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Rlg 323F, Lecture 9 Summary The Sources for the Miracle Tradition


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RLG 323F, Lecture 9 Summary

The Sources for the Miracle Tradition


  • Josephus described Jesus as “a doer of startling deeds”; the Babylonian Talmud claims that Jesus was executed as one who “practised sorcery and seduced Israel and led them away from God.”

  • Paul does not refer to Jesus as a miracle worker. Yet Paul believed that some apostles, including himself, were capable of performing “signs and wonders,” “mighty works,” and “miracles” (e.g., Rom 15:18–19; 2 Cor 12:12; Gal 3:5). So it would be surprising if he did not think that Jesus performed the same kinds of things. This argument is not very strong, however, since it is based on silence rather than evidence.

  • Q contains one healing story (The Centurion’s Son); The Beelzebul Controversy (about exorcism); a reference to “mighty works” having been performed in the villages of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum (this could refer to exorcism; see Mark 9:38–39, where “mighty works” denotes exorcisms); a mission command to heal the sick; and a list of healings that correspond to the fulfilment of Isaiah’s vision of Israel’s redemption: “And [Jesus] said to [John the Baptist’s disciples], ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind see and the lame walk, lepers are made clean and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, and the poor are given good news’” (Q 7:22).

  • Q contains two stories in which Jesus refuses to do miracles of the sort that would clearly confirm that he is an agent of God (The Temptations; The Request for a Sign).

  • Mark also contains a version of The Request for a Sign. Jesus’ refusal to give this generation a sign might seem to contradict Mark’s larger narrative, in which Jesus performs several nature miracles, until you realize that those miracles are performed in private (in Mark, there is no indication in the two feeding miracles that the crowds knew that a miracle occurred).

  • Unlike Mark and Q, where Jesus refuses to perform signs for those who have no faith, the Gospel of John refers to Jesus’ “signs” seventeen times and claims that these signs were meant to produce faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God (20:31). John limits Jesus’ miracles to the most impressive ones with christological implications.

The Accusation of Sorcery


In The Beelzebul Controversy we learn that Jesus was accused of magic. Specifically, he is accused of being possessed by and using Beelzebul, the ruler of demons (Mark 3:22). He is even called Beelzebul by some of his opponents (Matt 10:25). In Jesus’ day, magicians used rites to invite powerful spirits to reside within them, which they would use to do their bidding, so the accusation that Jesus has Beelzebul is an accusation of practising magic. Jesus’ response is that it would be illogical for the ruler of demons to cast out demons. Rather, Jesus claims to cast out demons by “the finger of God” (Luke 11:20 = reconstructed Q; Matthew has “spirit of God,” i.e., Holy Spirit, which actually makes more sense here). In Exodus 8:19, Pharaoh’s magicians acknowledge “the finger of God” behind Moses’ miracles when they cannot replicate the plague of gnats using their magical arts. So in Q, Jesus implicitly contrasts his use of the Holy Spirit with magic. In the Markan version, calling the work of God’s spirit the work of a demon constitutes blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (3:28–29).

The Markan version of The Beelzebul Dispute also indicates that Jesus acts like he is “beside himself.” This is how one would behave if one were possessed by a spirit. The charge that Jesus “has a demon” (i.e., is possessed by a demon and therefore insane) occurs in John 7:20, 8:52, and 10:19–21. So although the gospels normally depict Jesus as someone in his right mind, they contain indications that some people thought that he occasionally acted as if he was possessed and therefore not himself.


Spirit Possession


Spirit possession is a universal phenomenon. Demoniacs are people who at times act as if their minds are being controlled by an alien persona. Prophets and faith healers, on the other hand, behave at times as if the spirit of God has taken over their conscious minds and is speaking and acting through them. The ecstatic behaviour of prophets and faith healers is evidence that they are conduits of the power of God. People respond in faith because they “see” the power of God taking possession of this individual.

That Jesus was a faith healer is suggested most of all by Mark, where Jesus associates healing with faith (5:34, 36; 10:52; cf. Luke 7:19) and occasionally says “your faith has saved you.” The one time he cannot perform many mighty works is when he returns to Nazareth and finds that the people who know him cannot accept the local carpenter as a sage and prophet (Mark 6:5–6). Jesus’ lack of success there is the result of their “unbelief.” If Jesus behaved as a spirit-possessed healer, that would help explain the charge that he has a demon and uses magic.


Healing Techniques


In addition to ecstatic behaviour, the charge of magic is likely based in part on Jesus’ use of odd gestures and paraphernalia in some of his healings. In one story, Jesus spits upon a blind man’s eyes (Mark 8:23). In another, he spits upon the ground, makes clay from the saliva, then puts the clay on the man’s eyes and tells him to wash in the pool of Siloam (John 9:6–7). And in another he puts his fingers into a deaf man’s ears, spits and touches his tongue, then looks up to heaven, groans, and says “Ephphatha” (Mark 7:33–34). Such gestures could have appeared to some people as magical; the magical notion that particular words were vital to the healing might explain why the Aramaic words Jesus used when he healed people were sometimes preserved in these traditions (e.g., “Ephphatha” in 7:34 and “Talitha cumi” in 5:41).

The Significance Jesus Attached to His Mighty Works


It is clear from a variety of sayings that Jesus thought that his ability to cast out demons and heal people was evidence that God was beginning to reign on earth as king. God was establishing his kingdom by defeating the supernatural powers that opposed him and oppressed his people. Jesus believed that Satan, “the strong man” (Mark 3:27), had been “bound,” that is, that a decisive victory over Satan was taking place, allowing Jesus to plunder Satan’s possessions (people afflicted with demons and diseases). In Luke 10:17–18 Jesus says “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” This does not refer to a primordial event (there is no motif of Jesus’ pre-existence in the synoptics) but rather is Jesus’ explanation for the ability of his disciples to cast out demons: Satan has lost his power; his kingdom is coming to an end. This theme passes the criterion of dissimilarity because both Christians and Jews of the first century thought that Satan was still operating unimpeded (1 Cor 5:5; 7:5; 2 Cor 2:11; 12:7; 1 Thess 2:18; 2 Thess 2:9) and would be bound only later, at the time of judgment (e.g., Rom 16:20; Rev 20:1–2).

Likewise, Jesus sees his healings as the fulfilment of Isaiah’s vision of Israel’s redemption. When God begins to rule, the lame will walk, the deaf will hear, the blind will see. Israel’s sins will be forgiven (see Isaiah 29:18–19; 35:5–6; 61:1; Mark 2:5). When God’s kingdom comes, death, disease, and the devil will be no more. So it is natural to read the miracle tradition as eschatological and as an extension of Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom’s arrival.





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