Miracles of Jesus


The miracles of Jesus are the many miraculous deeds attributed to Jesus in Christian texts, with the majority of these miracles being faith healings, exorcisms, resurrections, and control over nature.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus is said to have performed seven miraculous signs that characterize his ministry, from changing water into wine at the start of his ministry to raising Lazarus from the dead at the end.
For many Christians and Muslims, the miracles are believed to be actual historical events. Others, including many liberal Christians, consider these stories to be figurative.
Since the Age of Enlightenment, many scholars have taken a highly skeptical approach to claims about miracles. There is less agreement on the interpretation of miracles than in former times, though there is a scholarly consensus that the Historical Jesus was viewed as a miracle-worker during his lifetime. Non-religious historians commonly avoid commenting on the veracity of miracles as the sources are limited and considered problematic. Some scholars rule out miracles altogether while others defend the possibility, either with reservations or more strongly.

Types and motives

In most cases, Christian authors associate each miracle with specific teachings that reflect the message of Jesus.
In The Miracles of Jesus, H. Van der Loos describes two main categories of miracles attributed to Jesus: those that affected people, or "healings", and those that "controlled nature". The three types of healings are cures, in which an ailment is miraculously remedied, exorcisms, in which demons are cast out of victims, and the resurrection of the dead. Karl Barth said that, among these miracles, the Transfiguration of Jesus is unique in that the miracle happens to Jesus himself.
According to Craig Blomberg, one characteristic shared among all miracles of Jesus in the Gospel accounts is that he delivered benefits freely and never requested or accepted any form of payment for his healing miracles, unlike some high priests of his time who charged those who were healed. In Matthew 10:8 he advised his disciples to heal the sick without payment and stated, "Freely ye received, freely give."
It is not always clear when two reported miracles refer to the same event. For example, in the healing the centurion's servant, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke narrate how Jesus healed the servant of a centurion in Capernaum at a distance. The Gospel of John has a similar but slightly different account at Capernaum and states that it was the son of a royal official who was cured at a distance.

Healing those who were ill and infirm

The largest group of miracles mentioned in the Gospels involves healing people who are ill, infirm or disabled. The Gospels give varying amounts of detail for each episode: sometimes Jesus cures simply by saying a few words; at other times, he employs material such as spit and mud. Luke 4:40 glosses over many healings at one time: "all those who ... were sick ... were brought to Him, and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them."

Blind people

The canonical Gospels contain a number of stories about Jesus healing blind people. The earliest is a story of the healing of a blind man in Bethsaida in the Gospel of Mark.
Mark's gospel gives an account of Jesus healing a blind man named Bartimaeus as Jesus is leaving Jericho. The Gospel of Matthew has a simpler account loosely based on this, with two unnamed blind men instead of one and a slightly different version of the story, taking place in Galilee, earlier in the narrative. The Gospel of Luke tells the same story of Jesus healing an unnamed blind man but moves the event in the narrative to when Jesus approaches Jericho.
The Gospel of John describes an episode in which Jesus heals a man blind from birth, placed during the Festival of Tabernacles, about six months before his crucifixion. Jesus mixes spittle with dirt to make a mud mixture, which he then places on the man's eyes. He instructs the man to wash his eyes in the Pool of Siloam. When the man does this, he is able to see. When asked by his disciples whether the cause of the blindness was the man's sins or his parents' sins, Jesus states that it was due to neither.

Lepers

A story in which Jesus cures a leper appears in, and. Having cured the man, Jesus instructs him to offer the requisite ritual sacrifices as prescribed by the Deuteronomic Code and Priestly Code and to not tell anyone who had healed him. But the man disobeyed, increasing Jesus's fame, and thereafter Jesus withdrew to deserted places but was followed there.
In an episode in the Gospel of Luke, while on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus sends ten lepers who sought his assistance to the priests, and they were healed as they go, but the only one who comes back to thank Jesus is a Samaritan.

Paralytics

appears in Matthew 9:1–8, and. The Synoptics state that a paralytic was brought to Jesus on a mat; Jesus told him to "get up and walk", and the man did so. Jesus also told the man that his sins were forgiven, which irritated the Pharisees. Jesus is described as responding to the anger by asking whether it is easier to say that someone's sins are forgiven, or to tell the man to "get up and walk". Mark and Luke state that Jesus was in a house at the time, and that the man had to be lowered through the roof by his friends due to the crowds blocking the door.
A similar cure is described in the Gospel of John as the healing the paralytic at Bethesda and occurs at the Pool of Bethesda. In this cure Jesus also tells the man to take his mat and walk.

Women

The curing of a bleeding woman appears in, and, along with the miracle of the daughter of Jairus. The Gospels state that while heading to Jairus's house, Jesus was approached by a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years and that she touched Jesus's cloak and was instantly healed. Jesus turned about and, when the woman came forward, said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you; go in peace".
The Synoptics describe Jesus as healing the mother-in-law of Simon Peter when he visited Simon's house in Capernaum, around the time of Jesus recruiting Simon as an Apostle. The Synoptics imply that this led other people to seek out Jesus.
Jesus healing an infirm woman appears in. While teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, Jesus cured a woman who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years and could not stand straight at all.

Other healings

The healing of a man with dropsy is described in. In this miracle, Jesus cured a man with dropsy at the house of a prominent Pharisee on the Sabbath. Jesus justified the cure by asking, "If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?"
In the healing of the man with a withered hand, the Synoptics state that Jesus entered a synagogue on Sabbath and found a man with a withered hand, whom Jesus healed, having first challenged the people present to decide what was lawful for Sabbath—to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill. The Gospel of Mark adds that this angered the Pharisees so much that they started to contemplate killing Jesus.
The miraculous healing the deaf mute of Decapolis only appears in the Gospel of Mark. Mark states that Jesus went to the Decapolis, met a man there who was deaf and mute, and cured him. Specifically, Jesus first touched the man's ears, then touched his tongue after spitting, and then said, "Ephphatha!", an Aramaic word meaning "be opened".
The miraculous healing of a centurion's servant is reported in and. These two Gospels narrate how Jesus healed the servant of a centurion in Capernaum. has a similar account at Capernaum but states that it was the son of a royal official who was healed. In both cases the healing took place at a distance.
Jesus healing in the land of Gennesaret appears in and. As Jesus passes through Gennesaret all those who touch his cloak are healed.
also reports that after the miracle of Jesus exorcising a mute, Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
The healing of Malchus was Christ's final miracle before his resurrection. Simon Peter had cut off the ear of the High Priest's servant, Malchus, during the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus restored the ear by touching it with his hand.

Exorcisms

According to the three Synoptic Gospels, Jesus performed many exorcisms of demons. These incidents are not mentioned in the Gospel of John and appear to have been excluded due to theological considerations.
The seven major exorcism accounts in the Synoptic Gospels which have details, and imply specific teachings, are as follows:
  • Exorcism at the Synagogue in Capernaum—Jesus exorcises an evil spirit who cries out, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"
  • Exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac or Miracle of the Swine—Jesus exorcises a possessed man. When Jesus asks the demon's name, he is given the reply Legion, "for we are many". When the demons ask to be expelled into a nearby group of pigs rather than be sent out of the area, Jesus obliges, but the pigs then run into the lake and drown.
  • Exorcism of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter —A Gentile woman asks Jesus to heal her daughter, but Jesus refuses, saying that he has been sent only to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel". The woman persists, saying that "dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table". In response Jesus relents and informs her that her daughter has been healed.
  • Exorcising the blind and mute man —Jesus heals a possessed man who is blind and mute. People are astonished and ask, "Could this be the Son of David?"
  • Exorcising a boy possessed by a demon —A boy possessed by a demon is brought forward to Jesus. The boy is said to have foamed at the mouth, gnashed his teeth, become rigid, and involuntarily fallen into both water and fire. Jesus's followers could not expel the demon, and Jesus condemns the people as unbelieving, but when the father of the boy questions if Jesus could heal the boy, he replies "everything is possible for those that believe". The father then says that he believes and the child is healed.
  • Jesus exorcising at sunset —This miracle appears in the Synoptic Gospels just after Jesus heals Simon Peter's mother-in-law. In this miracle, Jesus heals people and casts out demons.
  • Jesus exorcising a mute —This miracle immediately follows the account of Jesus healing two blind men. A man who is possessed and can not talk is brought to Jesus, who casts out the demon. The man is then able to speak.
There are also brief mentions of other exorcisms, such as the following: