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The four Gospels of the New Testament make use of various devices to paint a picture of Jesus and the exact message that he taught, whether that be a faith-based message, a works-based message, or some combination of the two. One such device often used to convey Jesus’ authority was the depiction of his miracles. Many scholars have debated the accuracy of these accounts, and even whether or not they occurred, ranging from the logical support of William Paley to the theological opposition of Baruch Spinoza. One cannot begin to delve into the discourse of miracles without encountering the opinions of Hume, who defined miracles as “a violation of the laws of nature.”1 However, whether or not these miracles actually occurred, the account of said miracles performed by Jesus were used by the storytellers to shape a narrative of the type of messiah in which they wanted to believe: the Son of God who was also the Son of Man, born of flesh and blood, and who had come to earth to suffer, as they had suffered, and then deliver them from whatever caused their ailments.
The stories of Jesus and the miracles he performed are stories of hope for those who were poor and generally regarded as undesirable by society. The disciples and those who spread similar stories of miraculous deeds, as described by Hume, were “ignorant and barbarous.”2 Jesus asked the disciples to leave their families and take nothing with them, although it is likely they were not leaving palaces or wealthy homes with much to spare. Jesus is described as an apocalypticist, foretelling the swift end of mankind to be soon. Especially noteworthy is the incident in the temple before Jesus’ trial and crucifixion, when Jesus directly predicts his second coming and the end of the known world. In Luke 21:27-28, Jesus tells the disciples, “Then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing
1 Hume, David., and Peter. Millican. “Of Miracles.” An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding. Oxford World's Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, UK, 2007: 172.
2 Ibid., 176.
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near.” Ehrman expounds upon this apocalyptic narrative in chapter 16 of The New Testament: a Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, stating, “For Jesus…this age was near its end, and the new Kingdom was almost here. People needed to prepare by turning to God and accepting this good news.” He goes on to say, “This Kingdom would replace the corrupt powers that were presently in control.”3 This paints a picture of an ideal society for someone who grew up in oppression of religious leaders, or someone had suffered greatly during their lifetime. The apocalyptic message gave Jesus’ followers hope. We can see this narrative clearly in the Beatitudes of Luke 6:20-23: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of Heaven; Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied; Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall rejoice; Blessed are you who are hated by others and reviled…for your reward will be great.”
How, then, were the stories of Jesus’ miracles used to narrate the message that those who suffered would find relief? The miracles performed by Jesus were used as a testament to his identity as the Son of God, which is evident in John 20:30-31, which reads, “The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name.” In chapter 15 of Ehrman’s The New Testament, we receive context into the time period of the Greco-Roman world, where miracles were not so far-fetched an event as we may think today: “…when spectacular events…occurred, the only questions for most ancient persons were (a) Who was able to perform these deeds, and (b) What was the source of their power?”4 The fact that miracles were performed by Jesus as the Son of God and for those who were suffering, i.e. the Jews, would
3 Ehrman, Bart D. The New Testament: a Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016: 290.
4 Ibid., 192
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make sense in this context: the Son of God performing miracles for his chosen people gives them new life. Many prophets and shamans were performing miracles in the vicinity and time period, but Jesus was the personal savior and magician of the Jewish people, specifically the poor and suffering Jewish people, who had long faced oppression from stronger civilizations or from their own hands due to sin, depending on their outlook. In Mark 10:13-44, we can see how this is bad news for those in power: Jesus states the Pharisees would be better off to “become like children,” giving away their fortunes and even becoming slaves to others rather than lord over the Jewish people. A particular distinction is made here, one which is also hotly debated in the following books of the New Testament: who will be saved? Is God’s grace and redemption available for everyone?
We come to the peculiar tale in Matthew 15:21 of the Canaanite woman, who begs loudly for Jesus to cast the demon out of her daughter. Jesus’ initial response, according to Matthew, is to ignore this woman. Alkier draws specific attention to this story with a socio-cultural context in Miracles Revisited: New Testament Miracle Stories and Their Concepts of Reality:
He is silent, however, in the face of the cry of the Canaanite women[sic] (15:23a), leaving space for the disciples to request Jesus to send her away (15:23b) and for he himself to affirm their response with his claim of being sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (15:24). It is only the woman’s placing of herself at Jesus’ feet (15:25a – prosek÷nei ) that facilitates the on-going encounter, which becomes a challenge/riposte interchange resulting finally in the woman’s daughter being healed (vv. 25– 28).5
Although Jesus eventually agrees to heal the woman’s daughter, he attempted to ignore her, and even after stated what could be construed as a racial or ethnic slur in 15:26: “‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs,’” the “children” in this instance being Jesus’ chosen people, and the “dog” in being the foreign woman. Is Jesus’ mind swayed by this
5 Alkier, Stefan., and Annette. Weissenrieder. Miracles Revisited New Testament Miracle Stories and Their Concepts of Reality. Studies of the Bible and Its Reception (SBR). Berlin: De Gruyter, 2013: 61.
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woman, whom he claimed had enough faith to heal her daughter? Was he hesitant to do so because she was a woman brazenly calling out to him in a time when only prostitutes did so? Contrast this story with Luke’s account of the hemorrhaging woman in 8:43-48, who merely touched Jesus and was healed: “…she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.’” Would Jesus have also been reluctant to heal her if she had been a Canaanite woman, or if she had shouted at him rather than touching him surreptitiously while amongst the crowd? The diacritic inclusion of the Canaanite woman’s story raises more questions than it answers. One argument stresses that Jesus’ opinion of what God’s will should be was changed by her discourse, though it remains uncertain if a an omniscient being’s mind could be swayed. Alkier writes, “Her faith, expressed as desire for healing…shifted Jesus’ understanding of his own power.”6 Alternatively, we can reason that the storyteller wanted to demonstrate a point: Jesus was the savior of the Israelite people, and any miraculous deeds performed for others was done so because they had great faith or greatly inconvenienced Jesus in public, rather than because he was compassionate to all people. Jesus’ chosen people receive salvation simply for touching his cloak, perhaps a metaphor for the belief in Jesus itself, while outsiders must demonstrate excessive need or meet some higher requirement in order to receive the same privilege, throwing themselves at his feet and arguing their case with fervor.
In closure, I want to examine the miracle itself. Alkier describes the miraculous as “a break in the binary logic of the everyday experience. It is an aspect of reality that resists all the worldly explanations that cannot think something really new, truly contingent, creatively
6 Ibid., 68
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creative.”7 We can use this line of thought to better understand why the use of Jesus’ miracles in the New Testament could be the work of escapism, of imagining someone greater than he was in actuality, in order to paint a portrait of the ideal savior for the Jews and therefore build a new, strengthened faith around this figure. Someone who adhered to the teachings of a savior could partake in fantastic rewards, far beyond mortal imagination. Consider Matthew 15:27, “"For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds,” or Luke 6:22-23, “‘Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.’” The more pessimistic words of Hume bring reasonable doubt as well: “A religionist may be an enthusiast, and imagine he sees what has no reality: He may know his narrative to be false, and yet persevere in it, with the best intentions in the world, for the sake of promoting so holy a cause.”8 It is possible that the disciples, or those who authored the gospels of the New Testament, witnessed miraculous deeds in the presence of the true Son of God. It is also possible that they so strongly wanted Jesus to be their savior, that they wrote him to be one, using his supposed miracles to prove his divine connection to God.