To answer this, let’s listen to this conversation.
Q: TM, let’s get straight to the point. Did the miracles of Jesus really happen?
TM: Before answering that, we have to understand what you refer to as miracles.
Q: I mean the blind seeing, the lame walking, Lazarus rising back to life, and all the other things that go against the laws of nature.
TM: I think we need to do some clarification. We usually define miracles as something that cannot be explained by science or medicine. We are wary of miracles, and we associate them with primitive mentality, hallucinations or self-suggestion. Your very question which refers to violating the “laws of nature” assumes that there is a natural order, which is separate from the supernatural order.
You see, the people in biblical times lived in a different world view and different image of God. People at that time did not think in terms of natural laws (like gravity) and supernatural or divine laws. For them, what we consider “natural” and “supernatural” were all intertwined; not separated worlds as we tend to think.
In the worldview of the Old and New Testament, God often intervened in the earthly events, and at times interrupted things for the events to take another course. This is not extraordinary to them, as we would think. This was simply the way things are.
For biblical people, there was no such thing as “law of nature.” To them, the only “law of nature” was the faithful love of God for God’s people. They saw God’s love at work in a good rainfall, as well as in a victory in battle, or in healing. They did not see the world as being divided between natural and supernatural. They did not look at the universe as a closed system following inflexible laws of physics, but as completely open and responsive to God. To distinguish between natural and supernatural events would have been foreign to their outlook.[1]
But then, our worldview changed with the advent of Galileo, Newton, and atomic and quantum physics. We began to interpret and look at miracles from the point of view of natural science, and regarded them as violating the laws of nature.
Q: And the point of all this is?
TM: The point is this: what you refer to as miracles is different from how the people who were with Jesus see miracles. At that time, an event or incident is a miracle not so much because it is extraordinary, but because the event revealed something clear about who and what God is.
To say it another way, a miracle is a miracle because in it, God is revealed as someone who intervenes in the history of a nation, as well as in the history of a person. That is why the Exodus is considered as the prototype of all miracles: Yahweh saved the Israelites who were slaves, and turned them to a powerful nation.
Let’s agree therefore on a definition of miracles using the ancient worldview: miracles are remarkable events which believers understand to be signs of God’s saving activity in the life of a nation and a person.
Q: Ok, I now understand the difference in the worldview and what are considered as miracles. So let me rephrase my question: did Jesus really make the blind see, the lame walk, and Lazarus rise from the dead?
TM: Well, most certainly Jesus did perform acts that were considered extraordinary by people during his time. Most biblical scholars agree that miracle stories of the gospels are sufficiently solid not to be classified as mere inventions by the biblical writers.
Also, if Jesus had not performed any of these signs, he would not have been recognized as a religious man of his time, nor been able to attract a sufficient following. That would be very unusual because charismatic religious leaders, both in and outside Judaism, were associated with performing miracles.
The gospels report 30 miracles performed by Jesus. It should be pointed out that, given the worldview described above, miracle stories were found also in other ancient literature, and not just in the bible. The Greek god Aesculapius, for example, is credited as having performed about 80 miracles, most of which are healing.
(By the way, we cannot say that only biblical miracles are authentic, and all else are hoaxes. I do not think we can limit God’s activity only to biblical miracles).
Q: Let me be more pointed. Did those miracles of Jesus involve violating the laws of nature as we understand it nowadays?
TM: Well, I’m afraid that question must remain largely unanswered. If you recall in our Basic Bible Course, the gospels were written well after Jesus life and resurrection. There was no reporter who was taking notes when Jesus performed his miracles.
There are no purely objective and factual accounts of Jesus’ actions, but only accounts interpreted in the light of Jesus who has resurrected, and this experience reflected upon, shared with others, and written down in the gospels.
It is difficult to know what actually happened. What we can establish is the impression produced by the miracle on the eyewitnesses was remarkable enough for it to affect their faith.
We accept that Jesus did perform miracles, but do not know how exactly each miracle happened. However, we are certain of this: “there remains an impressive body of material which attributes to Jesus a number of miracles which have no close parallel in the ancient world and which testifies to the amazement and wonder which Jesus provoked on many occasions.”[2]
Ultimately, our faith is not based on every miracle narrated in the gospel actually having happened or on a miracle’s happening exactly the way it is presented in the gospel. The real basis of our faith is that Christ has been raised from the dead.
Q: So why did Jesus perform miracles? Is it, as you said earlier, to establish his credibility because charismatic religious leaders were doing them?
TM: We know from the bible that Jesus himself did not intend to use miracles as proof. When asked by the Pharisees to perform a miracle to confirm his claim that God is with him, Jesus refuses categorically (Mark 8:11-13).
Jesus performed miracles to communicate what the Kingdom of God would be like. The preaching of the Kingdom is the primary purpose for which he has been sent. So he commanded his disciples, “cure the sick and tell them, ‘the kingdom of God is near you.” The miracles have a purpose: it is to give people a glimpse of the Kingdom.
Jesus wanted to say that I came here so that you may once again know and experience how it was prior to the fall, and before sin came into the world. It is sin that enslaves you, and I want to liberate you from demonic powers, from disease, from death, hunger, and natural catastrophes. So when I heal the sick, make the blind see, the lame walk, the dead rise, and the storm calmed, you will see what it is like when the Kingdom is fulfilled. No more wheelchairs, cancer, chemo, and ICU’s.
For Jesus, miracles were not mere proof of credentials or pasiklab, but a sign of the Kingdom.
Q: Do miracles still happen today?
TM: Of course. Isn’t the worldview of renewed people like you and me very similar to the worldview of people during biblical times? Do we not say that “there is no accident in God’s plan” because we recognize that God, though Jesus, and in the Holy Spirit is continually intervening in our lives?
Our faith in our prayers shows that our God does not merely observe, but intervenes. Our prayer to the Spirit for discernment shows that our insights and emotions are being directed by our God. Our praise and worship shows we want to relate with our God who is a person who loves. Our thanksgiving for ALL things (good and bad) shows that God’s will cannot ever be subverted.
Yes, of course, miracles happen everyday.
September 21, 2005
[1] Herman Hendrickx, The Miracle Stories (Manila: St. Paul’s Publications, 1987), 11.
[2] Ibid, 21.
