Jesus' Miracles not Magic Tricks
Apr 7, 2024 21:50:32 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on Apr 7, 2024 21:50:32 GMT -5
Jesus' Miracles not Magic Tricks
This fellow on YouTube, who proposes that all of Jesus' miracles were merely cheap magician's tricks, wants us to imagine Jesus asking the Apostle Peter to pick a card, any card, just as magicians do.
Now, in order to illustrate just how inappropriate such a comparison is, imagine Jesus asking the Apostle Peter the same thing concerning the miracles that he intended to perform:
Moreover, Jesus's enemies, who unlike this smirking, giggling bozo, personally witnessed Jesus' miracles, and yet never considered them to have been merely a magician's trick. Instead, they considered them genuine, albeit, made possible with the help of the devil.
Now, in order to illustrate just how inappropriate such a comparison is, imagine Jesus asking the Apostle Peter the same thing concerning the miracles that he intended to perform:
Pick a corpse. Any corpse! in relation to his resurrection of the widow's son who was on his way to be entombed and Lazarus who had already been entombed. Both had been confirmed dead prior to Jesus's arrival.
The healing of the Centurion's daughter from a distance.
Go ahead Peter! Pick any Centurion who has a sick daughter!
Pick a leaper? Any leaper Peter.
Pick a blind person? Any blind person?
Pick an empty food basket. Any empty food basket.
Pick a cripple. Any cripple.
Pick a water jug. Any jug of water?
Crucify me on a cross. Any cross.
Stab me with a spear. Any spear!
Place me in a sealed tomb. Any sealed tomb!
Obviously these could not have been prearranged magician's tricks.
The healing of the Centurion's daughter from a distance.
Go ahead Peter! Pick any Centurion who has a sick daughter!
Pick a leaper? Any leaper Peter.
Pick a blind person? Any blind person?
Pick an empty food basket. Any empty food basket.
Pick a cripple. Any cripple.
Pick a water jug. Any jug of water?
Crucify me on a cross. Any cross.
Stab me with a spear. Any spear!
Place me in a sealed tomb. Any sealed tomb!
Obviously these could not have been prearranged magician's tricks.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(24) Beelzebub the prince of the devils.--(See Notes on Matthew 9:34; Matthew 10:25.) The words appear to have been whispered by the Pharisees among the people. They were not addressed to Jesus.
The charge is significant as showing that the Pharisees admitted the reality of the work of healing which they had witnessed, and were driven to explain it by assuming demoniacal agency
Furthermore, if indeed they were, then why aren't magicians resurrecting the dead? After all, if Jesus could do it because it was a mere trick, then they should be able to do so as well.
Why aren't they letting themselves be crucified, stabbed with a spear, placed in a tomb so they can do the Jesus resurrection trick? Or why are they not feeding multitudes from a few baskets? That is without resorting to camera tricks since Jesus had no benefit of camera tricks. Very obviously because they can't. Why not? Because doing such things requires much more than a trick. It requires the power of God and they have no such power at their disposal.
Even Jesus himself recognized this and prayed before resurrecting Lazarus.
Why aren't they letting themselves be crucified, stabbed with a spear, placed in a tomb so they can do the Jesus resurrection trick? Or why are they not feeding multitudes from a few baskets? That is without resorting to camera tricks since Jesus had no benefit of camera tricks. Very obviously because they can't. Why not? Because doing such things requires much more than a trick. It requires the power of God and they have no such power at their disposal.
Even Jesus himself recognized this and prayed before resurrecting Lazarus.
John 11:38-44
1 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
1 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”