Do you believe that Jesus worked miracles when He was on Earth? The New Testament (NT) has many reports of events that cannot be explained by natural processes. Were they real? One idea is that the claims of miracles were myths that were added later by Jesus’ followers and even more likely by later generations. Examining timelines, such as I am doing, will not prove that Jesus’ miracles were authentic. No scientific tests can be applied to do that either. These were reported as historical events and must be examined using historical analysis techniques. Science can attest that they were not the results of naturalistic processes or that the timing of things like the Sea of Galilee calming are far to coincidental, but science cannot speak to whether or not God acted by supernatural means.
Painting is: Healing the Paralytic at Bethesda. By Palma il Giovane, 1592 (Wikipedia)
This timeline over the first 250 years of the first millennium shows several pieces that relate to Jesus’ miracles. The first set come from Christian sources, including the New Testament. The second set show references to Jesus’ miracles by non-Christians. The next set show a set of other people from this time period that are reported to have been miracle workers. They help to assess if Jesus was like them or perhaps his story was influenced by the stories of their lives.
We all bring a degree of skepticism when miracles are claimed, modern or ancient. What we can do is see 1) if there are other attestations of miracles by Jesus and 2) compare Jesus to other ancient claims of miracle workers. Both questions are addressed in this timeline:
What do ancient sources claim about Jesus and miracles? First, it is important to remember that the Gospels are four separate documents that all attest that Jesus performed miracles. These are the earliest documents describing Jesus’ actions. All others are later. We should look further at the honesty and trustworthiness of these papers. Other timelines help address the timing of the NT and its authorship.
The next generations of Christians also reported that Jesus worked miracles. One of the earliest recorded is the testimony of Quadratus of Athens. He presented his testimony to the Roman emperor, Hadrian. He would not have presented statements that he did not feel were trustworthy. Notice that he is sure that there were people who were healed that were still around for a long time. He claimed that the authenticity of the healing miracles could be verified.
Such Christians presenting defenses of their faith, apologies, often pointed to the miracles. Another early example was Justin Martyr. Writing in 155 to 157AD, he reported:
“And that it was predicted that our Christ should heal all diseases and raise the dead, hear what was said. There are these words: “At His coming the lame shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the stammerer shall be clear speaking: the blind shall see, and the lepers shall be cleansed; and the dead shall rise, and walk about.” And that He did those things, you can learn from the Acts of Pontius Pilate.”
Unfortunately, the “Acts of Pontius Pilate” have not survived. We don’t know what the official records said, but Justin was raised in Samaria and thus in the region where Jesus lived. He was close both in time and space to Jesus’ life.
It is also important that reports of Jesus’ healings and other miracles aren’t just from Christian sources. The earliest example was from 93-94 AD. Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian reported that Jesus was a “doer of incredible deeds (or ‘a doer of magical deeds’). Many concluded that this statement was added by some later Christian. TC Schmidt (2025) examined critically Josephus’s “Testimonium Flavianum” and shows that it should be considered authentic. That is not to say that Josephus was whole-heartedly affirming the miracles of Jesus, but apparently, he was fully aware that Jesus was reported to have worked miracles. The Greek words that he used to describe them are not what a Christian would probably have chosen. If Josephus chose to characterize the miracles as “magical deeds”, that is hardly something that a believer would have said. In fact, Josephus used the same words for the Pharoah’s sorcerers in Moses’ day. Other Greek word options were available that a Christian would have been more likely to have used, if he changed or added to Josephus’ words. Perhaps he thought Jesus did his miracles by sorcery. Perhaps, he just didn’t really know what to make of the man from Nazareth.
Consider, if there were ancient reports of miracles performed by Jesus, how would you expect an ancient opponent of Christianity to refer to them. They would not have enthusiastically praised them. They could have denied that any such event occurred. It may have been that they recognized that there were just too many witnesses or other convincing reasons to believe that something happened. In that case, they would have needed to give some sort of other explanation.
Some who were clear opponents of Christianity described him as a sorcerer. One example was the Greek philosopher, Celsus. He was a virulent critic of Christianity and his method of dealing with the claims of miracles was to denounce them as sorcery. Similarly, the Jewish religious leaders following the time of Christ rejected Him. Jesus’ impact was powerful and they had to respond. The Babylonian Talmud records one common response. It is noteworthy that they did not deny that Jesus worked miracles, but attributed them to sorcery.
Skeptics today propose a narrative where Jesus was just one of many charlatans deceiving the people into believing that they could work miracles, often fleecing the people of their money. The book of Acts records examples, such as Simon the Sorcerer in Samaria (Acts 8:9-24) and Elymas the sorcerer in Cyprus (Acts 13:6-11). Acts tells us that they were frauds, though they amazed people.
One version of a skeptical narrative holds that the stories of Jesus were built on tales of a Greek named Apollonius of Tyana. First, little is really known about him. Second, given that all of the reports that we have were written long after Jesus, it is easier to say that Jesus influenced the stories of Apollonius than the other way around. Thirdly, perhaps the only miracle that Wikipedia reports is a claim of some sort of ESP. This hardly puts him in the same class as Jesus.
Shown on the timeline are three more individuals from the first and second centuries that have been called miracle workers: Hanina B. Dosa, Honi the Circle Drawer, and Eleazar. Notice that they come after Jesus’ crucifixion. There are claims that they worked miracles and/or exorcisms, but they are certainly on a small scale compared to those of Jesus.
It is worth thinking about the miracles that the NT claims that Jesus worked. The NT often calls the miracles represented signs. They were signs that Jesus really was who He claimed to be: God. His miracles have been categorized into four types: healing, exorcisms, nature, and resurrection. They demonstrated His authority over sickness, spiritual forces, His creation and over death. Surely, if God came in the flesh, He would have had such authority.
What I see is
- Miracles consistent with the claim that Jesus was God in the flesh
- Jesus’ miracles have multiple attestation from early sources: the writers of the NT, Josephus and even his opponents
- There were others in history who were called miracle workers, but there is no reason to say that the stories of Jesus were influenced by such people or that Jesus was another such person.
People defending a naturalistic view typically start with the assumption that Jesus’ miracles didn’t happen, but that is just begging the question. What we have is accounts from witnesses and other early sources. The real test of Jesus miracles is the resurrection. Here we have sources from those who put their lives on the line based on its reality. This is the ultimate test of Christianity.
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