1.3 Nature Miracles Flashcards
(19 cards)
What is a nature miracle?
A miracle in which Jesus shows his power over nature
What is a miracle?
An impossible event happening
What happens in the calming of the storm (miracle)?
1) very strong storm
2) Jesus stood up and commanded the wind, “be quiet!”, and said to the waves, “be still!”
3) the storm stops
Why does Jesus tell of (rebuke) the disciples?
Because they are scared and don’t fully believe in Him
Why are the disciples amazed at Jesus’ power
Disciples are mesmerised/scared that He calmed down the storm and controlled it
What does Jesus calming the storm show about his identity?
He is powerful and can perform miracles
—> omnipotent (as he has the power over the weather)
—> suggests that He is God
How might the disciples feel about Jesus after he calmed the storm?
That He has power and they must obey him
What does persecution mean?
Being killed for your religious beliefs
What does the calming of the storm show about the identity of Jesus?
Nature miracles were uncommon (even among Old Testament Prophets)
—> Jesus is greater than them
Jesus’ voice is able to command the forces of nature
—> like God’s at the creation
—> suggests he is the Son of God
Disciples: “who is this man” (calming of the storm)
They still don’t understand Jesus’ authority and power as the Son of God
—> the true identity of Jesus remains unclear
Atheist and Humanist perspectives of the calming of the storm (+ Christian responses)
Could be a coincidence that the storm stopped rather than divine intervention
- can’t be a coincidence as God can do anything and Jesus is God, his words caused the storm to stop
What happens in the feeding of the 5000 (miracle)?
1) they had no food only 5 loaves and 2 fish
2) Jesus looked up to heaven and gave thanks
3) there was enough food for everyone with 12 baskets of leftovers
What does the feeding of 5000 show about the identity of Jesus?
He is compassionate, feels pity for the people because they don’t have a good leader
—> “like sheep without a shepherd”
He points to the Eucharist
—> links to the last supper, Jesus taking bread and giving thanks
Atheist and Humanist perspectives on the feeding of 5000 (+ Christian responses)
If he was able to feed 5000 why doesn’t he perform a similar miracle to feed those who are without food today?
—> more proof that this was made up by Mark
- God now expects people to help those who are poor and hungry
—> if hunger still exists, it’s because the greedy don’t share rather than being God’s fault
What happens when Jesus walks on water (miracle)?
1) disciples in the boat and the wind is strong (Jesus wasn’t with them)
—> struggling to row their oars
2) Jesus walks towards them on water
—> miraculous because it isn’t physically possibly for humans to walk on water
—> suggests he is omnipotent as he has power over nature
What does Jesus walking on water reveal about his identity?
His divine authority and power over nature
—> omnipotent
Atheist and Humanist perspectives on Jesus walking on water (+ Christian responses)
The laws of nature are unbreakable so this event cannot have happened
- God made these laws and so he can break them if he wants
- isn’t possible so shows he is God and can do the impossible
Story happens at 3am - 6am
—> disciples could be very tired and hallucinating
- would’ve been tired but wouldn’t spotted a hoax
Miscommunication between Peter and Mark about what happened
The ‘on the water’ could also be translated from Greek to mean ‘next to’ or ‘around’
—> mistranslation
- if the word ‘on’ is translated to ‘next to’ or ‘around’ it would have never been included in Mark’s Gospel
Why is Jesus greater than Moses (feeding of 5000)?
In the desert Moses fed the people of Israel using God’s power
—> here Jesus feeds the people using his own power
How is Jesus shown as omnipotent, the Son of God and the Messiah in the feeding of 5000?
OMNIPOTENT: performed a miracle
THE SON OF GOD: 5000 were fed form only 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread
—> could only do this if he was the Son of God
MESSIAH: belief that the Messiah would give the people bread from heaven
