‘God Can Break In’—Rabbi Jason Sobel Explains Why the Miracles of Jesus Give Us Hope for Today

Rabbi Jason Sobel
Images courtesy of Rabbi Jason Sobel

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I went to Bible college and seminary, and I wrestled with it for a while, but I’ve seen God do many miracles now. I also have prayed for many people and have not seen God show up and do miracles.

First of all, I think we need to understand that signs are like sign posts on the highway. When you see a billboard, the sign is meant to point to something else, right? Ultimately, they’re not the end goal in and of itself. They don’t exist for their own purpose. And so these signs are ultimately meant to point us to Jesus.

[Miracles] reveal the heart of God. They reveal the identity of Jesus as the divine Messiah sent by the Father. The miracles validate the message. And that’s why I think it’s important to look at the miracles, because they do reveal the heart of God. Every miracle has a promise attached to it and lessons and wisdom for our lives. 

And at the same time, we live in this fallen, broken world. Because the Kingdom of God has broken in, that means miracles are possible. Supernatural things can happen. But because the kingdom has not fully come, we live in a fallen world. That means miracles won’t always occur, and we don’t know why. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. I mean, that’s the sovereignty of God, which is a mystery to us.

One of the signs you discuss in the book is when Jesus cleanses the temple. It’s become common among some believers to use Jesus’ actions in the temple to justify harsh words or behavior. While it does seem like there could be a place at times for righteous anger, is that the best takeaway from this account?

I think that’s a great question. We have to, again, understand the context. In my book, the cleansing of the temple is “the miracle of purification.” We begin with transformation, but transformation has to lead to purification. And Jesus does this miracle in the context of the Passover.

You know, God took Israel out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to take Egypt out of Israel. There needed to be a purification. And so even to this day at Passover season, you have to remove the leaven from your home, because technically, Passover is the feast of unleavened bread. 

You have to remove the leaven because, biblically, leaven is symbolic of sin. And so “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,” and “a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.” And so at Passover, we remove the leaven, one, to remind us that our ancestors ate unleavened bread and the redemption God brought.

But removing it also says, “Listen, you have to remove the leaven from your home, from your family, from your lives, the sin, the ungodliness, the unrighteousness.” In 1 Corinthians, Paul talks about “the leaven of malice and wickedness.”

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So Jesus is sent by the Father. The temple is his Father’s house. He’s a good son; he’s helping his father. It’s his responsibility to prepare his father’s house, to remove the leaven, the things that are not right, that are perverting the worship and connection to God in God’s house.

That’s why he does the miracle. In the same way, Jesus wants us to look into our hearts and in our lives to remove the malice. He wants to remove the malice in order to [eliminate] the things that are holding us back from being who God has created us to be. 

So is it ok to model Jesus’ righteous indignation? I think that’s a misguided understanding. Because Scripture, which doesn’t contradict itself, says, “The anger of man does not achieve or accomplish the righteousness of God.” Yes, there is a righteous indignation of things that we should be provoked by, but I don’t think that ever warrants being mean or unkind. We are called to be loving and graceful and kind, to speak the truth, but speak it in love.

I understand you’re one of the advisors on the TV series “The Chosen.” Could you share a little bit about what the process is like when you give input on the content of the show?

Sure. I’ve been an advisor on “The Chosen” since its inception. I was the original spiritual advisor and got to take Dallas [Jenkins] and the team to Israel as they were raising the money and dreaming of doing “The Chosen” and have been involved ever since. That and a lot of our little videos with Dallas and I from Israel have, you know, gone viral and made a significant impact, thank God.

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Jessica Lea
Jessica is a content editor for ChurchLeaders.com and the producer of The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast. She has always had a passion for the written word and has been writing professionally for the past five years. When Jessica isn't writing, she enjoys West Coast Swing dancing, reading, and spending time with her friends and family.

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