Miracles in the Gospels (2)

Miraculous healings no longer present any particular difficulty. Natural miracles, however, belong to a different category. If we believe that Christ truly possessed the power of God, then there is nothing surprising about His miracles bearing witness to creative power. If we do not believe that the power of God was manifested in Him, we are forced to resort to explanations in which the eyewitnesses were hallucinating, were victims of fraud, or that the text of the accounts was altered through repeated transmission.

One such miraculous story is the turning of water into wine. One writer attempts to convince us that the water remained water all along, and Jesus only convinced the guests that wine had been served. This shows a misunderstanding of the text.

In the New Testament, miracles are referred to more as signs. The aim is not to dazzle witnesses with some form of magic; much more important than the miracles themselves is what they signify and express. The Lord did not highly value the faith that was solely a result of seeing miracles. He desired for people to grasp the true meaning of the miracles. These miracles were signs of the messianic age, which had already been prophesied by the Old Testament prophets. The miracles were mighty divine acts that signified that God's power had entered human history. The same power that overcame diseases was the one capable of defeating all forms of sin. The visible operation of His healing power was a clear sign of His forgiving power. Thus, the miraculous healings were, in a sense, illustrations of the soul's liberation from sin.

The natural miracles were also signs of the messianic era: this period of history was characterized by an extraordinary fertility. This was symbolized by the wine and the multiplication of bread. The wedding feast itself was a symbol of the messianic age, the coming of God's kingdom. The new order proclaimed by the Lord was superior to the Old Testament era. The miracle of multiplying bread and fish was a work of supernatural power. If we were to try to understand it rationally, we would strip it of its most essential features. The multiplication of bread was a symbol of the messianic age, expressing the abundance of nourishment that Christ, the true bread of God, gives to people.

The greatest teaching we can draw from the miraculous accounts in the Bible is this: let us have faith in God. The miracles were recorded to speak of the divine power that entered human history, as signs. We would not be able to grasp their true essence if we did not recognize in them the appearance of God in history, which reached its climax in the earthly manifestation of Christ. The miracles are illustrative examples, dramatized parables of God's kingdom. They are powerful divine calls to believe in God.

F. F. Bruce "Az Újszövetség megbízhatósága, Evangéliumi kiadó, Budapest, 1993