Seven Traits of Jesus' Miracles

Hopewell Church of Christ

January 9, 2000

The four Gospel accounts of Jesus' life record more than three dozen specific miracles which He did during his ministry. These are not all of the signs and wonders that He did. (John 20:30-31.) This record of His deeds is vital to Christianity. C. S. Lewis has well noted: "All the essentials of Hinduism would, I think, remain unimpaired if you subtracted the alleged miraculous, and the same is almost true of Muhammadanism, but you cannot do that with Christianity. It is the precisely the story of a great Miracle. A naturalistic Christianity leaves out all that is specifically Christian." (Miracles, C. S. Lewis, 1947, 83.)

I believe that there is powerful, compelling evidence of the truthfulness of these miracles just by reading them. That is, there are certain traits that are evident which give them an aura of credibility. There is nothing absurd or incredible in what Jesus did.

Consider these traits of the miracles of Jesus:

The water which the Lord changed into wine could be tasted. This was his first miracle at Cana of Galilee. "When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and knew not whence it was. . . ." (John 2:9.) Thomas could feel the wounds in the hands and side of the resurrected Lord. "Reach hither thy finger and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless but believing." (John 20:27.) The restored ear of the high priest's servant, severed by Peter, could be seen. "And he touched his ear and healed him." (Luke 22:51.) When the ten lepers were healed, it was something that they could see. Their flesh had a different appearance now. "And one of them when he saw that he was healed, turned back and with a loud voice glorified God." (Luke 17:15.)

The Gospel writers were not reporting things that were subjective and could not be witnessed with the five senses. It was according to what they saw and heard. (1 John 1:3.) The miracles that Jesus performed could be seen, heard, touch and tasted. The bread and fish that Jesus multiplied could be tasted. The twelve baskets left over could be carried home and eaten later. The creation is seen and enjoyed every day by the whole conscious creation.

The miracles of Jesus might be under suspicion if they were all performed in private. Jesus did heal two people in private. The deaf and dumb man from Decapolis, "He took him aside from the multitude and put his fingers in his ears and touched his tongue." (Mark 7:33.) The people of Bethsaida brought Jesus a blind man. "And He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of town; and when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands upon him, he asked if he saw anything." (Mark 8:23.) If all were done like those two, we might have some grounds for doubting. But they were not. In fact, most miracles were done in the presence of multitudes.

When the Lord multiplied the loaves and fish, possibly ten thousand people witnessed the event. "And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand." (John 6:10.) Counting the women, if as many as men, there would have been ten thousand. Often the Bible says, "And there followed him great multitudes of people." (Matt. 4:24, 5:1, 8:1, 18; 9:8, 9:36, 11:7.) In fact, in the Gospel of Matthew the multitudes are referred to 16 times. Luke recorded, "But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him, and great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by him of their infirmities." (Luke 5:15.)

There was no hesitation to allow women to serve as witnesses. This was done in a day when women were not given much prominence in society. Mary Magdalene had seven demons cast out of her. From that time forth, Mary was always very near Jesus. She was among the first to see him after his resurrection and was used to report the resurrection to the apostles who gathered in Galilee. (John 20:18.)

It is easy to see how great crowds would gather to hear Jesus. His teaching alone would have attracted thousands, but when word spread that He could heal the sick great crowds would have come together. Even in our day when fake healers come to town, thousands pack the coliseums. Can you imagine how many would attend if it were real?!

Paul told the Corinthians that about five hundred brethren saw Jesus at once after his resurrection. Most of them were still alive when Paul wrote this. Doubters could ask any number of witnesses who saw Jesus after his death and resurrection. (1 Cor. 15:6.) Remember that the Sadducees denied the resurrection from the dead; the Pharisees confessed it. Therefore, many would doubt concerning this miracle. Could you imagine having three to four hundred witnesses to confirm something? The Law of Moses required only two or three people. We have four gospel writers for our testimony. This may be one reason why we have them. We have the testimony of people like Mary, Martha, Luke, Paul, Peter, John, and all the apostles.

Often with modern claims to miracles, there are other explanations. The person may be taking medications, or there is no real proof that the person is sick. We see people standing on a stage before the healer, but we cannot see what is wrong with the person. There is something inside them, or they are using a cane or wheelchair. A well person can pretend to need those aids.

Neither medical treatment nor mental suggestion is a sufficient explanation for the miracles. There was a man born blind. (John 9:1.) There is at least one person who knows for sure whether he was sick and then healed. That person is the one who was "healed." The blind man withstood the arguments of the Jewish leaders even under threat that he would be thrown out of the synagogue (like being thrown out of church!). The parents refused to answer for him. (9:23.) "He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? How opened he thine eyes?" (9:25-26.)

Jesus raised Lazarus after he was dead four days. There was no possible explanation other than that he was raised. Likewise with Jesus' own resurrection. Some say that Jesus just swooned and revived. Really? After being beaten nearly to death, left on a cross for six hours, then soldiers to pierce his heart to make sure that he was dead. Many of these things were done by the unbelievers to make sure that Jesus was dead. What they were really doing was confirming his resurrection from the dead!

In the gospel accounts, there is nothing bizarre. When Jesus healed someone, there is an air of seriousness and respect for mankind. Lepers desired to be whole again so that they could walk around among friends again. The blind desired to see; the deaf to hear; the dumb to speak. Mary and Martha desired to see their brother alive again.

Contrast the biblical miracles with the ancient Catholic legend regarding St. Eligius. Eligius was said on one occasion to be shoeing a horse that would not stand still. So he took off the horse's leg, shod the foot, and restored the limb, the horse being none the worse for the procedure. Eligius thus became the "patron saint" of blacksmiths! (Reason & Revelation, "The Miracles of Christ vs. Modern Miracles," Wayne Jackson, February 1990, 10.)

One supposed miracle worker on TV puts his hand on the forehead of the person and pushes them backward on the floor. Workers are always running about on stage to catch these falling people. Would it not be strange if Jesus pushed everyone backward who asked to be healed? Some did fall backward when they tried to arrest Jesus at night. "Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground." (John 18:5-6.) But he was not healing them. He showed them that he had the power to escape if he wanted to do so.

The only strange event in the New Testament is found in John 5:1-16. Jesus healed a man lying by the side of the pool of Bethesda. This name means "house of mercy." John wrote, "For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water. Whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had." (5:4.) There are several troubling things about this account: 1) It seems harsh to so treat lame and blind people. The lame would not be able to get up quickly. The blind would not be able to see when the water moved. Why play such tricks on people? 2) Why would only the first one in the water be healed? 3) Why make them wait and watch for the next moving of the water?

Here are some explanations: 1) Jesus did not heal this way. Notice that he healed the lame man who could not reach the water. 2) Verse 4 is omitted in the NIV, ASV, and RV. The manuscript evidence for this statement is weak and the verse should be excluded. 3) This method of healing is not so much bizarre, as it is cruel. It is not like the God we know in Scripture, nor the Jesus who healed so many out of compassion. This story should be accepted only as something that the Jews believed. It is possible that the Jews believed this pool to have some medical value just as we use hot salt baths today.

They were many who objected to Jesus' performing miracles. But they could not and did not deny that He performed them. It is interesting to note the kind of objections that they made.

1) They objected that he did them on the Sabbath. Jesus replied that they performed circumcisions on the Sabbath Day! Circumcisions were done on the eight day after a boy was born. Many therefore were circumcised on the Sabbath. Jesus also reminded them that they would do benevolent deeds to animals, like pulling them out of the mud, on the Sabbath. Should He not show compassion to human beings on the Sabbath.

2) Some objected by saying that he did not do the miracles by the power of God, but by the power of Beelzebub. (Matt. 12:24.) Jesus showed the fallacy of such an argument. That would mean that Satan is divided against himself! If so, a house divided against itself cannot stand. Why would Satan cast out his own workers?? This conclusion was inescapable.

3) The Pharisees would ask the people who were healed, How did this happen to you? The fact that were healed could not be overthrown. How was the only question remaining.

Infidels years later wrote against the miraculous element in Scripture. But those near the events could not deny them. Some declared enemies of Christianity, like Celsus, Porphyry, Hierocles, Julian and others, wrote against the miracles of Jesus. But in order to successfully deny them, the eye-witnesses must be discredited. One must not only discredit the Lord, but the many who affirmed that the miracles were real.

No one, like a Judas, ever left the disciples and did not expose on the supposed fakery involved in Jesus' miracles. Modern miracle workers are often the subject of investigation. One preacher from Upland, CA, claimed the supernatural ability to give revealed information about people in the audience in conjunction with "healing" them. It was found that his wife transmitted messages to him from backstage through a tiny hearing aid. He was exposed on national TV for his tricks. The same preacher also rented wheelchairs for people who could actually walk, then, at his services, he pronounced them healed.

His apostles sometimes failed in their efforts, but Jesus never failed. The only recorded example of the apostles' failure is concerning casting our demons. Jesus said that they failed because they lacked faith in God. But Jesus then cast out the demons.

We should not say that Jesus always healed or worked miracles instantly. Sometimes, he would accomplish a task over a period of time. Two examples are these: 1) The creation took six days. Could He have done it in one second? Yes, but he choose to take six days. It was not because he could not do it. 2) He healed the blind man of Mark 8 in two steps. There is no failure in Jesus' miracle here, but rather what he simply choose to do.

Gus Nichols wrote, There are at least three kings of healing, all of them divine. (Speaking the Truth in Love, "Divine Healing and Miracles," 36-43.) He then named nature's laws, providence, and miracles. This is a good way to conclude our study of the Characteristics of Jesus' Miracles.

Nature. Since our Lord is the creator of all things, then all healing even in nature came from him. When we cut ourselves, the flesh and skin heals itself and grows back. A doctor does not heal you, he aids the process of healing by removing obstacles to the body healing itself. Medicines that are found in plants and animals were created by the Lord. So, all healing is divine in that sense.

Providence. We usually mean by providence that the Lord did something more directly than nature, but less than miracles. Providence fits right between nature and miracles. We pray for the Lord to do something for our sick. We do not expect a miracle today, but we do believe that the Lord who made everything has control of all the events of life. He can so use the laws of nature and time and circumstances to bring about the answers to our prayers.

Miracles. This means much more than nature and providence. The natural process is suspended, or blocked, or given divine aid. All things were begun by miracle, like the creation of the world and establishment of the church. Miracles are not necessary to keep the process going. Jesus performed many wonderful signs and wonders during his life. He did so because: a) of compassion, b) to produce faith (John 20:30-31), c) to establish his authority and divinity.

Miracles occur in Scripture at interesting periods of time. They are clustered at times of beginnings of new eras in history. Note these: the creation of the world, the formation of the nation of Israel, the beginning of the church, and the end of the world or beginning of the new heaven and new earth. There are other occasions when miracles were performed. They were not limited to these, but the other occasions are very limited. There is compelling evidence of the truthfulness of these miracles just by reading them.