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If Miracles Had Ever Happened, Would You Want To Know?

"Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. Though he was delivered up according to God's determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death. For David says of him: 'I saw the Lord ever before me; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me in Hades or allow your holy one to see decay. You have revealed the paths of life to me; you will fill me with gladness in your presence.' Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not abandoned in Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay." [Act 2:22-31 CSB]

 Observations:
  • Was there anything that happened before this that might be important for us to understand? 
    • Jesus of Nazareth appeared to the disciples after being raised from the dead and told them to wait for His Holy Spirit to come after he ascended into heaven
    • After ten days, the Holy Spirit fell upon the apostles causing them to speak in many tongues. 
    • When this happened, some Jews wondered what was happening and some Jews accused them of being drunk. 
    • The apostle Peter stood up with the Eleven to give an explanation
  • Who said what? 
    • The apostle Peter says the whole thing. 
    • He starts out by saying that Jesus of Nazareth was attested to by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among the Israelites through Jesus. 
    • He then summarizes Jesus' death and resurrection, saying that these events were according to God's foreknowledge and plan. 
    • He quotes King David from the Old Testament saying, "I saw the Lord ever before me; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me in Hades or allow your holy one to see decay. You have revealed the paths of life to me; you will fill me with gladness in your presence."
    • Peter explains that King David was not talking about himself here, but about the promised Messiah, because King David did die, but Jesus of Nazareth was raised from the dead.
  • What else could have been said? 
    • Peter could have preached anything other than the gospel, but he didn't. He spoke of Jesus' death and resurrection. 
    • Peter could have quoted from many prophecies in scripture that pointed to Jesus, but he quoted from Psalms 16, where David is focusing on his flesh being "filled with hope," and God filling him "with gladness in His presence." It seems like he is focusing on the power and the hope of the resurrection. 
Application:
  • Today, do we use the miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among the Israelites to attest to Jesus? Sometimes, it feels like we've gotten away from all that. Sometimes, I think it hurts at a childish, soul level to use the miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among the Israelites to attest to Jesus because on a large scale we don't see Him doing the same miracles to attest to us. I think there is a very natural envy and type of jealousy in talking about and focusing on the miracles of Jesus, because, let's face it: who doesn't want to experience a miracle? If I'm honest, I've been chasing after a very specific miracle for some time, a miracle I believe the Holy Spirit led me to pray for. I have tried to listen and learn from people who claim to experience miracles on a regular basis, tried to implement many of the same principles and practices they preach, and constantly come up against the same wall: God chooses to work in ways other than miracles most often. This has led to a battle in my heart to not be offended at God's choice when I can't understand it (essentially a big, fancy way of saying it's turned out to be a big lesson in TRUST). So, in a moment of honesty, I have to admit that it's hard to talk about the miracles of Jesus when I'm not getting the miracle I want. It's not that I don't see God at work in other, life-transforming, amazing ways-- I do. It's just hard to celebrate and spread the good news of Jesus and his miracles when I'm still waiting on one. So, it's hard, but not impossible. And as I read this passage, I wonder (because I've never tried), what witnessing would look like if the conversation started out something like this: "If someone had really [insert any miraculous sign that Jesus did] and died to save you from sin and then resurrected from the dead to prove that he was more powerful than death and the author of eternal life, would you want to know?" 
That's all for this one. Thoughts, Observations, and other applications welcome
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