What If We Ignored the Miracles?

I was talking to a friend the other day who mentioned that the miracles of Christ had been a distraction to him for most of his life.  He couldn't believe that anyone ever walked on water or calmed storms or rose from the dead.  As a result, he never really looked farther into this historical character who had such an affect on the world.  After all, how believable could any of the rest stories be if some of the most popular stories about this man were so unrealistic? 

Buddha was said to have walked on water, Mohammad ascended into heaven on his horse.  As Christians we feel that those ideas are preposterous until they are applied to Christ.  When we consider Christ walking on water or ascending into heaven, then it becomes very "believable" for us.  But what about for everybody else?  What are they to think?

The fact is, every religion has their miracles, and all of them have miracles that can compete with the miracles of Christianity.  But, the one thing that I think really sets Christianity apart are the teachings of Christ.  If we were to take the miracles out of every religion, all that would be left would be the teachings.  I have a hard time comparing the miracles of Christianity with the miracles of any other religion, but I have no problem comparing the teachings of Christ with the teachings of anybody who has ever lived.  Who can compete with unconditional love?  Who can beat the idea of loving your enemies or unconditional forgiveness?  The fact is Jesus was way more amazing for what He taught and the way He loved than he was for His miracles.  It should be the power of the teachings that validate the miracles rather than the other way around. 

In fact, in my mind, the most amazing miracle of all was His love.  Who can beat that?

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