Miracles Are Convincing: Reason Is Best

"Miracles" are welcome, stunning, inexplicable acts beyond science credited to God to convince those in doubt that God is real. Yes, there is a reason God does miracles. It's to convince those with the hardest hearts; those who doubt the most, that God is the divine authority and that he is real!

In Acts Chapter 3 is the second miracle written of after the ascension of Jesus and the advent of the Holy Ghost; the first being the reception of the Holy Ghost himself!

There is one thing the reader must remember, especially the Jews! There is One True God! The Jews worshiped him and him alone. They are monotheistic, but not by nature. Jews, throughout their history were syncretic, worshiping other gods besides God. Through the miracles of God, Jews were finally convinced that indeed there is One True God and other gods were not to be worshiped. It took God hundreds of years to make believers out of the Hebrew people. It took the destruction of their country, temple and the dispersion of their people to make believers out of a hard-hearted people! It always took miracles coupled with punishment (after Jews forgot the miracles) to make a dedicated people!

Before we continue, let me add that Jews still have faith in Christ. Are you surprised? Here are the Thirteen Points of Judaism:

1. Belief in the existence of the Creator, who is perfect in every manner of existence and is the Primary Cause of all that exists.
2. The belief in G-d's absolute and unparalleled unity.
3. The belief in G-d's non-corporeality, nor that He will be affected by any physical occurrences, such as movement, or rest, or dwelling.
4. The belief in G-d's eternity.
5. The imperative to worship G-d exclusively and no foreign false gods.
6. The belief that G-d communicates with man through prophecy.
7. The belief in the primacy of the prophecy of Moses our teacher.
8. The belief in the divine origin of the Torah.
9. The belief in the immutability of the Torah.
10. The belief in G-d's omniscience and providence.
11. The belief in divine reward and retribution.
12. The belief in the arrival of the Messiah and the messianic era. (My underline)
13. The belief in the resurrection of the dead.

"Wow", you say! "They believe the same as Christians!" My contention is that Moses and the prophets were Christians, having conversed with Emmanuel himself, The Word, being the preincarnate Jesus Christ! However, because the Jews failed to put their belief in practice, they missed the opportunity for salvation until Jesus comes into their lives. Messianic Jews are Christians. After the rapture theologians believe that 144,000 Jews will be converted to Christianity. However, it will take the miracle of the rapture and the fulfilling of prophecy to finally convince them that Jesus is God!

(Note: Let me add that Christians don't believe in the Torah, which includes not only The Law (The Penteteuch), but commentary also. It's the commentary which got the Jews into trouble with Christ! Their rabinnical commentary made The Law impossible to live and interfered with grace which was always there if they had only recognized it.)

It takes miracles to convince Jews. Paul said that!

1 Corinthians 1:22 "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom..."

In effect Greeks and Jews are skeptics. Greeks need a scientific or rational explanation in order to believe, and Jews need a divine intervention, a miracle!  In Acts Chapter 2, the miracle was the infusion of the Holy Ghost into Jewish Christians. In Chapter 3 it was the healing of the lame man:

Acts 3:6 "Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk (to the lame man). 7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God..."

Acts 3:12a And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? 13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. 14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; 15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. 16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. 17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. "

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. 20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities."

The Acts of the Apostles were used to convince. The optimal plan was that God's blessed people would believe and be saved.  The first Acts were done to convince the Jews.

Acts 28:28 "Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

In general Jews refused to listen to the gospel nor believe the miracles performed, mostly for them to convert (Acts 3:19). I assure you that if I saw the lame walk I would become a believer in Jesus Christ! The Hebrew people just failed to understand what was happening. Just as they colluded to kill Jesus out of ignorance (Acts 3:17) out of ignorance they still refused Jesus as Messiah!

If one remembers Pavlov's experiment with the salivating dog, the dog had become imprinted that  a bell ringing brings food. With the ringing of the bell, they were accustomed to receiving food. Even when food failed be presented, the bell would still make them salivate. God rang their (Jewish) bells for hundreds of years. In anticipation they would spiritually salivate, but after awhile Jesus was not forthcoming. They quit salivating! Their experience was reverse Pavlovian because even when the "Meat" was presented they still failed to salivate!

Jews were finally imprinted after God "ringing the bell" for years: They finally turned from "other gods besides God" and worshiped the One True God. Now look at what was presented to them: Jesus Christ! "But", they say, "We worship the One True God". The concept of the Holy Trinity was hard for them to understand just as it is for many Christians today! Absolutely, the belief in the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost is basic for Christians!

In ancient days Jews finally accepted the One True God, but out of ignorance (reverse Pavlovian imprinting) they rejected Jesus. Now, they are confronted by the reality of the Holy Ghost, and many had even more trouble believing in whom they could not see! After the ascension of Jesus it was the Holy Ghost's function to draw unbelievers to Christ (comfort). How could the Jews believe in the Holy Ghost when they failed to even believe in Jesus. It was by miracles that God used the apostles to convert! In other words, the miracles or Acts of the Apostles were intended to convince the Jews to convert their ingrained unbelief!

Of course, as a generalization, the Jews still did not believe and the gospel was turned to the gentiles. (Acts 28:28). The gospel was always for all mankind, but God offered it first to his chosen people; the seed of Abraham, which the Jews were! However, they conveniently forgot that many of the gentiles were also of Abraham's seed. God followed through on his promise to provide a savior through the seed of Abraham and all mankind!

Out of ingrained ignorance Jews failed to accept Jesus (yet), and failed to accept the Holy Ghost, even with miracles. By their ignorance they failed to understand that Jesus IS God, the Holy Ghost IS God and that the Father still IS God. They failed to understand that the One True God sacrificed himself on the Cross for them and they failed to listen and believe! Now with the Holy Ghost they continue in their unbelief.

Look around you. Many Christians accept God, they even accept Jesus, but are reluctant to accept Jesus' stand-in; the Holy Ghost. Many even ridicule his existence. Sure, in doctrine they believe, but in practice they don't! We Christians sometimes are very Jewish. We fail to listen what God announces so loudly.

Remember, the gentiles (Greeks) require logic and reason to believe in God. Rather than using miracles, Paul used logic and reasoned with the gentiles to believe:

Acts 17:1 "Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: 2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,  4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. 5a But the Jews which believed not..."

Not only did miracles fail to persuade the Jews, but so did reason, Using their own scriptures, they failed to listen to Paul's reasoning! Miracles failed them and so did logic!

There is no longer much need for miracles because it's logic which is used to convert. Speaking in tongues was for the Jews. Tongues are a miraculous event to turn the Jews. Before the apostolic age was over emphasis ceased to be placed on miracles and turned toward reason. Paul reasoned with the Jews. It worked with any gentiles. Even some Jews listened to reason after miracles failed.

Scripture never refutes the continuous of "speaking in tongues". It does point toward the purpose of those strange utterances. It was to convince those who doubted Jesus and the Holy Ghost. The early church, consisting of Jews, needed that! It's still possible that some may still need that, but the speaking in tongues was never intended for the gentile people. They needed reason, not emotion. Most Christians are still gentile. It's the life if Jesus which is proof enough for most of us! We believe that the Holy Ghost dwells in us because Jesus said he was coming. We're convinced! For some who fail with reason, it may be that they still need miracles.