Devotion #5: Miracle of Miracles

Pastor Roy Townsend

What could be the miracle of miracles? We are very accustomed to hearing certain phrases within the church. At Christmastime, we hear that Jesus Christ is the “King of kings” and “Lord of lords” a lot probably because of Christmas music. However, we find this wording in Scripture also. In 1 Timothy 6:13-15, we read, “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time - he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.”

Now, what could make the resurrection of Jesus Christ the miracle of miracles? Luke 24:5-8 records, “And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.’ And they remembered his words.” This sounds like an amazing start to the narrative, to begin with, an angel is there at the tomb and asks them a question, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Then the angel reminds them that Jesus told them that He must be crucified, die, and rise from the dead. Wow! His followers are there and they remembered that Jesus had foretold or predicted His death, burial, and the miracle of miracles, His resurrection.

Many ask, “How did they miss that?” Well, it was difficult to understand, but the Jewish followers of Jesus had a belief that the Messiah (Christ) would come and overthrow the Roman government. So, His early followers supported Him fully expecting Him to establish an earthly, governmental kingdom in Jerusalem. We can see this when He first begins to teach the resurrection. Mark 8:31-32 says, “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” We can see from this Scripture that the resurrection was taught and that one of His closest disciples, Peter, did not agree with or fully understand what Jesus was teaching.

So, there are many miracles in the Scripture and many miracles that we get to see as followers of Jesus Christ, but one aspect of this being the miracle of miracles is that it was foretold in Scripture and taught by Jesus Himself. However, some will say there are quite a few miracles that were prophesied by Old Testament Scriptures, so what makes this the miracle of miracles? We must realize that everything that a follower of Christ believes about salvation (eternity with Christ) is linked to this miracle of miracles - the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:16-18, the Apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth, “For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” Some translations read that your faith is “useless,” “vain,” “worthless,” “mere delusion,” and “futile.” Without this miracle, we will have perished because there is no forgiveness for sin.

Paul goes further in this section of Scripture in verses 19-20 saying, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Therefore, we know that this is the miracle of miracles because unlike any other belief system, religion, or miracle, this miracle is Jesus Christ, God the Son, sacrificing His life for us. If He had stayed dead, in the grave, we would be “pitied” or most miserable. However, we are not because of the miracle of miracles, the resurrection of Christ.