Miracle of Jesus

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El Greco : The Healing of the Blind (around 1567).

According to the New Testament, miracles of Jesus of Nazareth are anessential part of his actions. The Gospels and some later Apocrypha tell of Jesus' miracles in Galilee , Judea and Jerusalem . This of early Christians written texts proclaim so Jesus Christ as Son of God , that are statements of faith about him. The historical Jesus research assumes that actual cures Jesus led some of the oldest miracle stories and these were expanded later radically Aryan.

Some texts in the New Testament refer to God's miracles concerning Jesus: → The virgin birth , baptism of Jesus and resurrection of Jesus Christ .

term

The word for “miracle” used in ancient times was the Greek thauma for “amazing”, “extraordinary”. It does not differentiate between events that go beyond everyday experience, or unexpected, inexplicable and without known causes. The New Testament uses this term only once for Jesus' deeds, as plural ( Mt 21.15  EU ). Otherwise it only appears in relation to satanic, seductive powers. Paul of Tarsus speaks of “lying apostles” who pretend to be Christ's apostles, thus demonstrating healing acts similar to these ( 2 Cor 11:14  EU ): “No wonder, because Satan also disguises himself as an angel of light.” The Apocalypse of John refers the verb “wonder” does not refer to a salutary event, but to the bloody persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire , which is symbolized as “the whore of Babylon” (Rev 17: 6).

The New Testament also does not designate Jesus' deeds as terata for monstrous events or for evidence that suggests the particular ability of the perpetrator. Jesus had rejected the demands of his opponents for such evidence of his messianism and criticized their expectation of miracles:

“Then he sighed deeply and said: What does this generation require a sign? Amen, I tell you: this generation will never be given a sign. "

- Mk 8.12  EU

"Then Jesus said to him: If you do not see signs and wonders, you will not believe."

- Joh 4,48  EU

Because also end-time seducers would give such signs (Mk 13,22; cf. Dtn 13,2-6). The Gospel of John nevertheless expressly designates seven acts of Jesus as signs ( ancient Greek σημεῖα semeia ) and summarizes them at the end of the Gospel as constitutive for the messianship of Jesus and the faith of his readers:

“Jesus performed many other signs in front of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written down so that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through faith you may have life in his name. "

- Joh 20,30-31  EU

The deeds of the apostles are also occasionally called semeia (2 Cor 12:12; Acts 5:12).

Jesus' healing power is often referred to in the miracle texts with the expression dynamis - strength, power (Lk 10:13). This is told nationwide (Mk 5.30; 6.2); it paves the way for knowledge of Jesus' true identity (Mk 8.27ff.). In Jesus' own testimony and the immediate reaction of eyewitnesses to a miracle, however, the term exousia - authority - dominates, referring to God's commission to act in this way (Mk 1:27). The healing miracle should only confirm this in a secondary manner, not primarily justify it (Mk 2,10). When asked about his identity, Jesus only replies by pointing out what is happening in his environment - the fulfillment of God's promises for the dispensation - and does not say: "I do this" (Mt 11: 4f.).

That is why the New Testament science does not simply classify Jesus' miracles into a general, ancient concept of miracles, but rather examines their particular characteristics.

New Testament

Casting out demons

Casting out demons in Capernaum, Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

The Gospel of Mark in particular reports of Jesus' appearance right at the beginning, that he had cast out demons . It is followed by the other Gospels with partly similar, partly modified exorcism reports:

  • the possessed in the synagogue of Capernaum (Mk 1,21-28)
  • the spirits proclaim the Son of God (Mk 3,11)
  • Jesus' healing power is an occasion for hostility from Jerusalem scribes (Mk 3:22–30)
  • Healing of the possessed from Gerasa (Mk 5.1–20; Mt 8.28–34; Lk 8.26–39)
  • Distant healing of the daughter of a foreigner (Mk 7.26-30)
  • Healing of the epileptic boy (Mk 9: 14-29)
  • Healing of a Mute (Matt.9.32-34)
  • Healing of the blind and the mute (Mt 12:22) or the mute (Lk 11:14) as an occasion for a dispute
  • Healing of the sleepwalking boy (Mt 17: 14-21)

The exorcisms all take place in Galilee or Judea, but not in Jerusalem. They mainly affect people with incurable diseases at that time, which were explained as "possession" by an alien, evil, dominating power. Typical features of these reports are: Man is completely at the mercy of the demon; he speaks through him. A battle takes place between Jesus and the evil spirit in the "area" of the sick, in which Jesus wins: He knows the demon, calls him by name and orders him to go out. The demons also recognize Jesus as the Son of God, whom they must fear and proclaim (Mk 1:24, 34). Even after the expulsion they are dangerous and look for a place to “drive in” (Mk 5,12f .; Mt 12,43ff.).

Unlike other ancient reports of expulsion, the New Testament of Jesus does not mention any rituals such as secret knowledge, mastery of foreign demonic language, magic, and violent procedures with which he defeats the demon. His “weapon” is only the commanding, irresistible form of address. The NT reports proclaim that Jesus has God's creative power, that is, that God is present in him.

The expulsions happen as public healing miracles. Through them, the news of Jesus spread quickly “throughout the Galilean land” (Mk 1.28), later also in other regions (Mk 3.8). At the same time, with his healing successes, skepticism and rejection grow (Mk 3,6). Therefore, the exorcisms are often embedded in Jesus' public discourse. They are an occasion for disputes with teachers of the law and opponents of Jesus about his alleged covenant with Beelzebub (Mk 3,22-30) or teaching disciples about the unclean spirits (Matt 12,43ff).

In the miracle reports themselves, there are no direct references to the proclamation of the Kingdom of God , which is characteristic of Jesus, the call to repentance, ethical admonitions to the healed or the call to follow Jesus . They are only connected to these topics in a narrative context. Mark 14–15, for example, cannot be separated from the overall conception of the Gospel of Mark. According to the source of the Logia , which otherwise hardly reports miracles, God's rulership is already realized in the exorcisms (Mt 12:28; Lk 11:20  EU ):

"But if I cast out demons through the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has already come to you"

According to the prevailing opinion, this can not only be explained in terms of the post-Easter congregation situation, but must in essence be traced back to the historical Jesus. He acted knowing that he was standing on the threshold of a new world in which evil had already been conquered (Lk 10:18).

Jesus' answer to the imprisoned Baptist's Messiah question ( Are you the one to come, or should we wait for someone else? ) Is mostly believed to be authentic. She referred summarily to prophetic promises that brought about his healing miracles ( Mt 11 : 1-6  EU ):

“The blind see again and the lame walk; Lepers will be clean and the deaf will hear; The dead rise and the gospel is proclaimed to the poor. "

There is no direct reference to the expulsion of evil spirits, which is not recorded in the Tanakh , the Hebrew Bible . The reference to what happened in Jesus' presence left open who he is. No belief in the Son of God is required here, only:

"Happy who takes no offense at me."

The power on which these acts were based was evidently disputed as early as Jesus' lifetime. The resulting mission problems could explain that this type of miracle appears less often with the synoptics dependent on Mark, Matthew and Luke, and is completely absent in John's Gospel , which otherwise emphasizes the dispute about Jesus' authority with his opponents.

The exorcisms evidently also moved non-Christian healers to heal in the “name of Jesus” (Mk 9.38f.). In Judea, where no one knew about Jesus' origin, they sparked rumors that he was the born again Elijah (Mk 8:28). This was probably not a tradition invented by Christians, since for them it was not Jesus but John the Baptist who was the born again prophet of the end times (Mk 9:13; Mt 11:14). Accordingly, these miracles already impressed Jesus 'contemporaries and were not only passed on by Jesus' followers.

Healing miracle

Healing of Peter's mother-in-law, Athos Gospels, 13th century

see also: section Healing Miracles of Jesus in the list of healing miracles in the Bible

Healing of the Blind, Rembrandt, 17th century

Other healing miracles of Jesus happen without a fight with a demonic alien power: through active or passive transfer of his power to the sick person or through his command or encouragement. The sick or their relatives often ask for it themselves - he touches them or they touch him. This includes:

Some accounts depict Jesus' healing power as a kind of aura that captures anyone who touches him (even without his knowledge). Others assume that he passed on this power himself , usually by the laying on of hands , in a free decision; Jesus asks those who have been paralyzed for 38 years whether they want to get well (Jn 5: 6). Still other texts assume that he used healing methods like a doctor, which gradually brought about the healing.

This is only rarely carried out, for example in the case of the blind man from Bethsaida: He is first led out of the place, i.e. isolated from his social environment, his eyes are moistened with saliva , and then there is multiple laying on of hands. Jesus puts his fingers in the ears of a deaf; He puts a paste of saliva and earth on the eyes of a blind man and sends him to wash himself (Jn 9: 6f). The direct commanding word to the person (e.g. “Get up, take your bed and go!” In Mk 2.11; John 5.8 or “stretch out your hand!” In Mk 3.5) is also in this genus of miracles either immediately healing or the breakthrough to healing as the last step.

In these texts the sick are healed without any preconditions or conditions; only the gout-frail is addressed as a sinner. However, his sin is not presented as a cause of illness; neither do these sick people appear as possessed by evil power. In the case of the man born blind, Jesus expressly rejects the acceptance of a punishment for the sins of the parents (Jn 9: 2f).

In many of these reports the motive of faith plays a role, which also occurs outside of miracle reports, for example in Jesus' word about faith that moves mountains (Mk 11: 22ff.). The encouragement your faith has saved you establishes the unconditional trust of the person seeking help in Jesus as healing even before it has occurred. This is only found in the miracles of Jesus, not in the ancient environment. There the belief in the miracle worker is the result of the miracle effect experienced, here it is part of the healing itself. This aims at praising God, not at the glory of the miracle worker (Mk 2:12).

Some healing miracles have already been referred to as “norm miracles” because the miracle establishes and reinforces a rule, a command of God or ethical behavior. While such miracle reports in the environment often served to tighten norms, they are rare in the synoptic Jesus tradition and demonstrate the defusing of a norm. Jesus' healings on the Sabbath in the synagogue override the norm of keeping the Sabbath rest in favor of saving life. In doing so, Jesus acted like the “liberal” Torah school of Hillel , which had already allowed the breaking of the Sabbath law to save life before his appearance. But Jesus confirms this permission more clearly than this through his own demonstrative action. According to Mk 2,23ff (gathering ears of grain on the Sabbath), he also allowed the disciples to do this.

Gift miracle

Feeding the 5000, Codex Egberti

Here a miracle from Jesus causes a large amount of nourishment as a gift to a group of people who were experiencing want without Jesus being asked directly for it:

  • Feeding the 5000 (Mk 6.35-44 par Mt 14.13-21; Lk 9.10-17; John 6.1-13)
  • Feeding the 4000, a doublet (Mk 8.1–9 par Mt 15.32–38)
  • the wonderful fishing (Lk 5: 1-11)
  • another wonderful catch of fish (Jn 21: 3-6)
  • the transformation of water into wine at the wedding in Cana (Jn 2: 1–11)

The Johannine miraculous texts in particular end with the description of the effect on the observer, with words such as: "So Jesus did his first sign, in Cana in Galilee, and revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him." ( Jn 2:11  EU ) .

Such texts may have been inspired by individual features of Jesus' preaching, such as the guest feasts and the tradition of the Lord's Supper . They also take up motifs such as the wonderful multiplication of bread , which were known from the Tanach of Elisha (2 Kings 4:42ff.), In order to surpass them. The wide spread, duplication, and intensification of the story of the mass feeding in the Gospels shows that it was told early on by early Christians. It is mentally connected to the Beatitude Jesus ( Lk 6.21  EU ):

“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be full. Blessed are you who cry now, for you will laugh. "

The future vision of a great feast for all peoples (Isa. 25: 6ff.), Which is echoed in Jesus' words like Mt 8:11, may have influenced this miracle story. The emphasis on becoming full by sharing the little that is there to live also refers to the community of property of the early Jerusalem community that may already have been assumed (Acts 2,45f.).

Life miracle

Storm calming, Olof Larsson Wikström , 1838

A wonderful salvation of followers of Jesus from hardship caused by the forces of nature takes place here.

  • the calming of the storm at sea (Mk 4,35-41): Jesus is the protective passenger who does not seem affected by the need, but brings about salvation (cf. the opposite: the story of Jonah and the whale )
  • the sea walk: Jesus appears as a divine figure intervening from outside (Mk 6.45ff.).

Both natural wonders have analogies in the ancient environment: the ability to walk on water and tame wind and waves was considered a sign of divine power. By ascribing such abilities to Jesus in these reports, they implicitly presuppose knowledge of his resurrection for Gerd Theißen and can therefore only be explained as post-Easter poetry.

Punitive miracle

Curse of the fig tree

The cursing of the fig tree (Mk 11,12ff.) Is the only “punitive miracle” reported by Jesus in the NT: unlike punitive miracles in the Tanach (2 Kings 2,23f.) Or later early Christian tradition (Acts 5,1ff.) It does not occur People and is brought into close positive relationship with Mark to answer prayer and forgiveness of sins (Mk 11: 20-26).

Raising the dead

Raising the daughter of Jairus, Codex Egberti

The reports of the resurrection of mortals occupy a special place among the miraculous texts of the NT:

There are motifs of exorcisms - healing against resistance (Mk 5.40; Joh 11.38), through verbal address (Mk 5.41; Lk 11.14; Joh 11.43) - with features of therapies - healing on one's own Initiative of Jesus (Lk 7:13 f; Jn 11:11) or at the request of those affected (Jn 11:20, 32), salvation from desperate need (ibid., V. 33) - united.

In Luke the miracle leads to the common praise of God without emphasizing Jesus (Lk 7:16): This text is considered to belong to the source of the Logia, which only reports this miracle. In the other two texts, the motif of belief plays a special role. Markus combines his example of a raising of the dead with another miracle text and thus achieves an intensification that emphasizes the overcoming of the unbelief of the witnesses (Mk 5: 35-39.42).

John depicts this miracle of the raising from the dead as the climax of Jesus' acts of revelation and the trigger for his passion. Here - as in his miracle examples in general - he expands the topic of who is Jesus broadly by explaining the healing process with longer dialogues on the way to action and one of the ego bin -Reaches of Jesus connects (Joh 11,25ff.). Jesus reveals the glory of God that he promised (Jn 11: 40–53): This leads to the final polarization between his followers and enemies, who then decide on his death. In this way the evangelist creates a close correspondence between what Jesus did on a dead man and the coming resurrection of the executed Jesus.

The requirement of silence

The Gospel of Mark and, following it, the synoptics repeatedly transmit the command of Jesus to expelled demons and eye-witnesses of his miracles (disciples and those who have been healed) not to tell anyone what they have experienced (Mk 1.44; Mk 7.36; Mk 9.9). Since William Wrede, NT research has often viewed this requirement of silence as part of an editorial concept of the Messiah's secret . It is assumed that the evangelist Jesus first put these words in his mouth to point to the real miracle for him: the self-revelation of the Son of God through his suffering for others and his substitute atoning death on the cross (Mk 8:31). The traditional miracle texts were intended to confirm Jesus' mission on the one hand, but on the other hand, according to Mark, made his preaching more difficult by setting Jesus on his call as a healer.

For some exegetes, Jesus' command of silence should "defend itself against the increasing influx of people with every healing". The miracles of healing could therefore help to recognize his identity or disguise it: the latter could explain the traditional commandments of silence. Klaus Berger , however, explains it out of Jesus' distrust of mere confessions that are not followed by deeds.

Extra-canonical miracle reports

Some later non-canonical texts tell of individual miracles of Jesus. These include the Abgar legend (handed down by Eusebius of Caesarea ), the childhood gospel according to Thomas (KThom) as well as the dependent Arab childhood gospel , which later influenced the miracle legends of the Koran about Isa bin Maryam (Jesus, son of Mary ). According to NT research, they already belong to the tradition of the Church, which assumed the written canonical Gospels and embellished them with legends .

The Nazarene Gospel , which has been preserved in fragments, varies the story of the healing of the withered hand (Mt 18: 21f.): Here the healed is a bricklayer and approaches Jesus with a request for healing in order to be able to exercise his profession again.

In the childhood gospel of Thomas (KThom 2), the sparrow miracle is told: the five-year-old Jesus formed twelve sparrows out of clay on a Sabbath, whereupon an old rabbi scolded him because no craft was allowed to be practiced on a Sabbath. With a clap of hands, Jesus called out to the creatures: “Away with you!” Then they came to life and flew away. - This legend is based on individual motifs from the Gospels such as the breaking of the Sabbath commandment, the calling of the twelve disciples, but above all on God's eloquent action as Creator. The statement is: Jesus acts like the Creator on the Sabbath, when the latter was resting from his works (Gen 2: 2). He uses the same earth material for the sparrows as God does for the people (Gen 2,7) in order to playfully anticipate the calling and sending of the disciples.

Special features compared to contemporary analogies

The testimonies of Jesus' miracles have been compared in research in the history of religion since the 19th century with similar ancient miracle reports. Various “models” typical of the time were brought up to him.

Healing gods

Religion and medicine were not separate in antiquity: healing powers emanated from the places of worship of numerous different gods in the belief of Hellenism . Priests and doctors often worked hand in hand there. An already since the 5th century BC A famous place of pilgrimage was the sanctuary of the god Asclepius in Epidaurus . There was a kind of spa center that attracted the sick from afar and warned those who entered it: He must be pure who enters the incense-scented temple. Purity means having pure thoughts. Special rules applied in this area: women giving birth and dying were not permitted, and the consumption of sacrificial meat was prohibited. After a series of rituals, the sick, dressed in white, awaited healing in their sleep or, in dreams, the healing instruction from God. Votive plaques at the entrance announced the miracles that should have happened. These have been assigned to a remote sacred sphere. They were connected with arduous conditions for the healed man who had undertaken the journey there.

According to the New Testament, Jesus rejected this understanding of healing as a separation from everyday life and ritual self-endeavor for perfection, in that he himself, at the risk of his life, turned to the “impure” and the excluded and enabled them to return to the community without special conditions.

The "divine man"

In 1936, Ludwig Bieler put forward the thesis that Jesus was stylized in the New Testament according to the image of the “divine man” (Greek theios aner ), which was generally widespread in antiquity . Many of the rulers and famous doctors of that time should have had divine healing powers. The Jewish historian Philo of Alexandria may have portrayed Moses based on this model.

A well-known extra-biblical example is the hiking philosopher Apollonios von Tyana († around 97). The biography written by Philostratus from the 3rd century tells of hiking trips, exorcisms, an epidemic content and a revival ( Vita Appollonii IV, 45). Their presentation shows clear differences to the raising of Jesus from the dead reported in the NT:

  • The narrator goes from one apparent death of,
  • he emphasizes the noble origins of the deceased consultant's daughter,
  • the healing is through touch and some incomprehensible words
  • the perpetrator should be paid and generously refuses to do so,
  • the author compares his deed with miracles known from Greek myths
  • and finally asks how the miracle came about: whether the apparent death remained hidden from the doctors or whether Apollonius had called back and rekindled the extinct life.

In contrast, the texts in the New Testament do not doubt the reality of death, but emphasize it:

  • Jesus came too late (Mk 5:35), even on purpose, the dead were already rotting (Joh 11,4ff.17.39)
  • He addresses the immediate relatives who are directly affected, not an anonymous crowd (Mk 5:36; Jn 11:23) and mourns with them (Jn 11:35).
  • He has to overcome resistance: the request for help has already been rejected as in vain (Mk 5:35), his contradiction is laughed at (Mk 5:39), the grave is closed (Jn 11:38).
  • He only touches the coffin, not the dead person, and speaks to it publicly (Lk 7:14).
  • The NT texts do not try to fathom the miracle method, but only ask for or proclaim the identity of the perpetrator.
  • They bring the miracles into close relationship with Jesus' own world-wide destiny.

magician

A counter-model to the divinely gifted human being was the magician . In Judaism in particular, he was often viewed negatively as a charlatan and deceiver who was in covenant with Satan : Jesus' opponents took this view early on in the Gospels (Mk 3.22; Mt 27.63; John 7.12; John 8.48 among others). It is reflected in the image of Jesus in the Talmud , which regards him as a seducer of the people to idolatry (Deut 13: 2-6) precisely because of his miracles, which he presupposes as fact .

With reference to such evidence, Morton Smith took the hypothesis that Jesus received regular training in magical practices in Egypt , where his family is said to have fled after his birth (Mt 2: 13ff.), Was possessed by Beelzebub and had conjured himself up empowered the powers of the dead Baptist John (Mk 6:16). With that he had his exorcisms, but also other wonderful deeds such as clairvoyance, sudden disappearance, retreat into the desert, passing on the authority to cast out demons, passing on enchanted food (in the Lord's Supper) and even black magic , in that he was Satan in Judas Iscariot through enchanted bread let go (Jn 13:27). He thought he was a son of God in the sense of the sons of gods in Greek magic papyri.

John Dominic Crossan understood the term magic as a mere label of society that sometimes positively and sometimes negatively assesses miracles. He saw Jesus' miracles as a kind of social protest against the power of definition of the rulers, who did not trust God's liberating power and wanted to cement their interpretation of the Torah (Mk 3,6).

Part of the early Christian tradition reflects magical popular piety . But Jesus did not see himself as a magician, but as a prophet (Mk 6.4). His typical, special encouragement Your faith saved you shows for Gerd Theißen a magical manipulation opposite trust in the autonomous self-strength of the healed, which is based on the personal relationship with him and enables him new community with his social environment. Almost no ritualized magical practices have come down from Jesus; rather, according to early Christian tradition, he was able to heal solely through his divertible, God-given “authority” (Greek exousia ). This charism did not “work” everywhere (Mk 6.5). Even the fact that he rejected the demand for authentication miracles that was brought to him (Mk 8: 11f.) Does not fit in with a magical self-image. In particular, the fact that he understood his healings as the dawn of the kingdom of God distinguishes him from magicians who merely strive for the mastery of demonic powers and isolated miracles, but not for the ultimate overcoming of the world domination of evil.

Charismatic

In the area of Palestine there were various rabbis around the turn of the century , about whom the gift of working miracles was told. In the 1st century BC Chr. Honi Regen is said to have conjured up by drawing a magical magic circle. He and his grandson are the only Jews in the Talmud who, like Jesus , addressed God as Abba (papa, dear father). Otherwise, Honi was there, however, rather critical, but by Flavius ​​Josephus ( Antiquitates Judaios 14 : 22-24) judged positively.

In Galilee, around 60–100, Hanina ben Dosa , the main representative of Hasidism there, worked . He lived in voluntary poverty, had no interest in the sacrificial cult and, like Jesus, interpreted the Torah orally ( Halacha ). The rabbinical tradition tells of him various miracles:

  • two remote healings through prayer ,
  • Power over demons,
  • Snakebite Immunity.

According to the Talmud, God also called him my son (bTaan 3: 8; cf. Mk 1:11). This title often appears in the mouth of demons for Jesus, especially in the Markinian exorcisms. Honi, Hanina and Jesus were also compared with the prophet Elijah (Mk 8:28). The Jewish profane historian Geza Vermes concluded from such similarities : Jesus grew up in an already existing “charismatic milieu” that had shaped him.

But the Talmudic tradition reports nothing of a special “power of attorney” and an end-of-time expectation of these Jewish charismatics; not they, but God worked their miracles there, for which they prayed. The fact that Jesus 'miracles cannot be explained from his environment or training is underlined by the fact that , unlike other apostles, no miracles have been reported by John the Baptist and the apostle James , Jesus' brother, and there were no miracle workers in Israel before Jesus Casting out demons have been reported.

Drawing prophets

In the decades before the destruction of the second Jerusalem temple in 70, according to Josephus, some prophets appeared in Palestine who announced special signs of the future, but did not perform miracles themselves:

  • The Samaritans rejected the Jerusalem temple cult. At 36 a prophet promised them that they would find the lost devices of their own temple on Mount Gerizim . With this they linked the expectation that 722 BC. Northern Reich of Israel , which was lost in BC, will be restored.
  • The prophet Theudas predicted the split of the Jordan around 44 : This miracle, based on the wonder of the Red Sea (Ex 14), is narrated in the Tanach from Joshua (Jos 3) and Elijah (2 Kings 2.8). It symbolically signified a new gift from the land, thus indirectly also the liberation from foreign rule.
  • Another, anonymous prophet announced in the reign of the procurator Felix (52-60) a new exodus of Israel through signs in the desert.
  • An Egyptian gathered followers, led them to the Mount of Olives and promised them the collapse of the walls of Jerusalem at his command (cf. Acts 21:38).
  • Jesus ben Ananias appeared in Jerusalem around 62 and monotonously announced the destruction of the temple, the temple city and the Jewish people, until he was arrested and handed over to the Romans, who flogged him and, after an unsuccessful interrogation, let him go.

Jesus also announced the coming kingdom of God with signs still occurring in his time, especially with the destruction of the temple (Mk 13.2), combined with the expulsion of the victim traders and money changers (John 2.19), which was the beginning and demand for a cult reform could be understood. He was therefore compared by his opponents to Jewish sign prophets like Theudas. According to Acts 5: 34-39 , the Pharisee Gamaliel listed the latter's fate in the Sanhedrin to justify the requested release of the imprisoned apostles .

While the Jewish charismatics worked miracles without preaching a change in the world, and the prophets announced this without any miracles of their own, what is special about Jesus lies in the connection between the two:

“The uniqueness of the miracles of the historical Jesus lies in the fact that currently occurring healings and exorcisms are assigned an eschatological meaning. A new world begins in them. "

Historical-critical discussion

While the church fathers often interpreted the NT miraculous reports as a demonstration of and for Jesus' divinity, the Roman philosopher and anti- Christianity Celsus asked about their peculiarity around 178. He stated that “[...] a lot of things only got the character of the miraculous in the story of the disciples [...] But let's assume that he [Jesus] performed these miracles, [...] he healed the sick, raised the dead and […] fed a large amount: “There are other miracle men who offer even greater miracles for little money:“ They drive out demons, blow away diseases, conjure up hero souls, show precious meals […] that are not really available [...] If these people can do such things, must we take them to be God's sons? "

Since the Enlightenment , the criteria mentioned here - the origin of the miracle reports from the faith of Jesus followers and a comparison of the history of religion - have been formulated scientifically in theology itself. Rationalism initially took over the premise that only what is scientifically possible can be historical. Accordingly, Karl Friedrich Bahrdt (1741–1792) explained the events reported in the miracles for natural, subjectively misinterpreted causes: For example, Jesus walked along the lake shore in the fog or on timber lying there in the water and therefore considered a ghost by the disciples that could walk on the water. During the calming of the storm, he had ruled the frightened disciples: keep silent about what they related to wind and waves, which happened to be at the same moment. The disciples then attributed this to his “command”.

Even Heinrich Paulus (1761-1851) was looking for unnamed in the text causes of miracles to explain rationally to this: To have enough listeners had in mass feeding food supplies with them. Jesus shared his food with his disciples and encouraged the other Witnesses to share their supplies with the poor in their vicinity, so that all would be satisfied.

These attempts at explanation assume actual events, but interpret the wonderful out of them. Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) caricatured this in his history of the life of Jesus research in 1906: The dead raising should be titled: “Jesus protects from being buried alive”, since from a rationalist point of view they were pseudo-dead.

David Friedrich Strauss (1808–1874), on the other hand, understood the miracle stories as poetic myths that wanted to express a certain idea: They were created to surpass what was told by the prophets in the Old Testament, to portray Jesus as the promised Messiah . Jesus himself tended to reject miracles, but had to meet expectations placed on him:

"As soon as he was once considered a prophet ... - then he was trusted to have miraculous powers, and as soon as he was trusted to do so, they certainly came into effect."

He explained some of the healing miracles as psychosomatic , other miracles as unintentionally fabricated folk legends that would have a religious meaning even without a historical basis.

For Rudolf Bultmann ( History of the Synoptic Tradition , 1921), a large part of the miracle reports came into being after Jesus' death in early Christianity. Hellenistic motifs were transferred to Jesus. The wine miracle in Cana, for example, comes from the Dionysus cult . Even Martin Dibelius ( form criticism of the Gospels 1919) evaluated the most miraculous texts for future adaptation of the Church's proclamation of profane legends of the ancient environment. Ludwig Bieler ( Theios Aner 1936) constructed a “divine human being” as the ancient type of a miracle worker, after whom the figure of Jesus was also designed. With this, the miracle stories lost their necessary reference to the "messianic idea" (Strauss), that is, to the belief in the Redeemer of all people as the center of Christian faith. They were now only regarded as a means then and now dispensable to express the actual message of faith: that God had acted and wanted to act in the world through Jesus.

This view was supported by historical editorial investigations. Each of the evangelists put the miracle texts in a certain narrative frame and emphasized certain punch lines:

  • The Gospel of Matthew shortened by Heinz Joachim Held ( Matthew as a performer of miracles. Tradition and interpretation in Matthew 1960) Markus templates let certain wonder and gathered the rest in Mt 8-9  EU (around Jesus after his apprenticeship Mt 5-7  EU ) as a merciful Messiah of deed: He took on the diseases of all like the servant of God promised by Deutero-Isaiah by healing them (Mt 8:17 cited Isa 53: 4).
  • The Gospel of Luke increased the miracle texts in Mark and, according to Ulrich Busse ( The Miracles of the Prophet Jesus 1977), represented the present fulfillment of prophetic promises to the poor, prisoners and sinners. For Luke, Jesus was the last prophet of the end times, who fulfilled God's will to save and invited the saved to the "messianic banquet ".
  • According to Rudolf Bultmann ( The Gospel of John 1941), the Gospel of John processed a "source of signs" of seven miracles that expressed a naive belief in miracles. The evangelist transformed this through theological interpretation in order to point out the real miracle that Jesus is the Bringer of true life (cf. Jn 11.25  EU ). His wonderful actions should show his divine glory (Greek doxa ), with which he awakens faith solely through the word, behind which the superficial miracle recedes.

See also

literature

Overview
  • Ruben Zimmermann (ed.): Compendium of early Christian miracle stories. Volume 1: The miracles of Jesus. Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2013, ISBN 3579081209 .
Historical-critical investigations
  • Gerd Theißen , Annette Merz : The Historical Jesus. A textbook. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 4th edition, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-525-52198-4 ; § 10: Jesus as healer: the miracles of Jesus. Pp. 256-284.
  • Graham Twelftree: Jesus the Miracle Worker: A Historical and Theological Study. Inter Varsity Press, 1999, ISBN 0-83-081596-1 .
  • Werner Kahl : New Testament Micracle Stories and their Religious-Historical Setting. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1997, ISBN 3-52-553845-6 .
  • Graham H Twelftree: Jesus the Exorcist: A Contribution to the Study of the Historical Jesus. Mohr / Siebeck, Tübingen 1993, ISBN 3-16-145959-8 .
  • Friedrich M. Fiederlein: The miracles of Jesus and the miracle stories of the early church. 1988, ISBN 3-76-980591-7 .
  • Ulrich Busse: The miracles of the prophet Jesus. Fzb 24, 2/1979.
  • Dietrich A. Koch: The meaning of the miracle stories for the Christology of the Gospel of Mark. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1975, ISBN 3-11-004783-7 .
  • Gerd Theißen: Original Christian miracle stories. Studies on the New Testament Volume 8, Gütersloh 1974.
  • Karl Kertelge: The miracles of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. Kösel 1970.
  • Karl Gutbrod: The miracle stories of the New Testament. Represented from the first three Gospels. (1967) 3rd edition 1978, ISBN 3-76-680077-9 .
  • Hendrik van der Loos: The Miracles of Jesus. Brill, Leiden 1965.
  • Otto Perels: The miraculous tradition of the synoptics in their relationship to the word tradition. Kohlhammer, 1934.
Ancient analogies
  • Howard Clark Kee: Medicine, Miracle, Magic in NT Time. Cambridge University Press, 2008, ISBN 0521368189
  • Michael Becker: Miracles and miracle workers in early rabbinic Judaism. Studies of the phenomenon and its transmission in the horizon of magic and demonism. Mohr / Siebeck, Tübingen 2002, ISBN 3-16-147666-2 .
  • Stephanie M. Fischbach: raising the dead. To the history of a genre. 1992, ISBN 3-429-01427-1 .
  • Howard Clark Kee: Miracle in the early Christian world. A study in sociohistorical method. 1983
  • Ludwig Bieler: Theios aner. The image of the “divine man” in antiquity. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1967
  • Gerhard Delling: Ancient Wonder Texts. Walter de Gruyter, 2nd edition, Berlin 1960
  • Paul Fiebig: Ancient miracle stories. To study the miracles of the New Testament. Weber, Bonn 1911
theology
  • Manfred Köhnlein: Miracles of Jesus - Stories of protest and hope. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-17-020980-0 .
  • Helmut Fischer: The miracles of Jesus: Your messages in the Gospels. Imhof, Petersberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-86568-493-6 .
  • Bernd Kollmann: New Testament miracle stories: Biblical-theological approaches and impulses for practice. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2007
  • Martin Karrer : Miracles. In: Jesus Christ in the New Testament , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-525-51380-1 , pp. 245-262
  • Rene Latourelle: The Miracles of Jesus and the Theology of Miracles. Paulist Press International, US, 1988, ISBN 0809129973
  • Leonard Goppel: Theology of the New Testament. § 15: The miracle reports and their criticism ; § 16: The theological meaning of the miracles of Jesus (pp. 189–206). UTB Vandenhoeck, Göttingen 1978, ISBN 3-525-03252-8 .
  • Otto Betz , Werner Grimm: Nature and Reality of the Miracles of Jesus. Healings, rescues, signs, illuminations. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main / Bern / Las Vegas 1977, ISBN 3-261-02397-X .
  • Alfons Weiser: What the Bible calls miracles - non-fiction book on the reports of the Gospels. Katholisches Bibelwerk, Stuttgart 1975, 6th edition 1988, ISBN 3-460-31091-X .
  • Rudolf Bultmann: On the question of miracles. In: Collected Essays , Ev. Verlagsanstalt Berlin 1973, pp. 76–90.
Sermon, pastoral care, lessons
  • Eugen Drewermann : Acts of love. Meditations on the miracles of Jesus. Herder, Freiburg 2002, ISBN 3-451-04402-1 .
  • Anton Steiner: Miracles of Jesus. Bible study in the church. Topics and materials. Benziger, Zurich 2001, ISBN 3-545-26131-X .
  • Elrose Hunter: The Miracles of Jesus. Francke, Marburg an der Lahn 1999, ISBN 3-86122-437-2 .
  • Charles C. Ryrie : The Miracles of Jesus. Christliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Dillenburg 1998, ISBN 3-894-36085-2 .
  • Ecumenical Working Group for Bible Study: Miracles of Jesus. Friedrich Reinhardt, Basel 1987, ISBN 3-7245-0411-X .
  • Peter Godzik : healing in the vicinity of Jesus , in: ders .: adult faith. Insights into life , Rosengarten b. Hamburg: Steinmann 2018, pp. 35–44, ISBN 978-3-927043-70-1 .
  • Hans Weder : Miracles of Jesus and miracle stories. In: Annunciation and research 29/1984, pp 25-49.
  • Reginald Horace Fuller: The miracles of Jesus in exegesis and proclamation. Patmos, Düsseldorf 1967

Single receipts

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Stegemann : Jesus and his time. Stuttgart 2010, p. 309.
  2. ↑ Gerd Theißen, Annette Merz: The historical Jesus , 2011, p. 266; see. Wolfgang Stegemann: Jesus and his time , 2010, p. 298ff.
  3. ↑ Gerd Theißen, Annette Merz: Der historical Jesus , 2011, p. 270.
  4. ↑ Gerd Theißen, Annette Merz: Der historical Jesus , 2011, p. 267
  5. ↑ Gerd Theißen, Annette Merz: Der historical Jesus , 2011, p. 268.
  6. ↑ Martin Hengel, Anna Maria Schwemer: Jesus and Judaism. Mohr / Siebeck, Tübingen 2007, p. 463: Punitive miracles are a "genus popular in the Old Testament, early Judaism and later in Christianity."
  7. ↑ Martin Hengel, Anna Maria Schwemer: Jesus und das Judentum , Tübingen 2007, p. 513.
  8. ↑ Klaus Berger: Commentary on the New Testament. Gütersloh 2011, p. 141.
  9. ↑ a b Martin Karrer: Jesus Christ in the New Testament , Göttingen 1998, p. 247.
  10. ↑ Gerd Theißen, Annette Merz: Der historical Jesus , 2011, p. 63
  11. ↑ Heinz Schmitz: When gods heal. The sanctuary of Asclepius in Epidaurus
  12. ↑ quoted from Gerd Theißen, Annette Merz: Der historical Jesus , 2011, p. 257
  13. Jump up ↑ Morton Smith: Jesus the Magician. List Paul Verlag, 1983, ISBN 347178621X
  14. ↑ John Dominic Crossan: Jesus. A revolutionary life. CH Beck, Munich 1996, ISBN 340639244X , pp. 198-236.
  15. ↑ Gerd Theißen, Annette Merz: Der historical Jesus , 2011, p. 276.
  16. ↑ Geza Vermes: Jesus the Jew. A historian reads the Gospels. (1973) Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 1993, ISBN 3-7887-1373-9 .
  17. ↑ Gerd Theißen, Annette Merz: The historical Jesus , 2011, p. 279; see. Gerd Theißen: Urchristliche Wundergeschichten , Gütersloh 1974, p. 274.
  18. ↑ quoted from Leonard Goppel: Theologie des Neuen Testament , Göttingen 1978, p. 190.
  19. ↑ quoted from Gerd Theißen, Annette Merz: Der historical Jesus , 2011, p. 261