Miracles

John 14:12
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

The past two weeks I have been working with a team of medical professionals in a free medical clinic. They came to practice medicine in an orphanage and a remote village called Sansanne Hausa. Throughout those two weeks, over 2,200 patients were seen by two doctors, two surgeons and an OBGYN. That is, at least, five times as many patients as they would normally see in that amount of time. I spent most of my time assisting two dentists from El Salvador, cleaning, filling and pulling teeth, and making dentures. Now that the team has safely returned home I have time to sum up some thoughts.

What constitutes a miracle? Does it always manifest itself through supernatural signs and wonders? This week I watched a different sort of miracle in action. The sick were made well, the malnourished were given food and the toothless were given smiles. And all it took was a team of 16 people who were willing to set aside their overcrowded schedules for two weeks, spend thousands of dollars (and sacrifice thousands more in missed work) to travel thousands of miles with dozens of crates of medicine to treat strangers and beggars who speak a different language and worship a different god. That’s no small miracle if you ask me.

So when Jesus said we would do even greater things than he, what did he mean? Did he mean his supernatural power would dwell within us and manifest itself in signs and wonders greater than he ever demonstrated? Yes, I believe so. The Bible says that wherever Peter’s shadow was cast people were healed. But I think that explanation is incomplete. I think he also intended that through our own free will and God given abilities we would accomplish things greater than his signs and wonders. For an omnipotent God, which is easier: to supernaturally heal a person dying of malaria, or to rally a group of free-willed doctors from across the world to administer a cure that took years to develop and costs way more than the average person can afford? Both are improbable, if not seemingly impossible. Both are miraculous. And for both, to Him be the glory and praise, Amen.