I write first of all as a follower of Christ and, then, as a pastor called to teach the Word of God. So please understand as I write, I presuppose that the Word of God is true and it is God’s authoritative Word for all mankind.
This is not only my presupposition, but this is also the testimony of the Holy Bible itself. The miracles in the Holy Scriptures (the Bible) confirm or authenticate that the Bible is the Word of God and that the Lord Jesus is the only Saviour for all mankind.
The burden of proof is not on me to prove to you that the miracles in the New Testament really happened. That they really and historically occurred is abundantly clear from all the witness accounts in the Holy Bible, not to mention secular sources such as the complete works of Josephus, an early Jewish historian, born in AD. 37. The burden of proof therefore is upon those who deny the authenticity of these miracles to prove that they did not happen.
Seeing that the topic is so broad I will limit my scope in this paper to this thesis: Through miracles, the Lord God confirms or authenticates His holy and authoritative Word. My intent is not to get into the definition of a miracle. We will only get bogged down by philosophical baggage and unnecessary disputes. I want to stick to the language of Scripture. What we call a miracle today is called in the Holy Bible -- signs, wonders or the mighty works of God.
The New Testament Miracles: An Eye-Witness Account
The signs and wonders in the New Testament are of two types --- 1) those done directly by the Lord Jesus Himself while He was on earth (the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), 2) those done by the resurrected and living Lord Jesus from heaven through His apostles (The Book of Acts).
On the basis of eye-witness testimony, the Lord Jesus gives sight to blind Bartimaeus (John 10:46ff), raises Lazarus from the dead (John 11), heals Peter’s mother-in-law from a fever (Mark 1:29ff), casts out demons from a demoniac whose name was Legion (Mark 5:1ff), multiplies five loaves of bread and two small fish to feed five thousand men, plus women and children on the hillside (John 6:1ff), stills the storm on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35ff) and numerous others. I want to encourage you to read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and the Book of Acts. Read it for yourself.
On one occasion, John the Baptist who was in prison, heard about the works of Christ and sent two of his own disciples to ask Jesus, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” What did Jesus answer? He answered, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: the blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” (Matthew 11:1-6).
All the signs and wonders in the New Testament must be understood and interpreted in the light of Christ’s own resurrection from the dead. His resurrection from the dead confirms everything He said about Himself and what He did and what He continued to do through His apostles after He ascended into heaven.
He really died. He really was buried. He really arose on the third day. The eye-witnesses are many. After He arose from the dead, He was seen by Peter, then by the twelve and then after that He was seen by over five hundred brothers at once (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20; 1 Corinthians 15:3-7). The apostle Paul made it clear to King Agrippa that “this thing was not done in a corner” (Acts 26:26). Christ’s resurrection from the dead was not hidden, but public. There were numerous witnesses and it was heard all around the world – without the modern communications system and technology we have today!
But this leads us to consider a further question: why the eyewitness accounts? What is the purpose of all these miracles and ultimately Christ’s own resurrection from the dead?
The Difference Between the Lord Jesus and the Gurus
First of all, the signs and wonders the Lord Jesus performed confirm His own claims about Himself: He is the divine Son of God. This is the key difference between Christ’s claim about Himself and what the Sikh gurus claim about themselves.
For example, in the Gospel of Mark chapter 2, imagine the alarm of the religious leaders when they heard Jesus say to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” The religious leaders began reasoning in their hearts, “why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ The Lord Jesus knew what they were thinking, and He asked them, “Why do you reason these things in your heart? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – He said to the paralytic, “I say to you arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” We then read that he immediately arose, took up his bed, and went out in the presence of them all. And all were amazed (2:1-12)!
The Lord Jesus confirms before them all, that He is the true and living God. God can forgive sins. Jesus forgives sins. And His miracle proves to us that He has the authority to forgive sins.
My Sikh friends tell me that their gurus do not claim to be divine. They were only human. Therefore, they do not have the authority to forgive sins. We hear Guru Nanak’s admission of his own sin and his need for the Savior’s mercy: “My sins are innumerable as the water with which the seas and oceans are filled. Show mercy and extend a little pity and float me, a sinking stone” (Guru Granth Sahib 156).
Christ is the answer. He is the divine Saviour!
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead proves that He alone forgives sins and therefore, restores us sinners into a right relationship with God. All His miracles point to the Lord Jesus’ work of restoration and confirm it. He is the One who forgives sins and heals diseases (Psalm 103:2-3). He loves sinners. He died for them, being crucified on the cross. That He raised Himself on the third day proves that He conquered sin, death and hell in the place of those who trust on Him as their Saviour.
All His miracles confirm therefore that He is the true and living God. Because He is God, He also forgives my sins, gives me new eyes, and, though my body dies, He will raise my body from the dead. What hope!! What assurance!!
No Justified Reason for Skepticism
Are you skeptical of the claims of the Lord Jesus and His works? This is nothing new. The skeptics were already there in the days of Jesus.
Some were calling His miracles fancy stories and “cunningly devised myths.” Peter addresses this skepticism saying, “We did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty….” (2 Peter 1:16).
Even Jesus’ own disciple Thomas at first doubted that He arose again from the dead. When Jesus’ other disciples told Thomas, “we have seen the Lord!”, he doubted it. He said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” Eight days later Jesus stood before Thomas. Jesus said to him, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing” (John 20:24-29).
The lack of evidence is not the problem. The evidence is abundant. But the unwillingness to accept the evidence – that is the real problem. It’s a moral problem, not an intellectual problem.
This reminds me of the story or parable of the dead man. There was a man who said he was dead. His friends kept on saying to him, “You’re not dead; you’re living.” But he denied it. Finally, one of his friends said to him, ‘You need to see the psychiatrist. Maybe he can convince you otherwise.” He went to the psychiatrist. After some discussion, the psychiatrist asked him, “Do dead men bleed?” The man who claimed to be dead said, “No.” The psychiatrist then said, “Okay, I will do a very simple test on you. I will prick the end of your finger. If you bleed then you have the evidence that you are living. If you don’t bleed, then you know you are dead. Do you agree to this test?” The dead man answered, “Yes, okay.” The psychiatrist then pricked the tip of the man’s finger and it began to bleed and he said, “Sir, you are living. Do you see the evidence?” Then the man who claimed to be dead responded, “Oh, I guess dead men do bleed!” He was unwilling to accept the evidence.
Concerning the signs and wonders in the New Testament – the Bible says that these are recorded so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). The Lord Jesus is the “Sat Naam.”
