Signs and Wonders – Being a Pilgrim

“Jesus asked, “Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?””
John 4:48 NLT

The civil servant from Capernaum came to Jesus and begged Him to heal his sick son. He was desperate and probably sick himself with worry over his son’s threatened demise. But Jesus’ response was to ask a question about how people can come to believe in Him. Did they believe in Him because of His message or because He healed them and did other miracles in their society? Did the “miraculous signs and wonders” convince people that He was who He said He was, or was it because of His message about the Kingdom of God? Here was a people who were anticipating the imminent appearance of their Messiah. But they were suffering under the Roman occupation, in poverty (apart from a select few, the landowners and others) and desperate for a solution to their suffering. The Messiah they were expecting would set them free from all this, or so they thought, and transform Israel into an utopian state.

Jesus’ message was about the Kingdom of God and was about a world that differed from that of His fellow Jews. And he came to give them the opportunity to join their Heavenly Father there. It was not going to happen totally during their earthly lives but happen it would one day. Jesus’ message was simple – repent of your sins, believe in Me, and follow Me. He taught about a relationship that would blossom into eternal life and He showed the compassion God had for His people by doing “miraculous signs and wonders” in their society. In those days, Heaven touched earth, and crowds of people came to hear Him and be healed of their ailments. On two occasions, when they were hungry, He even fed them. To be near Jesus was an incredible and life changing experience, and yet most people rejected Him.

In John 1:10-13, we read, “He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God“. Sadly, many of the people on His day failed to recognise their Messiah and instead of believing in Him they rejected Him, even though He did some amazing “signs and wonders” amongst them. But it wasn’t all bad news and a wasted opportunity. In spite of all of this, there were many people who did believe in Him and were born again into His Kingdom. The Church was birthed and has been growing ever since. The early believers, fronted by the disciples, turned their world upside down with their message of hope.

The Apostle Thomas wasn’t present with the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection. He had to wait for Jesus’ next appearance and his response to Jesus, after he had the opportunity to examine His wounds, was “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). But Jesus’ reply was significant – “Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me” (John 20:29). We pilgrims heard the Good News about Jesus and believed in Him, but we have never seen Him bodily. However we will one day and in the meantime we share that message today with anyone who will listen. We perhaps think we don’t see many “signs and wonders” today, but we should pause and think. Many good things happen today and we do God a disservice by not giving Him the glory for them. The amazing strides made in science and medicine, for example. These would have been “signs and wonders” to the people of Jesus’ day. Perhaps we should thank God for His gifts, even though arrogant people claim the credit for themselves. God’s compassion for humanity, and His “signs and wonders”, didn’t end on a cross at a place called Calvary.

Dear God. We thank You for doing so much for us, even when we don’t ask or recognise Your hand in the answers to our prayers. We worship You today. Amen.

“And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in burlap and will prophesy during those 1,260 days.” These two prophets are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of all the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire flashes from their mouths and consumes their enemies. This is how anyone who tries to harm them must die. They have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. And they have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.”
Revelation‬ ‭11:3-6‬ ‭NLT

We are still in the part of John’s vision between the second and third terrors or woes. And he was busy. John has just finished measuring the spiritual well being of the Church when he noticed two figures arrive, dressed in burlap, which is a very coarse, hessian-based cloth. Straight away I am reminded of John the Baptist, who appeared out of the desert dressed in clothes made of coarse camel hair. So these two people, referred to as “witnesses”, were dressed in the traditional way of Old Testament prophets. Perhaps the implication of wearing what was effectively sackcloth was to demonstrate, in the Jewish way, the importance of repentance.

And prophets they were. John said so. And they prophesied for 1,260 days, which is, more or less, the 42 months we read about in previous verses. There has been some speculation about who these two prophetic witnesses were. The most popular suggestion was that one of them was Moses, because of the reference to turning rivers into blood (Exodus 7:17) and that the other was Elijah, who commanded no rain to fall, coincidentally, for 42 months (1 Kings 17:1, James 5:17). But the Scriptures do not say specifically who the two witnesses were.

The reference to “the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of all the earth” is underpinned by the writings of the prophet Zechariah. We read in chapter 4:11-14, “Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on each side of the lampstand, and what are the two olive branches that pour out golden oil through two gold tubes?” “Don’t you know?” he asked. “No, my lord,” I replied. Then he said to me, “They represent the two anointed ones who stand in the court of the Lord of all the earth.” So in John’s vision he saw the culmination of another prophesy, made many years before. An olive tree represented fruitfulness and the source of the Holy Spirit, and the lampstand declared the light of God to those around.

John was told that the two witnesses, the two anointed ones, prophesied for three and a half years. I wonder what they said. We might get some help from Scripture. 2 Peter 1:20-21 says, “Above all, you must realise that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God“. So a genuine prophet is someone who communicates, via the power of the Holy Spirit, what God wants people to hear. In John’s vision the two witnesses had some fearsome abilities to defend themselves from harm, so it can be concluded that what they were prophesying was not always a blessing to their listeners. The signs used by Moses and Elijah were used to back up the witnesses’ prophetic words, and I suspect that the two prophets were also using their power to draw people’s attention to what they were saying, lending weight to their messages.

What do we think of prophecy today? One thing for sure, there are many counterfeit prophecies. People claim to be able to see into the future and make declarations of things to come, usually far enough away to avoid any repercussions if they turn out to be in error because they will be long dead. And a common aberration is the use of horoscopes. But such devices are not of God. We pilgrims must always beware of getting caught up by counterfeits from the devil. We are told to test prophecies (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). And take note that no prophetic message will contradict what God has said in His Word, the Bible.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your prophets, men and women who are prepared to stand up and declare Your message to us. And we thank You for caring so much about us that You send us direct messages. We are so grateful. Amen.