Miracles of Jesus (Ascough)

Richard Ascough presents and interprets 27 miracles performed by Jesus during his public ministry. Each miracle selected is both a demonstration of and a challenge to faith. All four of the Gospels present Jesus as a miracle worker. The stories show that Jesus preached the in-breaking of God’s kingdom while demonstrating its arrival through mighty works. Together, the miracles reveal Jesus’ concern for all people – there are no ethnic, social, or gender barriers to God’s care. This book seeks to understand Jesus’ miracles in their social and literary contexts in order to see how these miracles demonstrate God’s concern for the whole person, not only in antiquity but also in our own lives today. “While Jesus healed PEOPLE, he did not heal everyone. Sickness, disease, and death are still prevalent, at least while we await the full manifestation of God’s kingdom on earth,” writes Ascough in the opening chapter. “However, whenever relationships are restored, faith is strengthened. When people recover from illness we see signs of God’s restoration and involvement in our lives. Seen from the perspective of faith, God can be understood to be working in extraordinary ways in each of our lives. Such miracles are signs of God’s restoration of order in a disorderly, broken world.” Many current popular books on miracles are either anecdotal or refer only peripherally to the biblical texts. This book gives serious attention to understanding Jesus’ miracles in their socio-cultural context and then brings them into conversation with our own world. However, while The Miracles of Jesus draws upon a wealth of biblical scholarship, it is presented in a readable and accessible style. This is a book for those who want a serious, readable account of the details and implications of Jesus’ miracles.