Читать книгу Reflections on Biblical Themes by an Octogenarian - Reuben J. Swanson - Страница 9

¶ Signs and wonder stories constitute a very large proportion of the tradition preserved by the early Christian community about the ministry of Jesus. These stories fall into a number of categories that include:

l) the healing of physical ailments,

2) exorcisms,

3) the control of natural phenomena,

4) raising the dead, and

5) occasions when numerous healings and exorcisms are lumped together into general accounts.

There are eighteen of these stories in the gospel of Mark with six general references, nineteen in the gospel of Matthew with ten general references, and twenty in the gospel of Luke with ten general references. Eleven of these stories are found in all three gospels. To set our discussion in perspective, the signs and wonder stories in Mark constitute three thousand four words of his total of eleven thousand forty-seven words, approximately twenty-seven per cent of the total; the stories in Matthew constitute two thousand three hundred twenty-three words of his total of eighteen thousand two hundred thirty-nine words, approximately thirteen per cent of his total; and in Luke a total of two thousand six hundred eighty-one words of his total of nineteen thousand three hundred forty-six words, approximately fourteen per cent. The word count is based upon the text of Codex Vaticanus

It is to be noted that the signs and wonder stories form a very large portion of the gospels, especially of the gospel of Mark since almost one-third of this gospel consists of signs and wonder narratives. It seems proper at this point to identify the material that is used as the basis for this analysis, so that there may be no question in the mind of the reader as to the inclusiveness or completeness of the analysis. Therefore the signs and wonder stories are named and listed according to category for future reference in the essay.

First and most numerous are the healings of physical ailments. The three gospels have the following in common:

(1) the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever (Mark 1.29–31; Matthew 8.14–15; Luke 4.38–39),

(2) the cleansing of a leper (Mark 1.40–45; Matthew 8.1–4; Luke 5.12–15),

(3) the healing of a paralyzed man (Mark 2.1–12; Matthew 9.1–8; Luke 5.17–26),

(4) the restoring of a withered hand (Mark 3.1–6; Matthew 12.9–14; Luke 6.6–11),

(5) the healing of a woman with a hemorrhage (Mark 5.24b–34; Matthew 9.20–22; Luke 8.42b–48),

(6) and the restoring of sight to Bartimaeus (Mark 10.46–52; Matthew 20.29–34; Luke 18.35–43).

Two additional healings are reported by Mark,

(7) the healing of a deaf man with a speech impediment (Mark 7.31–37) and

(8) and the restoring of sight to a blind man at Bethsaida (Mark 8.22–26).

Matthew and Luke add the account of

(9) the healing of the Roman centurion’s servant or slave (Matthew 8.5–13; Luke 7.1–10).

In addition, Matthew has

(10) the restoring of sight to two blind men (Matthew 9.27–31).

Luke adds

(11) the healing of a woman with an infirmity (Luke 13.10–17),

(12) the healing of a man with dropsy (Luke 14.1–6),

(13) the cleansing of ten lepers (Luke 17.11–19); and

(14) the restoring of the ear of the slave of the high priest (Luke 22.49–51).

A summary indicates that Mark and Matthew each have eight healings, whereas Luke reports eleven.

The next most numerous are the exorcisms. Two are reported in all three gospels:

(15) the demon-possessed Legion (Mark 5.1–20; Matthew 8.28–34; Luke 8.26–39) and

(16) the epileptic (Mark 9.14–29; Matthew 17.14–21; Luke 9.37–43a).

Mark and Matthew report

(17) the exorcism of the daughter of the Syrophoenician or the Canaanite woman (Mark 7.24–30; Matthew 15.21–28)

Mark and Luke report

(18) the exorcism of an unclean spirit in a synagogue at Capernaum (Mark 1.23–28; Luke 4.33–37).

Matthew and Luke report

(19) the casting out of a demon from a man that was dumb (Matthew adds that he was also blind) (Matthew 12.22; Luke 11.14).

Matthew alone reports

(20) the exorcism of a dumb demoniac (Matthew 9.32–34).

There are four exorcism stories in Mark, five in Matthew, and four in Luke.

The nature signs and wonder stories cover a variety of events and include two narratives in all three gospels:

(21) the wind and the sea obey Jesus (Mark 4.35–41; Matthew 8.18–27; Luke 8.22–25) and

(22) the feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6.30–44; Matthew 14.13–21; Luke 9.10–17).

Mark and Matthew report

(23) Jesus’ walking on water (Mark 6.45–52; Matthew 14.22–33),

(24) the feeding of the four thousand (Mark 8.1–10; Matthew 15.32–39), and

(25) the cursing of the fig tree (Mark 11.12–14, 20–26; Matthew 21.18–22).

Luke alone tells of

(26) the great catch of fish (Luke 5.4–7).

There are five nature signs and wonder stories in Mark, five in Matthew, and three in Luke.

There is only one story of the raising of the dead in the three gospels, that is,

(27) the raising of Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5.21–24a, 35–43; Matthew 9.18–19, 23–26; Luke 8.40–42a, 49–56).

Luke alone has the additional account of

(28) the raising of the son of the widow at Nain (Luke 7.11–17).

In addition, there are the general references in the three gospels that tell of multiple healings and exorcisms without specific detail:

(29) Mark 1.32–34, Matthew 8.16–17, Luke 4.40–41 and

(30) Mark 3.7–12, Matthew 12.15–21, Luke 6.17–19.

There are three additional references to such general healings in Mark and Matthew:

(31) Mark 1.39, Matthew 4.23,

(32) Mark 6.5, Matthew 13.58, and

(33) Mark 6.53–56, Matthew 14.34–36.

Matthew and Luke refer to

(34) numerous healings and also to the raising of the dead in the report Jesus sends with the messengers of the Baptist (Matthew 11.5; Luke 7.22).

Matthew has additional general references at

(35) 9.35,

(36) 14.14, and

(37) 15.29–31.

Luke includes such references at

(38) 5.15,

(39) 7.21,

(40) 8.2,

(41) 9.11, and

(42) 13.32.

The disciples also accomplished

(43) healings and exorcisms as reported in Mark 6.7, 16;Matthew 10.1, 8, and Luke 9,1, 6; and again by Luke

(44) for the mission of the seventy (Luke 10.17).

The Absence of Signs and Wonders in the Jerusalem Ministry

It should be noted that all of these references, with the exception of the cursing of the fig tree (Mark 11.12–14, 20–26; Matthew 21.18–22) and the healing of the ear of the servant of the high priest (Luke 22.49–51), occur in the ministry of Jesus prior to his arrival in Jerusalem. The question is certainly in order: Why the absence of signs and wonders for this period of Jesus’ ministry? Since the signs and wonders form such a large portion of his ministry in Galilee and for his journey to Jerusalem and since the gospels report the phenomenal impression these signs and wonders made upon the people, it is strange that Jesus did not use this medium to create a more receptive attitude to himself and for his message in Jerusalem. Perhaps the sign of the raising of Lazarus in John’s Gospel provides the answer for the question, a sign that will be discussed elsewhere in this essay.

The Problem of the Use of the Vernacular “Miracle”

The first problem encountered in our discussion of the signs and wonders is the popular attitude towards and the understanding of this material in our gospels. In our current vocabulary these narratives are most often called “miracle” stories with all the innuendoes and implications that this word carries for popular religion. But the word “miracle” as such is never used in the gospels for the deeds of Jesus. They are referred to as signs, wonders, and mighty works. They are evidences, as in the Old Testament, of the presence and of the activity of God in the world that he has created. The word “miracle” is not appropriate as a reference to or for an understanding of these events and experiences, since it carries overtones and meanings that are improper when applied to the deeds of Jesus. For example, Webster’s Unabridged International Dictionary defines the word as follows: “An event or effect in the physical world beyond or out of the ordinary course of things, deviating from the known laws of nature, or transcending our knowledge of these laws; an extraordinary, anomalous, or abnormal event brought about by superhuman agency as a manifestation of its power, or for the purpose of revealing or manifesting spiritual force.” Some dictionary definitions add to this explanation that a miracle is a suspension of or an interruption of the natural laws.

Unfortunately, the meaning of deviation from or transcendence of the laws of nature has been the dominant theme in popular religious explanations of the signs and wonder stories in our gospels. Thus God is viewed as acting arbitrarily, impulsively, capriciously, and whimsically. He has the authority and the power to do whatever he wills whenever the spirit moves him. He can act in behalf of his clients or withhold his power arbitrarily and capriciously. But this is to reduce God to the level of human impulse and character. God is no longer the Creator God, Lord of heaven and earth, holy, righteous, just, and loving in all that he does. Only one leper, or ten in Luke’s singular account, were cleansed of their leprosy; yet there must have been many, many lepers in Jesus’ time left to the ravages of this disease. Why did not God cleanse all the lepers and destroy this scourge of mankind if he had the power to accomplish this since he is the loving God? Jesus must have encountered death among his friends and associates on numerous occasions, but there are only two accounts in our three gospels of the raising of the dead, the twelve year old daughter of Jairus and the young man at Nain, again a story reported only in Luke’s gospel.

To refer to these events as miracles with the implication that God interrupted or defied the laws of nature in these instances is to raise the question of the goodness of God. What meaning or power can these stories have for us today as the gospel of God if they only recall that once upon a time God acted arbitrarily in behalf of a few individuals and ignored the great majority of those persons whom he had created? Of what value are these stories to us, if they become the basis for our own image of God, a God who acts in this same selective and exclusive fashion today? It is a parody to interpret the signs and wonder stories of the gospels as miracles, that is, as acts of God in which he deviates from the laws of nature and arbitrarily ignores them in an impulsive and whimsical fashion.

The Biblical Image of God

God is the Creator God who has brought into being the universe and all that is within it. He has fashioned and made it according to his will, and the laws of nature that govern and regulate its functions are expressions of that will. God is true. He is true to himself. He is faithful and trustworthy in all that he does. That means he never acts capriciously, impulsively, or arbitrarily. There is meaning and purpose for all his deeds and all his acts work together toward the realization of his eternal and immutable purpose. We can affirm with the Apostle Paul that “the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8.21). No part of that creation is arbitrarily excluded from the redemptive purpose and intention of God.

The Intention and Purpose of the Signs and Wonder Stories