Being worthy of miracles

In this post I wanted to expound on a previous post and talk about what it takes to have a miracle happen in your life. In Matthew 17 verses 14 to 21 tells the story of a young man who came to the disciples and was possessed by a devil. The disciples were not able to cast the devil out and so the boys father brought him to the Savior. Later the disciples came to Jesus and asked him why they weren't able to heal the boy and the savior responded with three specific reasons:

• A lack of faith: Jesus tells the disciples that the first reason they couldn't cast out the devil was because of their unbelief. He says if they only had faith the size of a mustard seed they would have been able to perform the miracle. As can be seen innumerable times throughout the New Testament, faith is prerequisite to being blessed with a miracle. We get a supporting testimony from the Book of Mormon. In 3 Nephi 18:20 it says, "And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you" (emphasis added). Another supporting scripture is found in Doctrine and Covenants 42:48: "And again, it shall come to pass that he that hath faith in me to be healed, and is not appointed unto death, shall be healed."
• Prayer: After indicating that they lacked faith, Jesus tells the disciples that this particularly difficult devil required prayer. Prayer is also a way we show faith, supporting Christ's first point. 
• Fasting: Many times when even more faith is required, prophets (including Jesus Christ) have told us that prayer should be accompanied with fasting. Fasting shows our willingness to sacrifice physical appetites in the pursuit of spiritual blessings. This is particularly true if we are seeking a miraculous intervention. 

We can also find other indications of ways to qualify for a miraculous blessing similar to those found throughout the first four books of the New Testament.

• We need to be keeping the commandments and continually applying the blessings of the Atonement in order to purify ourselves from sin, as is found in Doctrine and Covenants 50:29: "And if ye are purified and cleansed from all sin, ye shall ask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done."

 

Parables

I think it's a little funny how we see the Savior's parables from the New Testament in today's world. We often simply declare them old-fashioned or too cultural to understand, some of which may be true. But the ironic part is the reasoning behind Jesus Christ's propensity to teach in this manner. In Matthew 11:15 he said "he that hath ears, let him hear," or in other words, if you're supposed to understand what I'm teaching than you will.

It has become a part of our modern society to push to the side nearly anything that requires virtually any effort and as such, we often lose much of the celestial wisdom that Jesus Christ brought to this earth, as recorded in the New Testament. These stories were obviously not literal and are intended to teach a point. here are some tips for gaining a better understanding of scriptural parables as found in the Bible Dictionary

(a) Do not force a meaning on subordinate incidents. 

(b) Do not regard as parallel parables that are connected by superficial likeness of imagery.

(c) Bear in mind that the same illustration does not always have the same significance—for example, leaven signifies a principle of good as well as a principle of evil. 

(d) Remember that the comparison in a parable is not complete, does not touch at every point. Thus, the characters of the unjust judge or the unjust steward or the nobleman who went into a far country—possibly referring to the infamous Archelaus—do not concern the interpretation of the parable. The parable draws a picture of life as it is, not as it ought to be, and compares certain points in this picture with heavenly doctrine. 

(e) Observe the proper proportions of a parable, and do not make the episode more prominent than the main line of teaching.

If we can keep some of those things in mind, I think we can maximize what we learn during our study of the New Testament.

Miracles are evidence of faith and God's power

The premise of this post comes from a phrase Jesus Christ said to Joseph Smith as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 35:8. Christ said, "I will show miracles, signs, and wonders unto all those who believe on my name." With that in mind, jump with me to the New Testament, specifically Matthew chapter 8.

As I read through this chapter, I saw what Christ was talking to Joseph Smith about. Whenever he performed a miracle, there was always a demonstration of faith by someone involved. So let's explore how in this one chapter of the New Testament we see several examples that support what the Doctrine and Covenants teaches on the subject.

Matthew 8: 1-4
Jesus has just concluded the Sermon on the Mount and has returned to town. He barely gets into the city and he is approached by a man with leprosy. The leper shows his faith by saying that he knows that Jesus is capable of healing him and simply asks if Christ is willing to do so. The Savior, seeing his faith, indicates that he is willing and immediately the man is cleansed of his disease.

Matthew 8: 5-13
The story that Matthew tells immediately following that of the leper is someone who is not sick having faith on behalf of someone else. Christ is in Capernaum when a centurion (a commander in the roman army) came to him saying that his servant was very sick with palsy. The centurion admits that he may not be living as he should and indicates that he would prefer that Christ not come into his home, but says that he knows if Jesus simply says for his servant to be healed, he would be. Christ is surprised by this man's incredible faith and tells him to return home saying, "As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee."

Matthew 8: 14-15
Here Jesus heals Peter's, wife's mother who is sick with a fever. The scripture doesn't indicate that the healing was solicited like the two previous occasions, so this indicates to me that it was Peter's mother-in-law that was demonstrating the faith. Even though she may not have asked for it, Christ seems to perceive in her great faith and heals her accordingly.

Matthew 8: 16
In this verse we see an account of many people being healed, but the thing they have in common is that they were "brought unto him" by someone having faith. A friend, family member, or other acquaintance knew that Jesus Christ was in the area and had faith sufficient to take their loved on to him to be healed. We're told in the end of the verse that he "healed all that were sick."

Matthew 8: 23-27
This is a classic story from the New Testament but differs from the previous accounts because Christ isn't healing anyone. He has boarded a ship with several of his disciples and eventually fell asleep. A big storm starts battering the boat and the men aboard become very frightened and wake Jesus up, saying they were about to die from the tremendous storm and waves. Christ then says the famed words, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" and then he calms the storm. While it may not seem like the disciples on board with him showed very much faith (in fact warranting being referred to as having little faith) they did turn to the Savior when they were scared and concerned for their lives. The act of turning to Christ for help was certainly a demonstration of faith.

As you can see, in just one chapter there are many examples of this pattern described in Doctrine and Covenants. To be worthy of a miracle, one much demonstrate faith. There are many, many other examples of faith preceding the miracle in scripture. Leave a comment to share example you have found.