Editor's note: Enjoy today's devotion from Demolishing Doubt by Cliffe and Stuart Knechtle.
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Much of the focus of the New Testament Gospels centers on His miraculous deeds.
In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we find more than three dozen distinct episodes where Jesus performs different types of miracles.
A large portion of these miracles fall into the category of healings. In these gospel episodes, Jesus encounters a person who is suffering some sort of physical disorder or illness and, out of compassion, He alleviates their ailment. Jesus gives blind people sight (Mark 8:22–26; Luke 18:35–43; John 9:1–12) and cures those with skin diseases (Matthew 8:1–4; Luke 17:11–19). He heals paralytics who cannot walk (Matthew 8:5–13; Mark 2:1–12; John 5:1–18) and those who have other physical ailments (Mark 3:1–6; Luke 14:1–6). Jesus restores those who suffer from serious fevers and other sicknesses (Matthew 14:34–36; Mark 1:29–31) and causes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak (Matthew 9:32–34; Mark 7:31–37).
In most of these episodes, Jesus simply speaks, touches the person, or prays to God to bring about their healing. In a couple of the gospel accounts, Jesus even cures someone from far away, simply telling the person who requests the healing to return home because their loved one has already been healed (Luke 7:1–10; John 4:46–54).
These healing accounts told by the gospel eyewitnesses certainly resonate with those of us who have experienced a serious sickness ourselves or who have watched loved ones suffer bouts with disease, injury, or chronic health issues. But for the earliest Christians, these narratives would have been especially powerful. The gift of good health was a rare commodity in the ancient Roman world. During the first century, the average life expectancy hovered around thirty-five to forty years of age. Historians estimate that roughly 20 to 30 percent of all children did not live past the first year and nearly half of them did not make it to adulthood. Malnutrition and unsafe drinking water led to birth defects or long-term health issues. Poor sanitation and hygiene practices allowed diseases to spread with relative ease, especially in the close living conditions of urban areas. And while medical treatment, herbal medicines, and surgery were potential options for those who suffered from disease and disorder, they were not always widely available and were often limited in their effectiveness. Sickness, suffering, and death were exceptionally common and disturbing realities in Jesus’s day.
The inescapable presence of disease and the incredible hope that Jesus brought the sick can be vividly felt in the account of the bleeding woman (Matthew 9:18–26; Mark 5:25–34; Luke 8:40–56). According to the gospel writers, this woman had been suffering from this ailment for twelve straight years. She had spent every penny she owned seeking out the help of physicians. But no medicine or treatment had worked—they only made everything worse. Believing that Jesus might be able to heal her, she approached Him in a bustling crowd and managed to touch His cloak. Instantly, she felt the bleeding stop; she had been healed. Kneeling before Jesus, she confessed to touching His cloak and told Him everything. In response, He replied,
Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering. — Mark 5:34
- What an extraordinary moment and powerful testimony to faith in Jesus Christ!
Elsewhere in the Gospels, we find Jesus performing exorcisms and curing people of demonic possession (Matthew 15:21–28; Mark 1:21–27; Luke 8:26–39). Occasionally, we are asked what we believe about evil and whether demons actually exist. Evil is unfortunately a tangible thing in the world, regardless of how much we hate that fact. The Bible is clear that demons and Satan are real beings. That being said, we need to admit that human beings have proven more than capable of causing copious amounts of evil on our own, no demonic help required. Much of the bloodshed, hatred, inequality, and injustice in our world can be traced back to our own selfishness, rebellion, and sin. So we’re leery of any approach to evil where the Devil suddenly gives everyone an easy out for the horrible ways we treat one another.
At the end of the day, however, neither of us can claim to be experts in this area. We just don’t have all the details; the Bible only tells us so much on the subject. On this point, we find wisdom in the words of C. S. Lewis from his book The Screwtape Letters:
There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.
Several other narratives in the Gospels recount miracles in which Jesus demonstrates His control over nature. In John 2:1–11, Jesus turns water into wine at a wedding in the village of Cana. Three of the four gospels tell of Jesus calming a terrifying storm on the Sea of Galilee while traveling across the lake in a ship with His disciples (Matthew 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25). In another incident on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus walks across the water to the disciples’ boat floating on the lake in the middle of the night (Matthew 14:22–33; Mark 6:45–52; John 6:16–21). All of the four gospels also contain at least one report of Jesus multiplying a meager amount of food to feed thousands of people (Matthew 15:32–39; Mark 8:1–13; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–15).
Finally, as a sort of prelude to His own resurrection, all of the four New Testament gospels recall Jesus raising people from the dead. Three tell of a man named Jairus, who came to Jesus and asked Him to heal his sick daughter only to discover that, prior to arriving at his home with Jesus, she had already died. Much to the derision of the mourning crowd, Jesus consoled Jairus, telling him his daughter was merely sleeping. Upon entering the house, Jesus commanded the girl to get up, bringing her back to life (Matthew 9:18–26; Mark 5:21–43; Luke 8:40–56). In Luke 7:11–17, we find a similar episode where Jesus raised the young son of a widow from the dead by commanding him to get up. Without question, the most famous of these accounts is that of the raising of Lazarus in John 11.
Jesus was informed that His friend Lazarus was deathly ill and was asked to come and heal him. Unfortunately, by the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been deceased for four days and had already been placed in a tomb. He had been dead long enough that Lazarus’s sister told Jesus not to open the tomb because of the stench of his decaying body. However, Jesus proceeded to order the stone to be removed. After speaking a prayer, Jesus commanded Lazarus to come out, and Lazarus appeared, still wrapped in his graveclothes.
It cannot be denied that the New Testament presents Jesus Christ as a prolific healer, exorcist, and wonder-worker. Even the most naturalistic of historians, such as University of North Carolina religious studies professor Bart Ehrman, will admit as much, despite denying the reality of miracles. However, if we accept the evidence that all of the New Testament Gospels were ancient biographies that preserved historically reliable eyewitness testimony regarding the life of Jesus, we must also then accept that these accounts of the miraculous deeds of Jesus shouldn’t be diminished as mythical interludes or legends. Just like the wise ethical teachings and parables of Jesus, these miracle accounts were recorded by the gospel writers as credible historical testimony to the incredible life of Jesus.
He actually did such miraculous things.
Interestingly, the earliest nonbiblical source that mentions Jesus—the Jewish historian Josephus’s book 18 of his late first-century Antiquities—confirms that Jesus had a reputation for performing miracles, stating that Jesus was “a doer of wonderful works.” The gospel writers weren’t just making these stories up out of thin air; other people had heard about Jesus’s miracles too.
Excerpted with permission from Demolishing Doubt by Cliffe and Stuart Knechtle, copyright Cliffe Knechtle and Stuart Knechtle.
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Your Turn
While Jesus was here on earth, He healed people. The New Testament gives us report after report of Him healing people who were desperate, had a need, or were dead! How does Jesus being a healer both then and now affect your relationship with Him? If you need healing today, ask Him! ~ Devotionals Daily