Early Response to Jesus’s Miracles

Early Response to Jesus’s Miracles; John 2:23-25

John 2:23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. 24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, 25 and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

Commentary

This is one of the shorter passages I’ve looked at lately, and it’s refreshing to be able to dive a little deeper into each phrase, particularly since verses 24 and 25 have such depth of content. The language is a little challenging to decipher, but there are a couple of other translations that made these verses a little easier to absorb. The Contemporary English version says, “But Jesus knew what was in their hearts, and he would not let them have power over him. No one had to tell him what people were like. He already knew.” The New Living Translation says, “But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart.” The point of verses 24 and 25 is to say that the people who were believing had not accepted Jesus “with saving faith, but rather they accepted Him as a powerful miracle worker” (Nelson KJV Bible Commentary pg. 1301). He neither needed nor wanted the testimony of people who misunderstood who He was and what His ministry was about. These people were simply entertained by magic tricks. If Jesus had allowed these first audiences to be His apostles or to shape His ministry in any way, it would have effectively given them responsibility for His legacy, which would have grossly undermined His true purpose. He didn’t come to be a show-off; He came to save the world from sin.

While this passage makes it clear that seeing a miracle doesn’t make one a true believer, it certainly doesn’t hurt to see evidence of Jesus’ supernatural quality, and we don’t always see Jesus condemn those who are converted when they experience miracles. Miracles “are to excite admiration, accredit a prophet, or in some way impress God’s glory on the beholder” (The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol 4 pg. 246). As such, I thought this might be an appropriate time to look further into the evidence for Jesus’ life and miracles. I found this article, which explains why anyone who accepts that Jesus lived, should be able to accept that He performed bona fide miracles https://www.magiscenter.com/how-historians-know-that-jesus-really-did-perform-miracles/, and also this one, which supports the same theory https://www.namb.net/apologetics-blog/the-credibility-of-jesus-miracles/. Let me again issue the caveat that I have not fully vetted the entire volume of material on either of these websites, but the articles I shared have merit and are worth reading. If you go down a rabbit hole and start looking at other material from these sources, please pray for discernment.

To call out a specific point, one of the articles mentions the Criterion of Embarrassment, as evidence for the historicity of an account. In terms of miracles in general, the Bible acknowledges in many passages throughout the Old and New Testaments that God’s divine hand is not the only agent of miracles. There are miracles attributed to dark forces, as well. “During the life of Moses the magicians were able to duplicate some of his miracles. Deuteronomy 13:1-2 warns against the miracles of false prophets, even when their prophecies prove true. The NT as well teaches the possibility and the actuality of miracles by evil powers. Matthew 24:24 reads, ‘For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect’” (The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol 4 pg. 243). To attribute miracle-working power to beings other than God is not apologetically appealing, but it does speak to the real existence of miracles that defy natural law, events which are effected by agencies unknown to science.

See the next post here https://onthepath.online/2019/06/14/nicodemus-interviews-jesus/

Scripture References

Jn 2:13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Jn 2:11 This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
Ac 1:24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen
Ac 15:8 And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;
Mt 9:4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?
Jn 1:42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
Jn 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”
Jn 6:61 But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble?
Jn 6:64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.
Jn 13:11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”