The Miracles of CHRIST Fact or Fiction?

The Miracles of Christ Did They Really Happen?

If the miracles surrounding his life did not occur, then Christ could not have been our saviour.

Nearly forty miracles are recorded in detail in the Gospel accounts. Many more are reported in summary form. Later the apostles are shown performing even more miracles. The book of Acts records many healing miracles in early church history. Yet to many, these miracles are the chief difficulty in accepting the validity of the New Testament. Isn't it time we examined the evidence?

Christ did not write an autobiography. He left the writing of his life to his apostles and their chief associates. Four separate accounts have been preserved through the centuries; the four Gospels ---- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

There is no way to separate the miracles of Christ from the Gospels ---- and still retain a sensible story. Miracles are apart of the story, woven into all four Gospel accounts. As F.F. Bruce observed: 'No matter how far we may press our researches into the roots of the gospel story, no matter how we classify the gospel material, we never arrive at a non-supernatural Jesus' (The New Testament Documents ---- Are They Reliable?)

Reasons for Miracles

Stories of Christ working miracles are not idle tales of wonder according to the Bible. They have vital purpose that touches our spiritual salvation, our eternal life. They help us, said the apostle John, to 'believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God'. Why is this important? So that we 'may have life in his name' (John 20:31).

As we read the Gospels, the miracle working activities of Jesus Christ jump out at us. 'Jesus went about all Galilee.... healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people' (Matthew 4:23). Christ said his miracles provided corroborative evidence that he was the Messiah ---- the Saviour ---- 'God with us' (Matthew 1:23).

We see the point made as John the Baptist's disciples questions Christ about his identity. 'Are you the Coming One,' they asked, 'or do we look for another?' (Luke 7:20). Christ's answer was, 'Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard' (verse 22).

Christ stressed miracles that fulfilled the description of the coming Messiah as proof of his person and mission. He said, 'The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the

THE GREATEST MIRACLE OF ALL There are many stunning miracles described in the Bible, especially those of Jesus Christ. Yet, there is something far more significant and equally miraculous taking place here on earth today, though it goes largely unrecognized. God has continued to perform a unique miracle in some human minds for almost the last two thousand years. In fact, perhaps you are personally experiencing this greatest miracle of all yourself ---- God's calling to spiritual understanding and a new way of life. Seeing the Way of Truth This spiritual miracle is essential if we are going to fulfill our true purpose in life. Without it, we simply cannot understand God's ways and purposes. Jesus Christ told his disciples that this miracle had made a difference in their understanding of spiritual truth. 'It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,' he said (Matthew 13:11). Such understanding was not available at that time to all the crowds Christ spoke to (same verse). The disciples, of course, were only beginning to grasp God's truth and way. Not until they received the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost did they receive the gift of fuller spiritual understanding and power. On the final night of his earthly life, just prior to his arrest and trial, Christ instituted the New Testament Passover with his disciples. He then explained how the forthcoming special Pentecost miracle would occur in their minds ---- and can in ours. 'I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Helper,' said Christ (John 14:16). This miraculous Helper was 'the Spirit of truth' (verse 17). This Spirit is a miraculous teaching power. It 'will teach you all things' and 'guide you into all truth', said Christ (John 14:26; 16:13). The world could not yet receive this Spirit (John 14:17), but the disciples were beginning to experience the miracle of understanding and conversion. But why couldn't the disciples really understand without miraculous help? Human beings learn through the five senses. We only understand what our eyes, ears and other physical organs bring to our mind, grasping only human purposes and actions. God is Spirit. His ways, character and purpose cannot be understood unless he grants us a miracle of additional understanding (Isaiah 55:8-9) ---- an extra dimension to our minds that will perceive spiritual things. The apostle Paul explained why this miracle is needed. 'The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him,' said Paul. ' Nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned,' he continued (I Corinthians 2:14). The miracle of understanding solves this gap between our minds and God. Through his Spirit, God miraculously reveals the things 'eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man' (I Corinthians 2:9). Receiving Spiritual Power However, the miracle that Christ performs in our minds provides more than understanding. It creates a motivation to overcome human weaknesses and follow God and his way. Paul expresses this miracle as a death of the old self and the awakening to a new life. 'I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me,' said Paul. 'The life which I now live in the flesh', he continued, 'I live by faith in the Son of God' (Galatians 2:20). By a miracle, our minds can be impregnated with this spiritual power. In this greatest of all miracles, we can receive a token of God's own will and character. It is a power 'of love and of a sound mind,' wrote Paul (II Timothy 1:7). God gives only a few people this special understanding at this time, although ultimately virtually all will have it. Those who do understand have a responsibility to act on what they know, to implement God's way now in their lives. They have been given this miracle in order to help do the work of preaching the gospel to all nations. Perhaps God is miraculously extending this understanding to your mind. Only he can draw you to himself (John 6:44). But this greatest miracle of all cannot occur if you do not respond to God. The Required Response Thousands of years ago the psalmist said, 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do his commandments' (Psalm 111:10). This is a living principle applying to all people throughout history and on into the future. Daniel said of the last days, 'None of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand' (Daniel 12:10). To have the miracle of understanding and the power of faith requires love and obedience towards God. The Holy Spirit is given by God. The Holy Spirit is given by God 'to those who obey him', said Peter (Acts 5:32). If you want to experience the greatest miracle of all, then Christ said you must respond with your whole heart ---- and obey God and follow his way zealously. Lip-service alone will not suffice. 'Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven' (Matthew 7:21). The right response was summarized by Peter on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit, which gives this understanding, was first made available in a general way to humans. Peter said, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit' (Acts 2:38). If we are to experience the greatest miracle of all, we must take the required steps.

gospel preached to them' (verse 22). The Gospel writers paint Christ as an individual who healed hundreds even thousands. The masses thronged to him because of such miraculous powers.

'Wherever he entered into villages, cities, or the country,' Mark says, 'they laid the sick in the market-places, and begged him that they might just touch the border of his garment. And as many as touched him were made well' (Mark 6:56).

Tricks or Hypnosis?

When one reads the accounts of Christ's work, it is hard to escape the conclusion that the miracles are a key part of the story. We simply cannot dismiss them as fabrication.

The British historian, Ian Wilson, concludes in his book Jesus: The evidence, that there must be something to the miracles. 'That Jesus perfomed deeds that men called "miracles"', he writes, 'is...one of the best attested items of information about him.' That is not to say that he believes that the miracles recorded in Christ's name were supernatural events. He and other scholars have tried to discredit them by offering natural explanations.

One suggestion claims that Christ did not actually walk on the water of the Sea of Galilee. He staged a clever Hollywood-style trick. Jesus Christ, it is said, actually walked on a sandbank just below the water's surface.

Another notion is that Christ may have hypnotised his hearers into thinking he was performing miraculous acts. Ian Wilson explains: 'Hypnosis provides the key to understanding, and believing', he writes, 'at least some of Jesus' reputed miracles.'

Mr Wilson claims this theory works well for Christ's healing miracles. Christ could have 'used a type of hypnosis in effecting a cure', he believes. Mr. Wilson extends this explanation to include Christ's non-healing miracles, such as the turning of water into wine. 'If we are prepared to accept that to those present the water appeared to have turned into wine', he says, 'then hypnosis becomes not only possible but highly tenable as an explanation.'

Why put forth such an unlikely interpretation? Mr Wilson explains the problem. 'If we believe the water was actually turned into wine', he says, 'then we must either accept it as genuine miracle, or...dismiss the story as a complete fabrication.'

However, we would ask if the hypnosis argument which Mr Wilson finds satisfactory in this case, is really defensible? Consider the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand men, plus women and children, from five loaves of bread and two fish (Matthew 14:13-21).

The idea that thousands of people could have been hypnotized into thinking they were being fed when they were not is ---- forgive the expression ---- hard to swallow.

Reality or Fraud

There are only really two possible alternatives regarding the miracles described in the Gospels. Either Christ's miracles happened or they did not.

Many scholars have opted for the second alternative, casting doubt on the Bible's literal truth. They may accept the value of Christ's moral teachings, but consider the recorded miracles to be merely stories with a lesson or 'pious' frauds.

'EVERYDAY MIRACLES' Britain today is not a place where people expect miracles. Religion is losing its foothold. Economic miracles have gone sour. But what about the 'everyday miracles' which baffle science? Those inexplicable phenomena which make us think, 'I wonder....' These miracles don't point directly to a particular prophet or creed, but they still raise some big questions. How, for example, do you explain life itself? Darwin called this 'the great subject'. What about music? In The River That Flows Uphill, one biologist asks: 'Don't abilities such as music make you wonder if there isn't some higher principle shaping life?' In the natural world, there are many 'everyday miracles' to wonder at ---- migrating birds, an orchid, the universe. Carl Sagan compares the number of stars visible from earth with the grains in a handful of sand. However, the number of stars altogether is greater than all the grains on every beach on planet earth! Man has been astonished by nature for millennia. From King David to Wordsworth, it has been a source of inspiration. Shakespeare spoke of 'tongues in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in stone' (As You Like It, Act II, Scene I). But why all these wonders? Paul described them as expressive of God's power, 'For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead...' (Romans 1:20). Our busy world leaves little time to focus on such things. Perhaps we think everything has a full scientific explanation ---- though not all scientists would agree! Big questions remain. 'Everyday miracles' surround us. Our responsibility, as Willa Cather explained, is to take a closer look: '[Miracles frequently rest] upon our perceptions being made finer, so that for a moment our eyes can see and our ears hear what there is about us always.'

NEWS REPORTS OF MIRACLES There is something puzzling about the miracle stories in the Gospels that makes even sceptics take notice. They seem to be gems of reporting that modern newspaper reporters would be proud of. As the journalist and historian Ian Wilson notes, there is a 'matter-of-fact quality of the miracles stories'. Canon Anthony Harvey of Westminster Abbey also observes that this feature of the Gospel accounts is unique in ancient literature. 'They do not exaggerate the miracle or add sensational details.' He points out: 'to a degree that is rare in the writings of antiquity, we can say, to use a modern phrase, that they tell the story straight.' In fact, the Gospel accounts tend to understate rather than overstate the miracle accounts. They describe them as simple news events of the day. Others have also noted this quality of dispassionate reporting in the miracle stories of the Bible. 'They are not interested in recounting wonder stories', the authors of A Field Guide To Christianity. They note that the apostle John avoids recounting miracle tales for their own sake. Rather, he picks and chooses the correct miracle to make an important point. John makes no attempt to pack his narrative with wonder stories. 'Jesus did many other signs', he says, 'which are not written in this book' (John 20:30). If these were written, according to John, 'even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written' (John 21:25). The miracle stories of Christ show purpose and caring. They avoid the wonder-working qualities so often seen in other sensational tales. 'The refusal to do wonders for their own sake', says theologian M.H. Cressey in the New Bible Dictionary, 'sharply marks off the biblical miracle stories from the general run of Wundergeschichten [miracle stories].'

Robert E. Webber, a professor of theology at Wheaton College astutely explains the dilemma of many modern theologians. These scholars, he says have been 'Unable to verify in any historical or logical way the supernatural assertions of the New Testament.' Because of this they have 'resorted to a mythological interpretation of the life and times of Jesus.'

Many other scholars have been suspicious of the biblical miracles because they could not be explained by natural means. The French philologist and historian Ernest Renan (1823-1892), said, 'No miracle has ever taken place under conditions science can accept.' True science cannot demonstrate that the miracles ascribed to Christ really occurred. However just because we cannot explain miracles scientifically does not mean they did not take place.

Since the Bible states Christ's miracles were accomplished by supernatural power, we should not expect to find any natural explanation anyway. By definition, a miracle is something beyond the scope of science to explain.

The Oxford Dictionary goes along with this, defining a miracle as 'an extraordinary event attributed to some supernatural agency'. Miracles deviate from the known laws of nature by definitions. Science and scholarship can neither confirm nor deny whether Christ performed miracles.

The Key Question

Whether Christ's miracles were real or fabricated by human imagination depends on a more fundamental question. Does God exist, and if so, in what form?

Two popular religious writers Kenneth Boa and Larry Moody, expressed it well in their book, I'm Glad You Asked. They said, 'If God created the universe, there is supernatural dimension to reality, and this means that miracles are possible.' If God exists, does he have the power to interact with and any law of nature? As Creator, the answer must be yes. Belief in Christ's miracles, then rests on belief in God. As John Lafarge once said of miracles: 'For those who believe in God, no explanation is needed: for those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible.'

To accept Christ's miracles as mere stories with a lesson and to seek natural explanations amounts to a tacit presupposition that God does not exist, or that he is impotent to directly affect the natural world and, therefore, is removed from our experience.

Proof of Office

Assuming Jesus Christ's miracles happened as the Bible said they did, we have another question to answer. Why were they necessary? There are several important reasons for Christ's miracles. However, in this article we only have space to examine the reason that pertains to Christ directly.

The miracles Christ perfomed attest to his exalted spiritual office, his deity. They provide irrefutable proof that he was God made flesh and dwelt with humans (John 1:1, 14).

Consider these examples. When Christ stilled the storm, the disciples cried out, 'Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey him?' (Matthew 8:27). When he was in Jerusalem for the Passover 'many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did' (John 2:23).

When Christ fed thousands from five loaves and two fish, the people said, 'This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world' (John 6:14). When the Pharisee Nicodemus came to Christ by night, he said, 'We know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him' (John 3:2).

When the apostles preached in Christ's name, they asserted that Christ's miracles authenticated his person, his message and his divine mission. The apostle Peter stressed this point on the day the New Testament Church began. He told the assembled throng about 'Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst' (Acts 2:22).

Christ declared his miracles to be evidence he had come from God ---- and was God. 'The works which the Father has given me to finish ---- the very works that I do ---- bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me' (John 5:36). The miracles of Christ, then, establish his claims to his Messiahship and his identity as the Son of God.

The Most Important Miracle

The expulsion of demons symbolizes Christ's power over the evil spirit world; the healing of lepers, his power to remove sin's defilement; the making of bread and wine, his power to create. But perhaps even more important is the miracle of the raising of the dead, symbolizing Christ's power to resurrect.

Christ is, as Herbert Lockyer puts it in All the Miracles of the Bible, 'triumphant over all human disorders, whether physical, mental or nervous; over all cosmic forces, on land or sea, organic and inorganic; over the spirit-world represented by the Devil, demons and death.'

This final point is crucial. No miracle is more central to the Christian faith than the resurrection of Christ. Paul said to the Church, 'If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain' (I Corinthians 15;14). The resurrection miracle was unique as the decisive triumph over sin and death. It makes God's plan of salvation a reality.

Because of this supreme miracle ---- and all of Christ's miracles ---- we can have confidence that Jesus Christ is our saviour, able to overcome what we are powerless to conquer alone. With Paul we can say, 'Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ' (I Corinthians 15:57).

MIRACLES THROUGHOUT HISTORY The miracles of the Bible cluster around three relatively brief periods of time called crises of sacred history. These three main periods of miraculous occurrences are separated by many centuries during which only a very few miracles are recorded. The Bible is not a continuous chronicle of the miraculous ---- this underscores their purpose. Miracles authenticate God's servants and his revelation to mankind. In particular, miracles accompanied three important parts of God's revelation ---- the Law, the Prophets and the New Testament The first great period of miracles is associated with the revealing of God's law ---- including the Ten Commandments. This was the age of Moses and Joshua. The Bible records many mighty acts of God at the time Israel was delivered from Egypt and entered the Promised Land (Exodus 14:31). Miracles were also frequently noted in the days of Elijah and Elisha. At this time, ancient Israel seemed about to sink into complete apostasy. The Creator showed his servants that his way of life and law were very much alive (I Kings 18:36-39). Miracles reached their most intense level during the life of Jesus Christ. This period climaxed in the resurrection of Christ. The outpouring of miracles continued into the early days of the apostles' preaching. The signs and wonders authenticated the forthcoming establishment of the new covenant and the Church. During the time of Christ, healing miracles in particular came in far greater numbers than during any other Old or New Testament period. The Gospels repeatedly claim that the miracles described in detail were but a fraction of those wrought. On the other hand, the Old Testament records its miracles one by one. It gives no indication that there were others unrecorded. However, there is yet a fourth and future crisis of sacred activity coming. That will occur in the short time leading up to the second coming of Christ. The prophet Joel said in that time there will be wonders and signs in the natural world. (Joel 2:30-31). That time will culminate in the sign of and actual return of Christ. Those then living will experience some of the most dramatic miracles the world has ever seen (Matthew 24:27-30). For more information on this subject download the free e-book, Will Christ Return?, it's on the menu of this page.