Often a bible textbook will list the miracles of the Lord Jesus among the 'proofs' of His divinity. I thought that it would be interesting (and a little fun) to apply the same test to Peter.

*Can a mere man walk on water? Peter did. (Matt. 14:22-33)

*Can a mere man heal a someone who was lame from birth? Peter did. (Acts 3:3-16)

*Can a mere man command someone to die with just a word, and have it come to pass? Peter did. (Acts 5)

*Can a mere man's shadow heal the sick and infirm? Peter's did. (Acts 5:12-16)

*Can a mere man heal a paralyzed man? Peter did. (Acts 9:32)

*Can a mere man raise the dead? Peter did. (Acts 9:36-42)

*Can a mere man retain or remit sins? Peter did. (John 20)

Based upon the overwhelming evidence (his control of the elements, his power over sickness and death, his authority to remit sins, etc.), it is quite clear that Peter must have been divine - God in the flesh.

Or, was he?

We all know that Peter was merely a man, that God was operating THROUGH him. He was a vessel nothing more.

I want to submit something for you to think about. The Lord Jesus was most assuredly God. But, he was also most assuredly Man. Jesus, who was God Almighty, was also Jesus who was merely human.

Which Jesus do you think is the Foundation Stone of the Church? I think it's the Man.

Realizing that the Church is the Temple of the Holy Ghost, then the Lord Jesus who is the Foundation Stone must be the Son of Man. If the Foundation Stone of the Church is Jesus/God, then God is the Temple of God...and that doesn't make any sense at all. Do you see that? Man is the Temple of God. And Jesus, the Son of Man, is the Foundation Stone of that Temple. Do you see that?

Why do I bring this up?

I think that when Jesus was walking this earth, he was living his life to show what a Godly, Spirit-filled MAN should look like. He was the "firstborn among many brethren," and brothers are all pretty much the same. If Jesus had 'tapped into' his divinity at any time, it would have disqualified him from the Cross. It would have also disqualified him from being my Example.

So that leaves us with the question: How did Jesus do his miracles?

I think that he was operating in the gifts of the Spirit. Gifts that were given to the Church at Pentecost when the Spirit came were his when the Spirit descended on him like a Dove. He was "anointed" to heal the sick, cast out devils, preach the Gospel, etc. That same Anointing, after Christ's death, operated through his Church, that is, through a fella named Peter.

Peter was not God. Nor am I. Nor are you. And when Jesus walked this earth, there was a very real sense that we could say, Nor was He. He had laid aside his divinity.

The miracles of Jesus were NOT proofs of his divinity, but of his Spirit-filled humanity.

Now, next time you read the Gospels, read them with the thought in your head: Here is a Man operating in the Spirit's gifts and power.

Then read Acts, and look at Peter, and say: Here is another man operating in the Spirit's gifts and power.

And then go look in the mirror, and ask yourself: Am I operating in the Spirit's gifts and power?