External Evidence of Jesus’ Miracles

by Terry Wane Benton

Do secular and Jewish writings mention or explain the miracles and powers of Jesus?

Secular and Jewish sources from antiquity do not mention or explain Jesus' miracles in a manner that supports them. Still, they do provide external acknowledgment that he had a reputation as a miracle worker. These writings, however, often attribute the miraculous deeds to sorcery, magic, or deception rather than divine power.

Early Jewish writings

The Babylonian Talmud is a collection of Jewish oral law and commentaries compiled several centuries after Jesus's life, and it refers to "Yeshu" (Jesus). These references reveal a first-century Jewish accusation that Jesus's acts were not divine miracles but sorcery.

Attribution to sorcery:

A passage in Babylonian Sanhedrin 43a states that Jesus "practiced sorcery, incited and led Israel astray". By interpreting his powers as sorcery, the text acknowledges that something supernatural was happening, but frames it as illegitimate and forbidden by Jewish law.

Healing in Jesus' name:

Another section of the Talmud, Abodah Zarah, describes a conversation in which a disciple of Jesus, named Jacob, heals a snakebite victim in Jesus' name. While acknowledging the healing ability, the story frames this as an act of sorcery and a dangerous temptation, as one rabbi prefers his nephew die rather than be healed by such means.

Late and polemical context:

These Talmudic accounts, written hundreds of years after the time of Jesus, reflect the ongoing Jewish-Christian conflict. They did not attempt to deny Jesus' reputation as a miracle-worker, but instead offered a polemical explanation for it.

Medieval Jewish writings

Toledot Yeshu:

This polemical Jewish text, dating to the Middle Ages, also accepts that Jesus performed miraculous deeds. It attributes his powers to having stolen the "ineffable name" of God from the Jerusalem Temple, which he used for magic. The text recounts many of the gospel miracles, but subverts them to be the work of a sorcerer.

Secular writings

First- and second-century Roman historians focused on Jesus' crucifixion and his followers, rather than his miracles. However, later pagan critics of Christianity acknowledged and attempted to explain the miracles.

Celsus (c. 178 CE):

The Roman philosopher Celsus, in his work "The True Word," acknowledged that Jesus performed miracles but attributed them to magic that he learned during his time in Egypt. Celsus's work is not extant, but is known through the writings of the Christian theologian Origen, who refuted it.

Julian the Apostate (4th century CE):

The Roman Emperor Julian, a staunch opponent of Christianity, disparaged Jesus by calling him an unremarkable figure, "unless anyone thinks it a very great work to heal the lame and the blind and to cast out demons". This remark unintentionally provides independent pagan confirmation that healing miracles were central to Jesus's reputation and were known to non-Christians.

Summary

In summary, while secular and Jewish sources do not support or explain Jesus' miracles in the Christian theological sense, they provide external and hostile evidence that:

• Jesus was widely reputed to be a miracle-worker.
• This reputation was known outside of Christian circles.
• The miracles were controversial and were often attributed to illegitimate power, such as sorcery or magic. [AI Google]

What we learn from this is that it is not just the gospel writers who talk about the unusual power of Jesus. The gospel writers did not make up these miraculous incidents out of thin air. Peter would not have been credible in Acts 2:22 if Jesus never really worked miracles. He told the Jews, “as you yourselves also know.” If they had known Peter was lying about this, there would have been zero converts that day, and the Church of Christ never could have gotten off the ground. The miracle stories were known to be credible from the start by friend and foe. John said the miracles were to give you reason to believe Jesus really is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that by believing you may have life in His name (John 20:30,31).

Enemies would not need to explain his miracles if it were not historically true that Jesus did unusual miracles of healing. The fairytale belief would be in believing Jesus did nothing and that all were deceived about it, all except the modern skeptic who thinks he can wave his naturalistic wand and all history about Jesus and His miracles goes away because he doesn’t believe it.