jesus being in charge of the natural world, which shows that he is one with God – God’s Son. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. He was both human and divine (Jn. This message was spoken to the disciples and we know that their “works” are given in the book of Acts where we see more people coming to trust in God than in the gospels. Several things are plainly evident from this study of the work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ: First of all, we see the completeness of His humanity. The moment Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit; He walked as much different man on earth. • “stripped himself of all privilege” (PHILLIPS) Wouldn’t it make sense, that for teaching purposes (his) that he would use it, or not? Jesus never performed a miracle on his own behalf. Jesus seems angry and frustrated -- emotions we see elsewhere in confrontations with the Pharisees and at the cleansing of the temple. He also withdrew at the end of his Galilean ministry to Tyre and Sidon, which were ancient pagan cities. 5:19; 16:13). Jesus never spoke of his return. When the Bible says that Jesus didn’t know the date of His second advent it is referring to him as a finite human being, not as the divine Son of God. The majority are faith healings, exorcisms, resurrection, and control over nature. Consequently, while Jesus had dealings with the various socio-political groups and religious ideologies of his his time, he took his own unique life-option. It theoretically could have been the Father’s will for the Son to perform miracles in His own divine power, but apparently it was not, thereby maintaining the self-imposed limitations of His humanity. Today I came across John 8:50 where Jesus says that he is not seeking his own glory. Instead, He is going to replace it. The Bible teaches that Jesus was unique. Jesus also had His Father’s Spirit without measure . The miracles of Jesus are the supernatural deeds attributed to Jesus in Christian and Islamic texts. This doesn’t mean that Jesus was a human being with limited knowledge like us or that He emptied Himself of all the attributes of deity when He came to earth as a man. What does all things are possible with God mean? 11:20-24; Lk. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. 20:28). Chronological index. Because John 14:12 is not addressing miracles (apart from salvation), the claim that it means we can do “greater miracles” than Jesus is obviously false. He did not seek glory. After He walked on water and calmed a storm, the disciples said “truly you are the Son of God” (Mt. And he is explicit about what he is giving them, “Whoever’s sins you forgive, they are forgiven.” And does this mean that today Christians can also do whatever Christ did? The history of Christian reflection on the teachings and nature of Jesus is examined in the article Christology. George, I appreciate your research and your article, but I’m not sure if I agree with you (and I may be just coming from angry emotions from my past ). Now, I know that sounds weird; that sounds strange. You also asked, “In which situations did Jesus decide or know to use His miraculous power?”. 14:12). Maybe I need to read, and pray, more about this. I get from your article that Jesus was “selective” with his use of HIS power. – He didn’t resurrect every corpse, and Likewise, because people today are not divine we can’t do whatever Christ did. There are many examples in the Bible of Jesus using His divine power when He was on earth. And Matthew observed that Jesus made Capernaum “his own city.” This passage says, when He came to earth, Jesus: • “made Himself of no reputation” GNV, NKJV • He does what God the Father does (Jn. This is divine omnipotence. He had a strong grasp of His own purpose for being on the earth. The moment Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit; He walked as much different man on earth. I was surprised! Luke 4:14 says that Jesus, after the temptation, “returned in the power of the Spirit” (and be it noted that John informs us that the Father gave to the Son the Spirit without limitation, John 3:34). If it was in the power of the … Jesus’ younger brother, James, didn’t think Jesus was anybody special. But not the divine nature. 4:11). Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. How did Jesus do miracles? It appears that the three members of the trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) all worked together in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. (Luke 9:37-43) He had power over physical elements, turning water into wine. In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus refuses to give a miraculous sign to prove his authority. Your thoughts, with all due respect, sound “selective”. John 16:10 But Jesus did spoke of the return of the second Son of Man. It is the uniform view of orthodox Christianity that this “emptying” involved the voluntary surrender of the independent exercise of His inherent divine powers, the voluntary surrender of His divine will to that of the Father, and the voluntary complete veiling or concealment of the visible or outward manifestation of His divine glory, but not the loss in any manner of any of His divine attributes or essences as God. Jesus used everyday opportunities to train his disciples to serve and minister to others. But what about verses that have been used to claim that Christians can have unlimited power? 2:13). Because Jesus retained His divine nature and didn’t give it up or stop using it completely, He was able to perform miracles by using His divine nature alone. • “gave up His place with God and made Himself nothing” EXB, NCV 5:19; 14:10; Acts 10:37-38). But Jesus Christ was willing to give up His high position in heaven with all its privileges. • “of His own free will He gave up all He had” (GNT) the reference in John 14:8, from which it will be seen that Philip was one of the first-called disciples, and had occupied a prominent position in the band of Apostles.There is in our Lord's words a tone of sadness and of warning. It is also used figuratively here – Jesus didn’t literally empty Himself or make Himself nothing with respect to His divinity (Phil. What about Gods promises to give believers whatever they ask and move mountains for them? 14:19), and changed water into wine (John 2:1-11). (9) Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?--More exactly, . And while Jesus did not exercise conventional kinds of political authority, his actions and his message included threats to the status quo. The Greek word erga (Strongs #2041) translated “works” is mentioned in the two previous verses as well. This is a principle of science. He stayed behind in the temple carefully listening to what the priests said and asking questions. • Acted like a slave who obeys their master, not like the ruler of the universe (v.7). Also, as a consequence of this were the disciples able to do whatever Christ did? That He has always been divine…but “added to His divinity humanity” in the incarnation (John 1:1-18, Colossians 1:15-20, Hebrews 1:1-14, Philippians 2:5-11).Even throughout His earthly life as a baby/child/man, He never stopped being God. Jesus, using his power as the Resurrection and the Life, raised Lazarus from the dead. Jesus’ Leadership Principles and Method of Training His Disciples " If you had unlimited power, unlimited resources, un limited time, how would you transform the world.” God has a master plan for reaching and transforming a lost world. 4:14; 1 Cor. His mother would have related the story of His birth and what Gabriel said when he appeared to her nine months prior to His birth. This entry was posted on November 20, 2014 by George Hawke. Also, they were amazed when Jesus calmed another storm (Mk. The miraculous power of Jesus Christ: Where did it come from? St. Paul is often considered to be the most important person after Jesus in the history of Christianity.His epistles (letters) have had enormous influence on Christian theology, especially on the relationship between God the Father and Jesus, and on the mystical human relationship with the divine.