Miracles in the Bible |
| The Bible contains accounts of miracles. In the Old Testament God is recorded as rescuing His people from slavery through ten dramatic plagues and then parting the waters of the Red Sea so they can escape from Pharaoh's army (The Bible, Exodus chapters 7 - 12; Exodus chapter 14 verses 15 - 31). The prophet Elisha feeds a poor widow and heals Naaman from leprosy (2 Kings chapter 4 verses 1 - 7; 2 Kings chapter 5 verses 1 - 19). There are many more such accounts. |
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Within the New Testament the Gospels describe 35 occasions when Jesus performed miracles and tell us that there were many more than these. More than half of these 35 stories tell about Jesus healing the sick. In other cases he cast demons out of people suffering from physical or mental disorders. On three occasions we read that he raised people from the dead. The remaining stories show Jesus' power over things - changing water into wine, feeding a great crowd with very little food, walking on water, calming a storm, etc. |
Jesus heals a blind man 'Jesus Video' image used by kind permission |
Did they happen? For Christians the issue is one of faith - of trust in God, in Jesus Christ as God's son, and in the Bible as "God's Word" - God speaking to people today. They would wish to discuss various forms of evidence to support the Bible account - but perhaps one issue to consider is whether miracles still happen today (and what kind of evidences separate fact from wishful thinking!) The miracles are important to the Bible story. They are there to explain what God is like - His love, priorities, purposes and power - and to show what He wants people to do in response. Attempts to give the miracles natural explanations (such as "the Red Sea was shallow and the people waded across" or " the hungry crowd of 5,000 shared their sandwiches") take away the writers' reasons for telling the stories in the first place. Jesus said Christians believe that the miracles of the Bible are recorded to show that God is at work in His world then and today, and to encourage people to believe in God for themselves. |
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Miracles of Jesus |
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