Exploring the Miracles and Teachings of Jesus
5 In Certain Acquires Depth Time
Jesus, following the meetings described above, continued to live like everyone else, as always with those 3 or 4 who had impressed him as friends. They came to visit, and he went fishing with them. The trajectory described is situated in space and time between what we could capture with our eyes and what could be a glimpse of what is really behind the show, where all types of events are telling.
John 2:1-2 – Miracle of the Wedding at Cana
In this verse, the disciples doubted Jesus, although they believed in him. A conviction was produced in an event that required space and time to take place. The discovery of a unique man to the first friends led to more and more people attending daily, drawn to the exceptional and extravagant personality of Jesus. Things, time, and space obeyed him without any magical apparatus. He drew what he wanted with a manipulation of reality that felt quite natural, as if he owned reality itself. The gospel says that he arrived at night, tired from healing, having exercised uninterrupted power over physical reality.
Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26 – The Healing of the Paralytic
Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:20-26 – Tribute to Caesar (What is Caesar’s belongs to Caesar, and what is God’s belongs to God). Now the Pharisees, involved in continuous diatribes, challenged him and put him to the test in every possible way.
John 8:1-11 – He Who is Without Sin Cast the First Stone
The greatest miracle, which surprised the disciples every day, was not the leg straightened, the sight restored, or the retrieved skin. The biggest miracle was the already mentioned: a revealing human look to which nobody could escape. Jesus looked into the man; no one could hide from him. His presence in the depth of consciousness had no secrets.
John 4:1-42 – The Samaritan Woman
In Luke 19:1-10, we find Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, the most hated man in all Jericho. Matthew 9:9-13; Mark 2:13-17; Luke 5:27-32 – The Tax Collector. The ability to captivate the heart of man is the greatest miracle, the most persuasive. Jesus imposed himself on the conscience. He felt at home inside others.
Luke 7:11-17 – The Death of the Only Son of a Widow
Luke 13:10-17 – The Bent Woman. Different Gospel accounts outline his focus on children and his ability to relate to them. Matthew 19:13-15; Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15-17; Matthew 18:1-11 – Jesus calls a child to his side. Matthew 12:9-21.
Jesus accepts with pleasure what man can give, and does not make repairs of any kind, whether politically, socially, or culturally. Luke 7:36-50 – The Story of the Prostitute
It is also worth remembering that Jesus wept at the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11:1-46). He wept that evening on the Mount of Olives at the splendor of the temple at sunset, presaging the destruction of the city (Luke 19:41-46).
The emergence of the question and the emergence of certainty reveal something about Jesus, a mystery because he had never seen such wisdom, such ascendancy, such power, and such goodness. This impression, as we have said, becomes gradually more accurate only in those who engage in systematic coexistence with him: born spontaneously as disciples. Thus, a question arises: Who is he? Paradoxically, they knew the origin of Jesus. This question shows that he is, in fact, someone we could not define for ourselves. We can only state that he is unlike any other and deserves the fullest confidence, and by following him, we experience a fullness of life beyond compare. So they ask him who he is. Only when he gave the answer did his friends believe in his word, not because it was self-evident, but because it clearly showed the trust he imposed. His enemies did not accept that answer and decided to eliminate him.
John 6:22-59 – I Will Give My Flesh to Eat and My Blood to Drink
In this verse, Peter said something that sums up the experience of all of them: “Lord, we do not understand what you say, but if we left you, with whom shall we go? You have the words to explain and give meaning to life.” This is an application of the observation already referred to as existential or moral certainty. Their attitude is, in fact, deeply reasonable (if I cannot believe this man, I cannot believe in anything). Eventually, they acquired respect for the man, a certainty beyond compare. A screen placed in front of reality makes the unknowable real, while the moral certainty that comes from a completely open and fair availability in time is the cradle of a reasonable existence. Who are you? Mark 4:35-41 – For Friends; John 10:24 – For Enemies
They waited for time to entrench his disciples in the certainty of his accession and his obstinate enemies in hostility.