{"id":14196,"date":"2020-09-04T15:29:58","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T19:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=14196"},"modified":"2020-09-13T22:23:20","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T02:23:20","slug":"how-did-jesus-perform-miracles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-did-jesus-perform-miracles\/","title":{"rendered":"How Did Jesus Perform Miracles? His Divinity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How did Jesus perform miracles? How many miracles did Jesus perform in the Bible? Can Jesus’s miracles help prove that he existed, and that he was a divine being?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing the answer to the question “how did Jesus perform miracles” is an important question, since it establishes Jesus as a possible son of God, and the eyewitness accounts can help verify his existence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to find out the answer to the question “how did Jesus perform miracles” <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How Did Jesus Perform Miracles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The fact that Jesus performed miracles isn\u2019t necessarily a token of his deity\u2014his disciples later performed similar feats without claiming deity for themselves. Rather, it\u2019s how he thought <\/em>about his miracles that sets them apart. But how did Jesus perform miracles?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, when Jesus would perform a miracle, he would situate it in a very specific context: as a sign of the coming of the Kingdom of God. Rather than view himself as simply a worker of miracles, Jesus saw himself as an emissary of God, through which God\u2019s promises would come to pass. In short, he saw himself as transcendent<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Witnesses to the Miracles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If there had been contemporaries of Jesus and his disciples who could challenge or deny the accounts in the gospels, they would have done so<\/strong>: Jesus was a controversial figure whose teachings were seen as heresy by dominant religious authorities of the time, and those authorities would have been more than happy to correct the record. This is part of why the question, “how did Jesus perform miracles” is important.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, the contemporaneous challenges to the gospels never question Jesus\u2019s power or ability to work miracles\u2014<\/strong>rather, they portray Jesus as a magician whose gifts derived from some other source than God. In other words, they implicitly acknowledge the factuality of Jesus\u2019s divinity by admitting his ability to work miracles<\/strong>. They had to concede Jesus\u2019s supernatural abilities\u2014too many of the writers\u2019 contemporaries had witnessed Jesus\u2019s miracles themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus as One Among Many<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Members of the Jesus Seminar<\/a> have sought to emphasize Jesus\u2019s \u201cnaturalism\u201d by placing his pronouncements and deeds in historical context\u2014by showing that rabbis and other Jewish figures were purported to have performed miracles as well. If other religious leaders of the time were perceived as having supernatural powers\u2014powers no one now believes in or takes seriously<\/strong>\u2014then it stands to reason Jesus\u2019s powers should be treated similarly: as myth.  So, how did Jesus perform miracles, and why does it matter? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the parallels between Jesus and other \u201cwonder workers\u201d of the time don\u2019t go very far<\/strong>. Boyd notes three ways in which Jesus is unique:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. No other religious leader was so closely associated with the supernatural.<\/li>
  2. No other religious leader performed miracles of Jesus\u2019s caliber (whereas rabbis were known to bring rain by praying for it, no rabbi was known to have cured permanent illnesses or raised the dead).<\/li>
  3. No other religious leader performed miracles on his own authority (whereas rabbis would pray for God to perform a certain miracle, Jesus assumed that authority himself as God himself).<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The Case of Apollonius<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Skeptics have often noted the parallels between Apollonius of Tyana, a historical figure active in the first century AD, and Jesus: both healed the sick, performed exorcisms, and raised the dead; and both were allegedly seen by their followers after they died. However, Apollonius\u2019s feats are dismissed as legend whereas Jesus\u2019s are accepted as fact. Why, a skeptic might ask, do we not worship Apollonius? Or, vice versa, dismiss Jesus?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There are numerous problems with this line of argument:<\/p>\n\n\n\n