19/06/2016
Miracles of Jesus
(Redirected from Miracles of jesus )
Christ Walks on Water , by Ivan Aivazovsky,
1888.
The miracles of Jesus are the supernatural[1]
deeds attributed to Jesus in Christian and
Islamic texts. The majority are faith healing,
exorcisms , resurrection of the dead and control
over nature .[2][3]
In the Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and
Luke), Jesus refuses to give a miraculous sign
to prove his authority. [4] In the Gospel of
John , Jesus is said to have performed seven
miraculous signs that characterize his
ministry, from changing water into wine at the
start of his ministry to raising Lazarus from
the dead at the end.[5]
To many Christians and Muslims, the miracles
are actual historical events. [6][7][8] Others,
including liberal Christians , consider these
stories to be figurative.[9] Since the
Enlightenment scholars have taken a highly
skeptical approach to claims about miracles.
[10]
Types and motives
In most cases, Christian authors associate
each miracle with specific teachings that
reflect the message of Jesus. [11]
In The Miracles of Jesus , H. Van der Loos
describes two main categories of miracles
attributed to Jesus: those that affected people,
e.g., the Blind Man of Bethsaida and are called
"healings", and those that "controlled nature",
e.g., Walking on Water . The three types of
healings are cures where an ailment is cured,
exorcisms where demons are cast away and
the resurrection of the dead. Karl Barth said
that, among these miracles, the Transfiguration
of Jesus is unique in that the miracle happens
to Jesus himself.[12]
According to Craig Blomberg, one
characteristic shared among all miracles of
Jesus in the Gospel accounts is that he
delivered benefits freely and never requested or
accepted any form of payment for his healing
miracles, unlike some high priests of his time
who charged those who were healed. [13] In
Matthew 10:8 he advised his disciples to heal
the sick without payment and stated: "freely ye
received, freely give." [13]
It is not always clear when two reported
miracles refer to the same event. For example,
in the Healing the Centurion's servant , the
Gospels of Matthew[8:5-13] and Luke
[7:1-10] narrate how Jesus healed the
servant of a Roman Centurion in Capernaum at
a distance. The Gospel of John [4:46-54] has
a similar account at Capernaum, but states
that it was the son of a royal official who was
cured at a distance.
Cures
The largest group of miracles mentioned in the
New Testament involve cures. The Gospels
give varying amounts of detail for each
episode, sometimes Jesus cures simply by
saying a few words, at other times employs
material such as spit and mud. Generally they
are referred to in the Synoptic Gospels but not
in the Gospel of John.
The blind
The canonical Gospels tell a number of stories
of Jesus healing blind people. The earliest is a
story of the healing of a blind man in
Bethsaida in the Gospel of Mark .[14]
The Mark Gospel also has an account of the
healing of a man named Bartimaeus , done as
Jesus is leaving Jericho. [15] The Gospel of
Matthew [16] has a simpler account loosely
based on this, with two unnamed blind men
instead of one (this 'doubling' is a
characteristic of Matthew's treatment of the
Mark text) and a slightly different version of
the story, taking place in Galilee, earlier in the
narrative. [17] The Gospel of Luke tells the
same story of Jesus healing an unnamed blind
man, but moves the event in the narrative to
when Jesus approaches Jericho. [18][19]
The Gospel of John describes an episode in
which Jesus heals a man blind from birth ,
placed during the Festival of Tabernacles ,
about six months before his crucifixion. Jesus
mixes spittle with dirt to make a mud mixture,
which he then places on the man's eyes. He
asks the man to wash his eyes in the Pool of
Siloam . When the man does this, he is able to
see. When asked by his disciples whether the
cause of the blindness was the sins of the
man's father or his mother, Jesus states that
it was neither. ( [9:1-12]
Lepers
A story in which Jesus cures a l***r appears in
Mark 1:40-45 , Matthew 8:1-4 and Luke
5:12-16 . Having cured the man, he instructs
him to offer the requisite ritual sacrifices as
prescribed by the Deuteronomic Code and
Priestly Code , and not to tell anyone who had
healed him; but the man disobeyed, increasing
Jesus' fame, and thereafter Jesus withdrew to
deserted places , but was followed there.
In an episode in the Gospel of Luke Luke
17:11-19 , while on his way to Jerusalem ,
Jesus sends ten l***rs who sought his
assistance to the priests, and they were healed
as they go, but the only one who comes back
to thank Jesus is a Samaritan.
Paralytics
Healing the paralytic at Capernaum appears in
Matthew 9:1-8 , Mark 2:1-12 and Luke
5:17-26 . The Synoptics state that a
paralytic was brought to Jesus on a mat;
Jesus told him to get up and walk, and the
man did so. Jesus also told the man that his
sins were forgiven, which irritated the
Pharisees. Jesus is described as responding to
the anger by asking whether it is easier to say
that someone's sins are forgiven, or to tell the
man to get up and walk . Mark and Luke state
that Jesus was in a house at the time, and
that the man had to be lowered through the
roof by his friends due to the crowds blocking
the door.
A similar cure is described in the Gospel of
John as the Healing the paralytic at Bethesda
[Jn 5:1-18] and occurs at the Pool of
Bethesda . In this cure Jesus also tells the man
to take his mat and walk. [Jn 5:1-18] [Mt
12:9-13]
Women
The Cure of a bleeding woman miracle appears
in Mark 5:21-43 , Matthew 9:18-26 and
Luke 8:40-56 , along with the miracle of the
Daughter of Jairus . [20] The Gospels state that
while heading to Jairus' house Jesus was
approached by a woman who had been
suffering from bleeding for 12 years, and that
she touched Jesus' cloak ( fringes of his
garment ) and was instantly healed. Jesus
turned about and, when the woman came
forward, said "Daughter, your faith has healed
you, go in peace".
Healing the mother of Peter's wife . The
Synoptics [21] describe Jesus as healing the
mother-in-law of Simon Peter when he visited
Simon's house in Capernaum , around the time
of Jesus recruiting Simon as an Apostle (Mark
has it just after the calling of Simon, while
Luke has it just before). The Synoptics imply
that this led other people to seek out Jesus.
Jesus healing an infirm woman appears in
Luke 13:10-17 . While teaching in a
synagogue on a Sabbath, Jesus cured a
woman who had been crippled by a spirit for
eighteen years and could not stand straight at
all.
Other healings
Healing a man with dropsy is described in
Luke 14:1-6 . In this miracle, Jesus cured a
man with dropsy at the house of a prominent
Pharisee on the Sabbath. Jesus justified the
cure by asking: "If one of you has a child or an
ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day,
will you not immediately pull it out?"
In the Healing of the man with a withered hand
miracle, [22] the Synoptics state that Jesus
entered a synagogue on Sabbath , and found a
man with a withered hand there, whom Jesus
healed, having first challenged the people
present to decide what was lawful for Sabbath
—to do good or to do evil, to save life or to
kill . The Gospel of Mark adds that this angered
the Pharisees so much that they started to
contemplate killing Jesus.
The Healing the deaf mute of Decapolis miracle
only appears in the Gospel of Mark.
[7:31-37] The Gospel states that Jesus went
to the Decapolis and met a man there who
was deaf and mute, and cured him.
Specifically, Jesus first touched the man's
ears, and touched his tongue after spitting,
and then said Ephphatha! , an Aramaic word
meaning Be opened.
Other
The Healing the Centurion's servant miracle is
reported in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke
7:1-10 . These two Gospels narrate how
Jesus healed the servant of a Roman
Centurion in Capernaum . John 4:46-54 has
a similar account at Capernaum, but states
that it was the son of a royal official who was
cured at a distance.
Jesus healing in the land of Gennesaret
appears in Matthew 14:34-36 and Mark
6:53-56 . As Jesus passes through
Gennesaret all those who touch his cloak are
healed.
Matthew 9:35-36 also reports that after the
miracle of Jesus exorcising a mute , Jesus
went through all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the
good news of the kingdom and healing every
disease and sickness.
Exorcisms
See also: Exorcism in Christianity § New
Testament
According to the three Synoptic Gospels, Jesus
performed many exorcisms of demoniacs.
These incidents are not mentioned in the
Gospel of John and appear to have been
excluded due to theological considerations. [23]
The seven major exorcism accounts in the
Synoptic Gospels which have details, and imply
specific teachings, are:
Exorcism at the Synagogue in Capernaum ,
where Jesus exorcises an evil spirit who cries
out, "What do you want with us, Jesus of
Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I
know who you are—the Holy One of God!". [24]
Exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac : Jesus
exorcises a possessed man (changed in the
Gospel of Matthew to two men). When Jesus
asks the demon's name (finding the name of
the possessing demon was an important
traditional tool of exorcists), [25] he is given
the reply Legion, "...for we are many". When
the demons asked to be expelled into a nearby
group of pigs rather than be sent out of the
area, Jesus obliges, but the pigs then run into
the lake and are drowned. [26]
Exorcising the Canaanite woman's daughter ,
appears in Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark
7:24-30. A Gentile woman asks Jesus to heal
her daughter, but Jesus refuses, saying that he
has been sent only to "the lost sheep of the
house of Israel". The woman persists, saying
that "dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from
their masters' table". In response Jesus relents
and informs her that her daughter has been
healed. [27]
Exorcising the blind and mute man , appears
in Matthew 12:22-32 , Mark 3:20-30 , and
Luke 11:14-23 . Jesus heals a demon-
possessed man who was blind and mute.
People are astonished and ask, "Could this be
the Son of David?"
Exorcising a boy possessed by a demon ,
appears in Matthew 17:14-21 , Mark
9:14-29 , and Luke 9:37-49 . A boy
possessed by a demon is brought forward to
Jesus. The boy is said to have foamed at the
mouth, gnashed his teeth, become rigid and
involuntarily fallen into both water and fire.
Jesus' followers could not expel the demon,
and Jesus condemns the people as
unbelieving, but when the father of the boy
questions if Jesus could heal the boy, he
replies "everything is possible for those that
believe". The father then says that he believes
and the child is healed. [28]
The miracle of Jesus exorcising at sunset
appears in the Synoptic Gospels just after
healing the mother of Peter's wife, in Matthew
8:16-17 , Mark 1:32-34 and Luke
4:40-41 . In this miracle Jesus heals people
and cast out demons.
The miracle of Jesus exorcising a mute
appears in Matthew 9:32-34 immediately
following the account of the miracle of Jesus
healing two blind men . A man who is demon-
possessed and could not talk is brought to
Jesus, who exorcises the demon, and the man
is able to speak.
There are also brief mentions of other
exorcisms, e.g.:
Jesus had cast seven devils out of Mary
Magdalene . ( Mark 16:9 , Luke 8:2 )
Jesus continued to cast out devils even
though Herod Antipas wanted to kill him.
( Luke 13:31-32 )
Resurrection of the dead
See also: Resurrection of the dead
All four Canonical Gospels describe Jesus
being raised from the dead but also relate
three occasions on which Jesus calls a dead
person back to life:
Daughter of Jairus .[Mk 5:21-43] Jairus, a
major patron of a synagogue, asks Jesus to
heal his daughter, but while Jesus is on the
way, Jairus is told his daughter has died.
Jesus tells him she was only sleeping, and
wakes her with the words Talitha k*m!
The Young Man from Nain .[Lk 7:11-17] A
young man, the son of a widow, is brought out
for burial in Nain. Jesus sees her, and his pity
causes him to tell her not to cry. Jesus
approaches the coffin and tells the man inside
to get up, and he does so.
The Raising of Lazarus . [Jn 11:1-44] A
close friend of Jesus who had been dead for
four days is brought back to life when Jesus
commands him to get up.
Control over nature
The Gospels include eight pre-resurrection
accounts concerning Jesus' power over nature:
Turning Water into Wine—at a wedding,
when the host runs out of wine, the host's
servants fill vessels with water at Jesus'
command, then a sample is drawn out and
taken to the master of the banquet who
pronounces the content of the vessels as the
best wine of the banquet.
The miracle of draught of fishes [Lk
5:1-11] takes place early in Jesus's ministry
and results in Saints Peter , James, son of
Zebedee and John joining Jesus as his
Apostles.
The Feeding of the 5000 and of the 4000
men —Jesus, praying to God and using only a
few loaves of bread and several fish, feeds
thousands of men, along with an unspecified
number of women and children; there are even
a number of baskets of leftovers afterward.
Walking on water —Jesus walked on a lake
to meet a boat.
Transfiguration of Jesus —Jesus climbed a
mountain and was changed so that his face
glowed, and the Old Testament prophets
Moses and Elijah appeared next to him. [29]
Calming the storm - during a storm, the
disciples woke Jesus, and he rebuked the
storm causing it to become calm. Jesus then
rebukes the disciples for lack of faith.
Finding a Coin in the fish's mouth is
reported in Matthew 17:24-27. [30]
The Cursing of the Fig Tree —Jesus cursed a
fig tree, and it withered.
Post-resurrection miracles attributed to Jesus
are also recorded in the Gospels:
A similar miracle to the miracle of draught
of fishes —also called the catch of 153 fish, to
distinguish it from the account in Luke—is
reported in the Gospel of John but takes place
after the Resurrection of Jesus .
List of miracles found
outside the New
Testament
Accounts of Jesus performing miracles are
also found outside the New Testament. Later,
2nd century texts, called Infancy Gospels,
narrate Jesus performing miracles during his
childhood.
Miracle Sources
Rich young man raised from
the dead
Secret Gospel
of Mark 1
Water controlled and purified Infancy
Thomas 2.2
Made birds of clay and
brought them to life
Infancy
Thomas 2.3
Resurrected dead playmate
Zeno
Infancy
Thomas 9
Healed a woodcutter's foot Infancy
Thomas 10
Held water in his cloak Infancy
Thomas 11
Harvested 100 bushels of
wheat from a single seed
Infancy
Thomas 12
Stretched a board that was
short for carpentry
Infancy
Thomas 13
Resurrected a teacher he
earlier struck down
Infancy
Thomas 14-15
Healed James' viper bite Infancy
Thomas 16
Resurrected a dead child Infancy
Thomas 17
Resurrected a dead man Infancy
Thomas 18
Miraculous Virgin Birth
verified by midwife
Infancy James
19-20
Miracles performed by Jesus are mentioned in
two sections of the Quran (suras 3:49 and
5:110) in broad strokes with little detail or
comment. [31]
In the Book of Mormon Jesus appears as a
resurrected being and performs additional
miracles.
Miracle Sources
Christ is seen descending from
heaven
3 Nephi
11:8-10
Christ heals the sick, lame,
blind, halt, maimed, leprous
and deaf
3 Nephi
17:7
Christ gathers the children and
then opens the heavens and
angels descend encircling the
children
3 Nephi
17:23-24
Christ created bread and wine
for all to partake of
3 Nephi
20:3-7
Christ loosed tongues of
children who speak great and
marvelous things
3 Nephi
26:14
Christ heals sick, lame, blind,
deaf and raises man from the
dead
3 Nephi
26:15
Setting and
Interpretations
Cultural background
Miracles were widely believed in around the
time of Jesus. Gods and demigods such as
Heracles (better known by his Roman name,
Hercules ), Asclepius (a Greek physician who
became a god) and Isis of Egypt all were
thought to have healed the sick and overcome
death (i.e. have raised people from the dead).
[32] Some thought that mortal men, if
sufficiently famous and virtuous, could do
likewise; there were myths about philosophers
like Pythagoras and Empedocles calming
storms at sea, chasing away pestilences, and
being greeted as gods, [33] and similarly some
Jews believed that Elisha the Prophet had
cured l***rs and restored the dead. [34] The
achievements of the 1st century Apollonius of
Tyana , though occurring after Jesus' life, were
used by a 3rd-century opponent of the
Christians to argue that Christ was neither
original nor divine ( Eusebius of Caesaria
argued against the charge). [35]
The first Gospels were written against this
background of Hellenistic and Jewish belief in
miracles and other wondrous acts as signs -
the term is explicitly used in the Gospel of
John to describe Jesus' miracles - seen to be
validating the credentials of divine wise men.
[36]
Traditional Christian
interpretation
Many Christians believe Jesus' miracles were
historical events and that his miraculous
works were an important part of his life,
attesting to his divinity and the Hypostatic
union , i.e., the dual natures of Jesus as God
and Man. [37] They see Jesus' experiences of
hunger, weariness, and death as evidences of
his humanity, and miracles as evidences of his
divinity. [38][39][40]
Christian authors also view the miracles of
Jesus not merely as acts of power and
omnipotence, but as works of love and mercy,
performed not with a view to awe by
omnipotence, but to show compassion for
sinful and suffering humanity. [37][41] And
each miracle involves specific teachings. [42]
Since according to the Gospel of John ,
[20:30] it was impossible to narrate all of
the miracles performed by Jesus, the Catholic
Encyclopedia states that the miracles
presented in the Gospels were selected for a
twofold reason: first for the manifestation of
God's glory, and then for their evidential value.
Jesus referred to his "works" as evidences of
his mission and his divinity, and in John
5:36 he declared that his miracles have
greater evidential value than the testimony of
John the Baptist .[37] John 10:37-38 quotes
Jesus as follows: [43]
In Christian teachings, the miracles were as
much a vehicle for Jesus' message as his
words. Many emphasize the importance of
faith, for instance in Cleansing ten l***rs , [Lk
17:19] Jesus did not say: "My power has
saved you" but said: [44][45]
Similarly, in the Walking on Water miracle,
Apostle Peter learns an important lesson about
faith in that as his faith wavers, he begins to
sink. [Mt 14:34-36] [46]
Christian authors have discussed the miracles
of Jesus at length and assigned specific
motives to each miracle, e.g., authors
Pentecost and Danilson suggest that the
Walking on Water miracle centered on the
relationship of Jesus with his apostles, rather
than their peril or the miracle itself. And that
the miracle was specifically designed by Jesus
to teach the apostles that when encountering
obstacles, they need to rely on their faith in
Christ, first and foremost. [47]
Authors Donahue and Harrington argue that
the Daughter of Jairus miracle teaches that
faith as embodied in the bleeding woman can
exist in seemingly hopeless situations, and that
through belief, healing can be achieved, in that
when the woman is healed, Jesus tells her
"Your faith has healed you". [48]
Liberal Christianity
Liberal Christians place less emphasis on
miraculous events associated with the life of
Jesus than on his teachings. The effort to
remove superstitious elements from Christian
faith dates to intellectual reformist Christians
such as Erasmus and the Deists in the 15th–
17th centuries. [49] In the 19th century, self-
identified liberal Christians sought to elevate
Jesus' humane teachings as a standard for a
world civilization freed from cultic traditions
and traces of pagan belief in the supernatural.
[50] The debate over whether a belief in
miracles was mere superstition or essential to
accepting the divinity of Christ constituted a
crisis within the 19th-century church, for
which theological compromises were sought.
[51]
Attempts to account for miracles through
scientific or rational explanation were mocked
even at the turn of the 19th–20th century. [52]
A belief in the authenticity of miracles was one
of five tests established in 1910 by the
Presbyterian Church in the United States of
America to distinguish true believers from what
they saw as false professors of faith such as
"educated, 'liberal' Christians." [53]
Contemporary liberal Christians may prefer to
read Jesus' miracles as metaphorical
narratives for understanding the power of God.
[54] Not all theologians with liberal inclinations
reject the possibility of miracles, but may
reject the polemicism that denial or affirmation
entails. [55]
Non-religious views
The Scottish philosopher David Hume
published an influential essay on miracles in
his An Enquiry Concerning Human
Understanding (1748) in which he argued that
any evidence for miracles was outweighed by
the possibility that those who described them
were deceiving themselves or others:
"As the violations of truth are more
common in the testimony concerning
religious miracles, than in that concerning
any other matter of fact; this must diminish
very much the authority of the former
testimony, and make us form a general
resolution, never to lend any attention to it,
with whatever specious pretence it may be
covered." [56]
Bart Ehrman states that what makes science
possible is the assumption of the uniformity of
the laws of nature, but given that miracles are
by definition events that go against the usual
way nature works, historians are virtually
unable to confirm or refute reports of Jesus'
miracles. [57]
According to the Jesus Seminar Jesus
probably cured some sick people, [58] but
described Jesus' healings in modern terms,
relating them to "psychosomatic maladies."
They found six of the nineteen healings to be
"probably reliable". [59] Most participants in
the Jesus Seminar believe Jesus practiced
exorcisms, as Josephus, Philostratus, and
others wrote about other contemporary
exorcists, but do not believe the gospel
accounts were accurate reports of specific
events or that demons exist. [60] They did not
find any of the nature miracles to be historical
events. [59]
Gallery of miracles
Cures
Healing the mother of Peter's wife
Healing the deaf mute of Decapolis
Healing the blind at birth
Healing the Paralytic at Bethesda
The Blind Man of Bethsaida
The Blind man Bartimaeus in Jericho
Healing the Centurion's servant
Christ healing an infirm woman
The man with a withered hand
Cleansing a l***r
Cleansing ten l***rs
Healing a man with dropsy
Healing the bleeding woman
Healing the paralytic at Capernaum
Healing in Gennesaret
Two blind men
Power Over Demonic Spirits
A boy possessed by a demon
The Canaanite woman's daughter
The Gerasenes demonic
At the Synagogue in Capernaum
Christ exorcising at sunset
The blind and mute man
Exorcising a mute
Resurrection of the dead
Young Man from Nain
Daughter of Jairus
Raising of Lazarus
Control over nature
Marriage at Cana
Walking on water
Calming the storm
Transfiguration
Feeding the multitude
Draught of fishes
Cursing the fig tree
Coin in the fish's mouth
See also
Christianity portal
Chronology of Jesus
Jesus in Christianity
Life of Jesus in the New Testament
Ministry of Jesus
Parables of Jesus
Sayings of Jesus
References
1. ^ Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible
defines a miracle as "an event in the external
world brought about by the immediate agency
or the simple volition of God." It goes on to
add that a miracle occurs to show that the
power behind it is not limited to the laws of
matter or mind as it interrupts fixed natural
laws. So the term supernatural applies quite
accurately. Elwell, Walter A., ed. (2001). Baker
Theological Dictionary of the Bible. Baker
Academic. ISBN 978-0801022562 .
2. ^ Graham H. Twelftree, Jesus the Miracle
Worker: A Historical and Theological Study
(InterVarsity Press, 1999) page 263.
3. ^ H. Van der Loos, 1965 The Miracles of
Jesus , E.J. Brill Press, Netherlands.
4. ^ Mark 8:11-12 , Matthew 16:1-4 ,
Matthew 12:38-40 , Luke 11:29-30 . Cited
in Funk, Robert W. , Roy W. Hoover, and the
Jesus Seminar . The five gospels.
HarperSanFrancisco. 1993. p. 72-73.
5. ^ Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the
Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "John" p.
302-310
6. ^ " Islamic beliefs include many miracles of
healing and of resurrection of the dead."
Heribert Busse, 1998 Islam, Judaism, and
Christianity , ISBN 1-55876-144-6 page 114
7. ^ Graham H. Twelftree, Jesus the miracle
worker: a historical & theological study ISBN
0-8308-1596-1 page 19
8. ^ Gary R. Habermas, 1996 The historical
Jesus: ancient evidence for the life of Christ
ISBN 0-89900-732-5 page 60
9. ^ See discussion under Liberal Christianity
and miracles.
10. ^ Mark Allan Powell, Jesus as a Figure in
History: How Modern Historians View the Man
from Galilee (Westminster John Knox Press,
1998), page 22.
