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The Main Elements Of A Miracle Essay

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The Gospel of Mark is filled with a variety of miracles that can be identified as falling into three brief categories: exorcisms, nature miracles, and healing miracles. It is important to understand that in order to be healed and blessed with Jesus’ grace, just like the individuals in the miracle stories, we must also be open to accepting to him. With that being said, in this paper I will discuss the elements of a miracle, the ways in which Mark presents them in his Gospel, the great effects that receptiveness can lead to, as well as, how miracles are used by Jesus to teach about the kingdom of God. Before discussing various miracles it is vital to understand the concept behind such events. A miracle, found in Reading Mark for the First Time is defined by John Meier, as being, (1) an unusual, startling, or extraordinary event that is in principle perceivable by any interested and fair-minded observer, (2) an event which finds no reasonable explanation in human abilities or in other know forces that operate in our world of time and space, and (3) an event that is the result of a special act of God doing what no human power can do. Through the gospel, miracle stories are generally presented as aspects of the inbreaking kingdom of God. In other words, “A miracle is something that exceeds our expectations, that defies the "rules" - be they medical or spiritual - constructed by humans to identify, label, and comprehend our experiences.” The gospels interpret Jesus’ miracles as

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