King Herod was a drunken old fool who didn't realize his need for a Savior. I played the part for 18 performances in the North Heights 2002 Passion Play. As Herod, I'd ask Jesus, who had been brought to me after His trial, to entertain me and perform a miracle. (The real King Herod had been curious about Jesus for a long time and enjoyed the opportunity to make fun of Him.)

    Maliciously, I'd suggest that perhaps I could cut off the head of one of my slaves and He could put it back on for her. Then, as Herod, when I sang the song, "Do a Miracle," I would bend down to just within an inch or so of Jesus' face and taunt him, asking point blank, "Are you God, Jesus?" But Jesus remained silent. He wouldn't give in to my taunting, and for just a moment a flicker of questioning would cross my face. Could this possibly be the one the Jews were waiting for? Could this possibly be the Messiah? And could He really do miracles? Little did I know that I would soon experience the answer to that last inquiry.

   I also played the role of the Angel Gabriel who talks with the three women at the tomb. In this scene, I wore a white gown that was 13 feet in length, and I was precariously perched on a small stepstool. As soon as the scene went black, I was whisked off the stage.

   On the last Thursday night of the Passion Play, however, I tripped while quickly trying to exit the stage and got completely tangled up in the gown.

   My left knee twisted backwards, and I heard something pop. I couldn't get up and had to crawl off the stage in the dark. Out in the Centrum my family doctor, who happened to be a disciple in the passion play, examined my knee, and we immediately applied ice to it. But by the next morning, I knew I was in trouble. While my knee was not swollen, I could put absolutely no weight on it. I stayed home from school and my mom anointed me with oil for healing.

   Well, God didn't heal my knee that day, and we ended up going to the doctor's office. Nothing was broken and there were no torn ligaments. He thought that perhaps there was torn cartilage or that it was simply sprained. My time of playing the Angel Gabriel was over, but I was able to do my role as Herod with limited movement.

   School started on Monday, and I showed up with a leg brace and on crutches. I still was not able to bear any weight on my knee. By Wednesday my mom asked if it was any better. It was getting close to the end of the one-week "wait-and-see" period, and she was ready to make another doctor's appointment for me.

   But Jesus does do miracles. As Herod, when I would ask Him to do a miracle to entertain my court and myself, Jesus knelt silently the entire time. He not only didn't perform a miracle, He didn't even speak. But when we go to God in earnestness and sincerity, believing that He can and will do miracles, we never know what might happen.

   I went to my Wednesday evening youth group and during the course of our small-group time, the guys gathered around me, laid hands on me, and prayed for my knee to be healed. They prayed with faith, knowing that sometimes God heals in a natural process, but sometimes He heals instantaneously. As they prayed, 1 began to feel "things" moving around in my knee. After they finished praying, I stood up and I could bear weight on that knee. I had been healed! That evening I gave back the crutches I had borrowed, I took off the leg brace and carried it under my arm-and then I hopped on one foot! Even though my mom had been praying for a healing, she could hardly believe it until I put full weight on that leg and showed her that I could really hop on it. I took no more ibuprofen (I had been taking it four times a day), and my knee was completely healed. My mom says now that she believed God would totally heal my knee.

   How many of us are like Herod? We have heard of Jesus, we've heard He does miracles, and we want Him to do one for us. This experience taught me that when we demand that God do a miracle . . . and we only want to see it for entertainment, He remains silent. But when we bring our burdens to Him-whether they be for a physical healing, an emotional healing, or for guidance in decision-making-He is there, and He wants to do a miracle in our lives. Praise God that He still does.

Jeremy Bartunek was 18 years old and a senior at Stillwater Area High School when he wrote this article for IN MOTION, a publication of North Heights Lutheran Church. He was active in FirePower Ministries for senior high youth and the Music and Drama Ministry. He is now a student at Wheaton College Conservatory of Music where piano is his main focus.

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