Jesus told a story of a humble believer named Lazarus who died and went
to heaven, being comforted by Abraham himself, and a proud rich man who died
and went to hell, a place of torture and pain.
The gap between heaven and hell opened up and the rich man spoke to
Abraham asking permission to cross over to heaven. Abraham denied the request. So…
“The rich man answered, ‘Then I beg you,
father. Send Lazarus to my family. I
have five brothers. Let Lazarus warn them. Then they will not come to this
place of terrible suffering.’
“Abraham
replied, ‘They have the teachings of Moses and the Prophets. Let your brothers
listen to them.’
“‘No,
father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will
turn away from their sins.’
“Abraham
said to him, ‘They do not listen to Moses and the Prophets. So they will not be
convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:27-31
The rich man asked for a display of God’s power, something miraculous,
to wake up his doomed brothers. Abraham
told him they had the scriptures, the written text of God’s historical
biography. If they couldn’t believe
that, then a miracle wouldn’t make any difference up against such stubborn
hearts.
The brothers weren’t the only ones who had a hard time believing:
Jesus
had done all these miraculous signs in front of them (the Jews). But they still
would not believe in him. John 12:37
Really? Right in front of their
eyes and no response? What
happened? Aren’t miracles what everyone
needs to believe?
God doesn’t perform miracles today to the degree He did in the past
because He has sufficiently introduced Himself to humanity. He has proven He is God and feels He does not
have to prove that over and over again.
For some, it wouldn’t make any difference if he did miracles today.
Many demanded more proof from Him back then.
Some
of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law came to Jesus. They said,
“Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.”
He
answered, “Evil and unfaithful people ask for a miraculous sign! But none will
be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Jonah was in the stomach of a huge fish for three days and three nights.
Something like that will happen to the Son of Man. He will spend three days and
three nights in the grave. Matthew
12:38-40
Demanding more proof from God offends Him. To answer the Pharisees’ request, Jesus said
“If you want to see the miraculous, check out the story of Jonah.” Then He told them, “I’ll also do something
pretty incredible soon when I rise from the dead.” No additional evidence was needed.
Do you want miracles? Read about them in Bible. Jesus’ resurrection is all the miracle you
need to believe.
It doesn’t mean God can’t or won’t do
miracles today. It’s just that he
doesn’t need to prove himself when so much proof is already available in
scriptures.