Jesus' Miracles of Nature
Year One
Water into wine
John
2:1-11
· Jesus, his disciples, and Jesus’ mother, Mary, were at a wedding feast in the village of Cana in Galilee. When the wine was all gone, Mary told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. There were six stone water jugs that were used for bathing; each jug held about 30 gallons of water. Jesus told the servants to fill the jugs to the top with water. After the jugs had been filled, Jesus told the servants to take some of the water in the jugs and give it to the man hosting the wedding feast. The servants obeyed and when the man in charge of the feast drank some of the water, he found that it had been turned into wine.
Year Two
First
Miraculous Catch of Fish
Luke 5:4-10
· Jesus was preaching from Peter’s boat to the crowds on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. After He was done speaking, Jesus told Peter to take the boat out into the deep waters and let down the nets. Peter questioned this because he, his brother Andrew, and his friends James and John had been out all night trying to catch fish and were unlucky in their endeavor, but he obeyed Jesus nonetheless.
· As soon as the nets were lowered, an enormous shoal of fish swam into the nets - so many fish that the nets began to tear. They men on the boat had to signal to friends in another boat to come over and help them with their nets. When the four disciples saw the large amount of fish in the nets they were overwhelmed with awe and Peter fell on his knees before Jesus. Jesus told Peter, Andrew, James, and John that from that moment forward they would be “fishers of men.”
Calming the Storm
Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25
· Jesus and his disciples were in a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee. A windstorm suddenly arose, causing huge waves that rocked the boat.
· Jesus was laying in the back of the boat, asleep. Panicked, His disciples woke him, telling him that the boat was ready to sink. Jesus stood up and ordered the wind and waves to be quiet. The wind stopped and the sea became calm.
Year Three
Feeding of the 5,000
Matthew
14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15
(This is the only miracle of nature or healing recorded in
all four gospels.)
· Jesus was preaching to a large crowd of people. At one point he turned to Philip and asked where they would get enough food to feed such a large group. Jesus already knew what He was going to do but He asked Philip to test him. Philip’s answer was that he didn’t believe it was possible to feed all of the people, because giving each person even just a little piece of bread would cost almost a year’s wages.
· Andrew spoke up and told Jesus of a young boy in the crowd who had five small loaves of barley bread and two fish, even though Andrew knew this wouldn’t help feed all five thousand people gathered.
· Jesus told His disciples to have everyone gathered sit down in the grass. Jesus took one of the loaves of bread from the young boy and gave thanks to God for it. Then He passed the bread to the people, and did the same with the fish, until everyone had plenty to eat.
· The people ate as much as they wanted, but still there was food leftover. The disciples gathered up twelve large baskets of food that was left over from the five barley loaves and two fish.
· The people who had witnessed this miracle began realizing that Jesus must be the Prophet whom they were waiting for. At this point, Jesus realized that they would try to force him to be their king so He went up on a mountain so he could be alone.
Walking on Water
Matthew
14:22-23; Mark 6:45-52; John 6:16-24
· After the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus wanted to be alone so He made his disciples get back in their boat to start back across the Sea of Galilee while He went upon on a mountain to fast and pray.
· Jesus stayed on the mountain for the night and by the next morning, the boat was a long way from the shore. However, the boat was being rocked by the wind and tossed around on the waves. Suddenly, the disciples saw something coming towards them, which they thought was a ghost, and they started screaming. It was Jesus and He was walking on the water towards the boat.
· Jesus tried calming His disciples down by telling them that it was He and they should not be afraid. Peter replied, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus told Peter to come, and so Peter stepped out of the boat and started walking on the water towards Him. But when the wind started blowing harder, Peter became afraid and started sinking, calling to Jesus to save him.
· Jesus pulled Peter out of the water and said to him, “You surely do not have much faith. Why do you doubt?” When Jesus and Peter returned to the boat, the wind immediately calmed down. The men in the boat worshipped Jesus exclaiming, “You really are the Son of God!”
Feeding of the 4,000
Matthew
15:29-39; Mark 8:1-10
· Jesus left the Tyre and Sidon region. He walked along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, climbed a hill and sat. Soon, large numbers of people began coming to him; they brought with them people who needed healing and lay them at the feet of Jesus.
· After Jesus got done preaching to the people and healing the sick, He called to His disciples and told them that He wanted to feed the large crowd of people before they left. The disciples told Jesus that they had run out of food and only had seven loaves of bread and a few small fish – not nearly enough to feed the four thousand people gathered. Jesus told the crowd to sit down as he took the bread and fish into his hands and broke them with a prayer of thanksgiving. He then passed the bread and fish to the disciples to pass around to the people. After everyone had eaten their fill, the disciples gathered up seven baskets of left over food.
A
Fish Pays the Temple Tax
Matthew
17:24-27
· When Jesus and His disciples arrived in the city of Capernaum, the Temple tax-collectors approached them and asked Peter whether his master paid Temple-tax or not. Peter replied that as a matter of fact He did. Later, at their house, Jesus asked Peter, “Whom do the kings of this world get their rates and taxes from – their own people or from others?” “From others,” Peter replied. Jesus told him, “Then the family is exempt. Yet we don’t want to give offense to these people.” Then he told Peter to go to the lake and fish and the first fish that bit would have a coin inside its mouth for Peter to go pay the Temple-tax with.
Last Week in Jerusalem
The
Cursed Fig Tree that Withers Away
Matthew
21:18-22; Mark 11:12-14, 20-26
· Jesus saw a fig-tree growing by the side of the road. Feeling hungry He approached it but to His dismay found there was nothing growing on it but leaves. He cursed the tree saying that no fruit would ever grow on it again, and at once the fig tree withered up. The disciples were in awe, and asked how it had happened. Jesus answered that if you have faith in your heart and believe without any doubts that something will happen then it will happen.
After the Resurrection
The Second Miraculous
Catch of Fish
John 21:1-11
· After Jesus appeared to Thomas, He showed himself again to his disciples on the shore of Galilee. The disciples decided to go fishing in the lake during the night but come morning had not caught a single fish. Just as dawn was beginning to break, they looked and saw Jesus standing on the shore, although they did not recognize Him at first.