Apologetics

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EXTRAORDINARY WITHIN THE ORDINARY


On a certain occasion, Pharisees and Sadducees suggested that Jesus authenticate his teaching with a sign from heaven (cf. Matt. 16:1). They were agreed on this point, while greatly differing in other regards. We are not told what might qualify, if anything; since Jesus’ exorcism was previously attributed to demonic activity (cf. Matt. 12:24).
In any case, Jesus affirmed: “A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” This was in anticipation of his resurrection (cf. Matt. 12:40). Which would serve to authenticate his teaching.
This, in turn, recalls a time when I was eating lunch in the school cafeteria. A fellow student at the university paused briefly at my table. “I thought you might like to know that I have come to believe in the resurrection,” he allowed. Although raised by disbelieving parents, attending a skeptical church, and subject to faithless professors. Then by way of explanation, he added: “I am at a loss as to how to explain the emergence of the early church otherwise.”
What else are we to make of this interchange between Jesus and his sceptics? Initially, that signs and wonders are not meant to indulge a wicked generation. Instead, they are more likely to occur at critical junctures in salvation history, to alert persons to divine initiatives. As with the exodus, the struggle with Baalism, and Jesus and the apostles. They may occur on other occasions, but not with such frequency.
Two examples come to mind. The first concerns a person who reported that his wife had experienced divine healing. But when pressed for details, he admitted that while her symptoms remained, she had a much more positive attitude toward dealing with them. Although this was certainly a cause for rejoicing, it did not necessarily constitute a miraculous intervention.
The second pertained to a man who was blind from birth. Not only so, but the physicians assured him that he lacked the means by which to see. He was approached by a woman, who informed him that she felt impressed to intercede on his behalf. This was not something she had done on other occasions. Nonetheless, he agreed.
Upon arriving at her home, he found several other persons gathered with her. As they began to pray, it seemed to him as if the some electric force was intensifying. When the last person prayed, he was able to see. It was not something he had demanded on condition for faith, but seemingly as a result of faith in operation.
The physicians who were familiar with his situation were at a loss as to how to explain his recovery. An article was posted in a professional journal, which detailed what had taken place. This allowed that they did not know how this had happened, but presumed that it would be discovered at some future time. While allowing for divine intervention, they were not persuaded of it.
These examples bring to mind David Myers’ provocative article concerning “The Mystery of the Ordinary” (Psychology of Religion, H. Newton Malony, ed.). Initially, he observes: “At the core of the religious impulse is a sense of awe, an attitude of bewilderment, a feeling that reality is more amazing than everyday scientific reasoning can comprehend. Wonderstruck, we humbly acknowledge our limits and accept that which we can not explain” (p. 407). Which, in turn, recalls one of my favorite sayings: “The more we know, the more we realize that we do not know.”
“We can also understand why such people therefore grasp at hints of the supernatural—at bizarre phenomena that science cannot explain. Browse your bookstore and you will find books that describe happenings that defy natural explanation—people reading minds or foretelling the future, etc. Whether viewed as a divine gift or as demonic activity.”
“Human life—so ordinary, so familiar, so natural, and yet so extraordinary. Looking for mystery in things bizarre, we feel cheated when later we learn that a hoax or a simple process explain it away. All the while we miss the awesome events occurring before, or even within, our very eyes. The extraordinary within the ordinary” (p. 412).
In this regard, the psalmist reminds us: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard” (19:1-3). The extraordinary within the ordinary.
Moreover, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet” (Psa. 8:3-6). The extraordinary within the ordinary.
All things considered, we are reminded that Jesus’ resurrection serves as an earnest of the general resurrection. Qualifications aside, the extraordinary within the ordinary.

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