Faithzone Videos


	Why did Jesus heal people?
	Divide students into groups to look at some of the healing miracles. Examples might include: · The healing of Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52) · The healing of the paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8) · The healing of the demon-possessed man (Mark 5:1-20) · The healing of the sick woman and Jairus's daughter (Mark 5:21-43) · The healing of the blind man (John 9) Ask the students to analyse the incidents from two perspectives 1. What happened? - Can they put a name to the physical problems suffered in these stories? - What did Jesus do? 2. Look at the stories from the perspective of 'what was going on' - the 'meaning' of the story. Most biblical scholars would see the miracles as emphasizing the breaking in of the Kingdom of God into present reality, but there are often more particular points being made.

	Some people's idea of Jesus includes a view of him as a miracle worker, or one whose life was surrounded by various miracles and supernatural events. Other views would see the miracles, and anything else apparently miraculous about Jesus' life and work, as stories which help people to understand what Jesus and the Kingdom of God are like. Discuss both points of view. If there were positive proof that the miracles never took place, should that be a reason for Christians to stop believing in Jesus?