Yesterday at Redeemer we had the funeral of Carl Cocherell. There were many beautiful testimonies and tributes to Carl.
In my part I shared the miraculous healing Carl experienced some years ago.
When it happened, I shared it with my friend Craig Keener. Craig inserted the story of Carl's healing in his book Miracles: Two Volumes - The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts. Craig also shared Carl's story in his book Miracles Today: The Supernatural Work of God In the Modern World.
Lee Strobel interviewed Craig for his book The Case for Miracles. As part of the interview Craig shared Carl Cocherell's story. Here it is, from Strobel's The Case for Miracles.
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“In March 2006, on a trip to Missouri, Carl was checking the oil in his car when he stepped down and felt a sharp crack,” Keener said. “He fainted from the pain, which was the worst he had ever endured. I have a copy of the radiology report of his X-rays, confirming the fracture. The orthopedist ordered him to stay overnight. During that night, though, Carl experienced a voice from the Lord.”
“What did the voice say?” I asked.
“That the ankle was not broken.”
I cocked my head. “Despite the X-rays?”
“That’s right. The next day the doctor casted his leg and warned he would eventually need months of physical therapy. Back in Michigan, his family doctor ordered more X-rays, and this time the results were radically different.”
“How so?”
“There were no breaks or even tissue damage where a break had been. Again, I have the radiology report that says there’s no fracture. In fact, the doctor told him, ‘You never had a broken ankle.’”
“But,” I interjected, “what about the Missouri X-rays?”
Keener calmly continued the narrative. “The doctor looked again at those Missouri X-rays and said, ‘Now, that’s a broken ankle.’ But at this point, there was no sign of a break. He removed Carl’s cast and sent him home. Carl never had further problems or needed any therapy.”
“What do you make of all that?” I asked.
“Personally, I don’t see how this could have occurred naturally,” Keener said. “Would a sixty-two-year-old man’s bone heal so quickly that no sign of a fracture would remain at all? It doesn’t seem likely. And, of course, that wouldn’t explain how God told him in advance what would happen.”
(Strobel, Lee. The Case for Miracles: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for the Supernatural (p. 106). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. )
