What is a miracle? What isn't a miracle? The word miracle comes from the Latin

Miraculum meaning object of wonder. As is traditional in my country, let's start by being negative.

What isn't a miracle? We tend to use the word miracle in a tongue inin-cheek or over-the-top way.

It'll be a miracle if England wins the World Cup in my lifetime.

Well, it might surprise the bookies, but it wouldn't defy the laws of nature.

So that wouldn't be a miracle.

The iPhone is a miracle of miniaturization.

Arthur C. Clark used to say in the 1970s, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. But no, not even the iPhone qualifies as a miracle.

Here's another one you hear quite a lot.

It was a miracle more people weren't hurt by the accident.

Again, it may have been a very rare or unlikely outcome under the circumstances, but it's not a miracle.

When Scripture speaks of miracles, it's talking about very specific occurrences with a very specific purpose.

The first time you see the word used is in Exodus where the Lord tells Moses that he's given him the ability to work particular miracles in the presence of Pharaoh.

He gives Moses the power to do things that would be humanly impossible, specifically as a sign or proof to Pharaoh

that the God of Israel is real and that Pharaoh should repent. In First Chronicles and in Psalm 105,

David exhorts his hearers to remember the miracles God has done. Why? Because they prove to us that

there is no God like him and that we should turn to him. When we get to the New Testament, we see a

similar pattern. For example, at the wedding in Cana, Jesus turned water into wine.

This was not done as a crowd-pleasing stunt, something to while away the minutes between the hors d'oeuvre and the entree.

Jesus did it to show who he is and that we should turn to him.

In fact, one of the main words used for miracles

in the New Testament is more commonly translated as sign.

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