Miracles Seven

Through the miracles, Jesus shows that He is Master over illness.  At the same time, He demonstrates His power over sin and the devil.   In  the miracles we also note His control of natural forces.
In John 6:2-13 the Lord is  faced with  the  task  of  feeding  five thousand men plus many more women and children.
"The place is desolate and it is already quite late;"  the disciples suggest in a parallel account recorded in Mark 6:35-44, "send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."
"You give them something to eat!" the Master replies.
"Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give  them something to eat?" the disciples respond.
"How many loaves do you have?" Jesus instructs.  "Go look!"
John 6:6 informs us that Jesus knows exactly what He is going to do.
One of the apostles, Andrew, comes to the Master with five loaves and two fish belonging to a small boy.   This apostle  teaches an  important lesson to those of us who feel that our contribution to the Lord is small and therefore insignificant.
Five loaves and two fish is not much, but it is all that is  located. And it is all that Jesus needs to take care of  the situation.   It  is interesting to remember that this is the same Andrew who,  upon  learning about Jesus, ran to share the news with his brother.   Where would  the early church have been without Peter? And where would Peter  have been without Andrew?
Jesus divides the people into groups, prays and distributes the food. When everyone has eaten, 12 baskets of left-over  fragments are gathered up.
Twelve is a complete number.  When Jesus feeds us spiritually,  does He come up short? Or is there always more than enough to go around?
In Mark 8:1-9 a similar situation arises.  This time  the Lord uses seven loaves and a few small fish to  feed  the multitude.   Seven  full baskets are collected at the end.  Seven is another complete number.
A little later in this same chapter, in verses  14-21,  Jesus shows that these miracles are intended to teach spiritual  lessons.   
"And they had forgotten to take bread; and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them," this passage notes.  "And He was giving orders to them, saying, 'Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.'  And they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread.  And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, 'Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart?  Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?'  They said to Him, 'Twelve.'   'And when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?' And they said to Him, 'Seven.'  And He was saying to them, 'Do you not yet understand?'"
Jesus demonstrates in John 6:26,27 that His main goal  is not  to simply fill the stomachs of hungry people.  In the first verse He condemns those who are following Him because they are seeking physical  and not spiritual rewards.
"Do not work for the food which perishes," He warns in verse 27, "but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of  Man shall give to you, for on Him the Father, even God, has set His seal."
In Luke 5:1-11 the Lord demonstrates His power  to His apostles by providing a great catch of fish.
Peter, James, John and probably Andrew  fish all  night but  catch nothing.  They give up and are at the edge of the lake washing their  nets when Jesus passes by.
"Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch," the Lord suggests.
Peter explains the situation but agrees to do what the Master  says. They have such a great catch that their nets begin to break.
"Do not fear," Jesus explains in verse 10, "from now on you will  be catching men."
In Luke chapter 21, following the death, burial and  resurrection of Jesus, Peter decides to go fishing.   Other  apostles who are with him decide to go along.  We don't know whether Peter is merely enjoying some recreation or whether He is tempted to return to his former occupation.  The most likely explanation is that the Apostles are passing time while they are awaiting instructions from Jesus.
They fish all night and catch nothing.  In the morning a Man  tells them to cast the net on the other side of the boat.  There is a tremendous catch, and Peter has no trouble understanding the identity of the Man on the shore.

Jesus is hungry on His way to Jerusalem when He passes a  fig  tree. The tree has leaves but no fruit.  He curses  the  tree and  it withers. When the disciples marvel at this, Jesus explains to them what  they will be able to do if they just have enough faith.
Mark 11:13 informs us that it is not the season for figs.  Why, then, does Jesus curse it?
Who is Master of the spiritual harvest?  Will He accept our  excuse when we tell Him, "We would have done what You  told us,  but  it wasn't quite time?"
"Do you not say, 'There are yet  four  months,  and  then  comes  the harvest?"' Jesus asks in John 4:35.  "Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest."
"Behold, now is the acceptable time," Paul  notes  in 2 Corinthians 6:2, "behold, now is the day of salvation."
Jesus is Master over sickness.  He is in control over food, fish and trees.  And He has charge even over the force of nature.
In Matthew 9:23-27 the Lord and His disciples are crossing  the sea when the boat is tossed by a great storm.   During all  this,  Jesus  is asleep in the lower part of the boat.
The terrified disciples rush to awaken the Master.
"Why are you timid, you men of little  faith?"  Jesus  comments.   He rebukes the winds and the sea, and the storm is calmed.
In the fear of the moment the disciples had forgotten that they were in the presence of the Son of God.   What could happen to them when Jesus was near?
Do we ever make the same mistake? Do we ever fret and worry because we forget that Jesus is near at hand?  Let's read Romans 9:31-39 and see what we should fear if we obey God and trust in Him.
"What then shall we say to these things?" this passage asks.  "If God is for us, who is against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?  Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies;  who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  Just as it is written, 'For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'  But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The apostles are going ahead without Jesus in Matthew  14:22-33 when the boat is caught in another storm.  It is one thing to feel  safe when Jesus is in the boat, but where is He now?  They look and see Him walking on the sea.  He is never far off if we will just open our eyes and look.
Naturally, Peter wants to walk out to Jesus.  He starts walking on the water, but then he sees the wind and becomes afraid.   He starts  to sink and Jesus reaches out and saves him.
"O you of little faith," Jesus says, "why did you doubt?"
It is easy to start something, but how many of  us are willing  to finish?  How many start to sink as soon as they become aware of  the wind and the waves around them?
John 6:21 points out that, as soon as Jesus steps into the boat,  the disciples find themselves at the land to which they are going.   What a difference the presence of Jesus makes!  One minute we're in a  tiny boat in the midst of a storm.  But as soon as Jesus arrives we are safe and sound.
God created a world that was free from sorrow,  sickness,  suffering and death.  But Satan, through sin,  introduced all  of  these  into  the world.
In the Old Testament,  God sometimes points out  the association between sickness and sin by punishing people with disease when  they sin. Many times this disease is leprosy.  This is a fitting reminder since this affliction, like sin, slowly eats away at a person.
In the New Testament, Jesus demonstrates His power over sin by curing people with leprosy.
Jesus encounters a leper in Matthew 9:2.
"Lord, if you are willing,"  the man observes,  "You can make me Clean."
"I am willing," the Lord replies.
Of course He is willing.  He came for  the very purpose of  curing people of the spiritual illnesses that were destroying them.
"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness,"  2 Peter 3:9 points out, "but is patient toward you, not wishing for  any  to perish but for all to come to repentance."
Ten leprous men cry out to Jesus for healing in Luke  17:11-19.   The Lord instructs them to present themselves to the priests as was  commanded in the Law of Moses.  Along the way they are healed.
One of the men, a Samaritan, rushes back to glorify God and  thank Jesus.
All ten are healed of the leprosy.  But does the healing end  there for nine of the ten?  How many return to Jesus? All  have been set  free from a terrible disease.  But how many care about the truth that will  set them free from sin?

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."