This week we are tackling the second tough question that is sometimes thrown at the feet (or in the face) of followers of Jesus in our series, Confident in the Face of Hard Questions. The Scriptures talk about all kinds of different miracles that were performed by Jesus, the disciples, or one of the prophets in the Old Testament. In a world that prides itself on being modern and scientific and able to explain everything by means of purely empirical methods, these stories represent a pretty stout challenge to accepting the claims of Christianity. It would be easier if we could explain them away or otherwise get rid of them and just stick with the things Jesus said. But is that the best path forward? Do miracles really matter? Let’s talk about it as we move into this second part of our journey.
Do Miracles Matter?
It’s not much of a secret around here that I am a Kansas basketball fan. And, just because I want you to know that I am fully aware of Jesus’ command to love our enemies, I am not going to bring up the 2022 Championship at all…even though it would have worked really well for this illustration. You’re welcome. I want to turn the clock back just a little bit further than that to the 2008 season. That year, KU was playing in the Championship game against a Memphis team everyone knew was going to win. KU had been good all season, but Memphis was just better. And, although the game was close at times, with about 2 minutes left in the game, we were down by 9 and everybody knew it was over. Then we scored, and the gap closed to 7. Then we got a stop. Then we scored again, but so did they. Back and forth it went with our slowly chipping away at their lead. Finally, the clock had ticked all the way down to just seconds remaining in the game. And we had the ball. After a frantic inbounds and scramble to get someone open, freshman guard Sherron Collins (who would go on to have a very successful career at Kansas) got the ball into the hands of junior point guard Mario Chalmers who sunk a three from way beyond the top of the key with 2.1 seconds remaining to tie the game, sending it into an overtime that we won decisively.
Rest the rest…
The Nexus 