The Miracles Of Jesus
CHAPTER SIX
The Miracles Of Jesus
It was the habit of Jesus to
talk in parables, a way of talking which was predicted in the previous
scriptures to be a characteristic of his speech. Jesus showed miracles to his
people just like other Prophets of God showed miracles to their people.
The Holy Qur'an tells us
some of the miracles performed by Jesus. It says that Allah had sent Jesus as a
Messenger to the Children of Israel with a message, "I come to you with a
Sign from your Lord, which is, that I will fashion out for you a creation out
of clay after the manner of a bird, then I will breathe into it a new spirit
and it will become a soaring being by the command of Allah; and I will heal the
night blind and the leprous, and I will give life to the dead, by the command
of Allah."
This does not mean that
Jesus literally created some birds and gave life to some people who were dead,
because such a belief is totally opposed to Qur'anic teachings. The Holy Qur'an
tells us categorically that no one except God Almighty can create things from
nothing and is capable of reviving people from the dead. These verses therefore
meant that Jesus would train his followers in such a way that they would
undergo a complete transformation in their lives. The people who would believe
in him would be spiritually revived. Earthly people would be transformed to
heavenly people and would soar high in the spiritual sky like birds.
According to Islamic
teachings miracles are extraordinary events in the sense that no human being,
without divine help, can produce them but they are not against the laws of
nature. It is also said that Jesus healed some sick, blind and deaf people and
some lepers by the touch of his hands. It may have been so in some cases, but
he certainly restored the sight of the people who were spiritually blind, gave
hearing to those who were spiritually deaf, and healed those who were
spiritually sick.
The Bible, too, mentions
some miracles. It is said that on one occasion there were five thousand people
with Jesus and there was very little food for them to eat. Jesus fed them on
five loaves and two fish.
On another occasion there
were four thousand people. "Jesus asked his disciples,
'How much bread have you'?
'Seven loaves and a few small fish,' they answered.
So Jesus ordered the crowd
to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave
thanks to God, broke them, and gave them to the disciples; and the disciples
gave them to the people. They all ate and had enough. Then the disciples took
up seven baskets full of pieces left over. The number of men who ate was four
thousand, not counting the women and children."
The number seems to be
exaggerated because it seems very strange that after witnessing a miracle of
such a nature, people, who were present there, did not accept him and become
his disciples.
Miracles of no less wonder
were bestowed upon earlier Prophets of Israel, and even on persons of lower
spiritual status.
For example Samson is
described in the Bible to have performed impossible deeds under divine
inspiration. It is related that when Philistines attacked the town of Lehi, The
men of Judah asked them, 'Why are you attacking us'? They answered, 'We came to
take Samson prisoner and to treat him as he treated us'. So three thousand men
of Judah went to the cave in the cliff at Etam and said to Samson, 'Don't you
know that the Philistines are our rulers? What have you done to us'? He
answered, 'I did to them just what they did to me'?
They said, 'We have come
here to tie you up, so that we can hand you over to them'. Samson said, 'Give
me your word that you won't kill me yourselves'. 'All right', they said, 'we
are only going to tie you up and hand you over to them. We won't kill you'. So
they tied him up with two new ropes and brought him back from the cave.
When he got to Lehi, the
Philistines came running towards him, shouting at him. Suddenly the power of
the Lord made him strong and he broke the ropes round his arms and hands as if
they were burnt threads. Then he found the jaw-bone of a donkey that had recently
died. He bent down and picked it up and killed a thousand men with it. So
Samson sang
'With the Jaw-bone of a
donkey
I killed a thousand men;
With the jaw-bone of a
donkey
I piled them up in
piles'."
Again it is related that Samson became very thirsty,
so he called to the Lord and said, "You gave me this great victory; am I
now going to die of thirst and be captured by these heathen Philistines? Then
God opened a hollow place in the ground there at Lehi, and water came out of
it. Samson drank it and began to feel much better". (33)
There
are numerous stories in the Bible telling us the miracles performed by different people. How far they can be taken as true happenings, one cannot say.
Christians today emphasise that Jesus being born
without the agency of a father is a great miracle and he should be regarded as
Divine. No doubt it was a great miracle but the Bible mentions even greater
miracles. For example it is related, “For this Melchizedek, the king of Salem,
priest of the Most High God. He is without father, without mother, without
descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the
son of God he continues a priest for ever".
However unbelievable this account appears,
Christians today have no answer to the criticism that if Jesus being born
without a father is regarded as God, why is the king of Salem, who was born without
father and mother, not regarded as a higher God. The fact is that Jesus did not
claim to be God or the son of God, instead he claimed to be a true Messenger of
God, a Prophet to the Israelites.
QUESTIONS
- One of the miracles described in the Holy Qur'an is that Jesus
created some birds. How would you explain this?
- A Christian says to you, "Jesus was born without the agency of a father, so he should be regarded as God". What arguments would you put forward to say that he cannot be regarded as God?