Skeptics Transformed

It used to be that what you see is what you get, but that’s not so anymore. In our day of digital photography, just because you see it doesn’t mean it happened the way it appears.

I’m naturally skeptical. I question all kinds of things. I don’t want to simply accept things at face value; I want to know that what I’m told or what I see or hear is really the way it is. In the eighth chapter of Matthew we find Jesus performing a variety of miracles that will change the heart of any skeptic.

· A man with leprosy is healed.
· A Roman Centurion seeks help for his servant; when Jesus speaks the word the servant is healed at that very hour.
· Jesus touched Peter’s mother-in-law and healed her of a fever and she got up and fixed dinner for everyone.
· That same evening many who were demon possessed and sick with all kinds of diseases came to Peter’s house and Jesus healed them all.

Matthew uses these miracles to show that Jesus is the promised Messiah—the Savior.

This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
"He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases."
Matthew 8:17 (NIV)

As the crowd continued to grow, Jesus instructed His disciples to prepare to go to the other side of the lake. I’m sure that while the hour was getting late and they might have liked to have spent the night at Peter’s house, the disciples did as Jesus said. Once they were on the boat, Jesus laid down and went to sleep.

As they made their way across the lake a violent storm came upon them. Fearful for their lives they woke Jesus up. I’m not sure what they expected Jesus to do, if anything, but Jesus spoke to the wind and the waves and the storm subsided.

The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"
Matthew 8:27 (NIV)

I think that among Jesus’ disciple there were a few skeptics because this is the kind of question a skeptic will ask. "What kind of man is this?" They had witnessed the miracles of healing and now the calming of the storm. The pieces of the puzzle were coming together in their minds. Jesus was no ordinary man. He must be our Savior. Jesus must be God's promised Messiah.

Maybe you have had your doubts about Jesus too. Could what is said about Him really be true? Bring your personal ‘storm’ to Jesus today and ask Him to help you. Let Jesus amaze you as He calms the storms of life and change you from being a skeptic to a believer.