Messianic Rabbi K. A. Schneider - Experiencing the Supernatural: How to Saturate Your Life with the Power and Presence of God

I n the modern world, we often learn from teachers who understand their subjects only on a theoretical levelwho have lots of academic knowledge but no firsthand experience. I had a teacher like this in a university entrepreneurship class. He began the semester by announcing that he had never started a business before, but now he was going to teach us how to do it.

This is not the kind of teacher Jesus was. In fact, for Jesus, the demonstration did not follow the teaching; the demonstration actually came first!

Luke 24:19 says that Jesus was a prophet mighty in deed and word ( KJV ). To an English speaker, it sounds strange to put those words in that order. We would say word and deed. But Lukes gospel clearly puts the actions before the words. In Acts 1:1 Luke talks about all that Jesus began both to do and teach ( KJV ). Again the demonstration comes first and the explanation follows. Jesus taught His students to help them understand what they first saw Him do . But the sad truth is that most missed itas they do today. Most looked right at Jesus and completely misinterpreted what He was doing and what He was saying.

And what exactly was He doing? Acts 10:38 declares it plainly: God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: [He] went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him ( KJV )

Likewise, Jesus sent the disciples out with this commission: And as ye go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give (Matthew 10:78 KJV ).

We must not overlook this crystal-clear truth. When Gods Kingdom comes, it must look like something. It must have a tangible demonstration. Gods dominion is no ethereal, theoretical philosophy with no real-world consequences. When the Kingdom of heaven collides with the natural world, there is visible, demonstrable evidence of Gods dominionfor example, the sick are healed, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, the power of Satan is broken, and the oppressed are freed!

Some think mistakenly that Jesus miracles simply proved that He was the Messiah. How convenient that would be for us! If the miracles of Jesus were merely proof of his Messianic claims, we are off the hook. But this is simply not the case. Jesus miracles were more than evidence of His role; they were actually demonstrations that imply our role.

Jesus performs mighty miracles, for example, in Matthew 12. He heals a man with a withered hand (verse 13). Then He heals a demonized, blind and mute man so that he can speak and see (verse 22). In fact, verse 15 tells us that great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all ( KJV , emphasis added). But here is the amazing part: Just a few verses later, the scribes and Pharisees still insist, We want to see a sign from You (verse 38 NASB )! Can you imagine such nerve? They have just seen that every single sickness, every disease and every infirmity among a great multitude of people was healed! I know of no greater demonstration in history of the miraculous. But Jesus critics are not impressed or convinced.

These miracles were not the kind of signs the doubters sought. They wanted something more spectacular, more grandiose. They wanted Jesus to part the sea like Moses or call down fire from heaven like Elijah. Jesus would eventually give them that kind of signHis resurrection from the deadand still they would not believe (see Matthew 12:3940). But in the meantime His healings and miracles were not attempts to prove something to the skeptics. Rather, they were demonstrations of what it looks like when a human being walks in Kingdom dominion . In other words, Jesus did not perform miracles to prove that He could. He performed miracles to prove that we could. He was saying, Look! This is the Kingdom I have been teaching you about. This is what it looks like when it comes to earth. This is what I want you to do.

But there is a problem. Fallen humans cannot walk in Kingdom dominion. We are dead in trespasses and sins. We are under the curse and controlled by the powers of the air (see Ephesians 2:13). That is why Jesus not only demonstrated and taught the Kingdom; He also died to give the Kingdom to those who believe (see Luke 12:32). His death on the cross was not simply to rescue us from hell; it was to restore the dominion we lost in the Garden.