Magic, Pretended Miracles, and Remarkable Natural Phenomena

by Anonymous

Were we to select one miracle as demonstrative that Jesus was sent by the Father, and of the acceptance of his work; and, still further, of the futility of every objection that can be raised against it; it should be that of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. “See,” says Saurin, “how many extravagant suppositions must be advanced if the resurrection of our Saviour be denied. It must be supposed that guards, who had been particularly cautioned by their officers, sat down to sleep; and that, nevertheless, they deserved credit when the body of Jesus was stolen. It must be supposed that men who had been imposed on in the most odious and cruel manner in the world, hazarded their dearest enjoyments for the glory of an impostor. It must be supposed that ignorant and illiterate men, who had neither reputation, fortune, nor eloquence, possessed the art of fascinating the eyes of all the church. It must be supposed either that five hundred persons were all deprived of their senses at a time, or that they were all deceived in the plainest matters of fact; or, that this multitude of false witnesses had found out the secret of never contradicting themselves or one another, and of being always uniform in their testimony. It must be supposed that the most expert courts of judicature could not find out a shadow of a contradiction in a palpable imposture. It must be supposed that the apostles, sensible men in other cases, chose precisely those places and those times which were most unfavourable to their views. It must be supposed that millions madly suffered imprisonments, tortures, and crucifixion, to spread an illusion. It must be supposed that ten thousand miracles were wrought in favour of falsehoods, or all these facts must be denied. And then, it must be supposed that the apostles were idiots, that the enemies of Christianity were idiots, and that all the primitive Christians were idiots.”

The apostles of our Lord were invested with miraculous powers: “God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will,” Heb. ii. 4. As the apostles asserted a direct and unequivocal claim to miraculous powers, and as these are declared in the New Testament to have been exerted by them, falsehood, if proved, would destroy the veracity of their writings, and the validity of all the doctrines and precepts they contained. But, let the case be duly weighed, and it will be seen, that, to support their pretensions by artifice and chicanery, was absolutely impossible. A few might be deceived, an empire could not be; and great must be the infatuation of supposing that a few obscure men could blind the eyes of the people among whom they lived. In the face of the utmost hostility, in the midst of the greatest perils, in defiance of cruel persecutions, and with the crucifixion of their Lord before their eyes, they could not have claimed the exercise of miraculous powers if they had not been actually possessed. Had they resembled the Romanists, to whom we have referred, would it have been possible to escape detection?

It is worthy of special remark, that more than one account is given us in sacred history of the messengers of God entering into collision with those who pretended to supernatural power. Thus a memorable contest took place between Moses and the magicians of Pharaoh’s court. Different opinions are entertained as to the means by which the latter performed their feats, some contending that they were mere tricks, and others that evil spirits were in active operation. On this controverted question we do not enter; it is sufficient for the present purpose to remark, that the superiority of the servants of Jehovah was placed beyond all dispute. The rod of Aaron swallowed up the rods of the magicians; at the plague of flies and the murrain on the cattle, they were compelled to say, “This is the finger of God;” and at length they “could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were upon the magicians and all the Egyptians,” Exod. ix. 11.

Another instance of a later date is equally conclusive. The gospel was proclaimed at Ephesus, where the arts which pretended to lay open the secrets of nature, and to arm the hand of man with supernatural powers, were especially apparent. Indeed, in the age of our Lord and his apostles, pretended adepts in the occult sciences were numerous; they travelled from country to country, and were found in great numbers in Asia, deceiving the credulous multitude, and profiting by their expectations. They were sometimes Jews, who referred their skill, and even their forms of proceeding, to Solomon, who is still regarded in the east as the head or prince of magicians. In Asia Minor, Ephesus had a high reputation for magical arts. Here, then, “God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul.” The appeal to the wonder-workers of a country which contained so magnificent a temple to Diana, that it was reckoned among the wonders of the world, was singularly striking. Accustomed as the Ephesians were to produce strange results by some species of magic, they would naturally ascribe miracles to a similar agency. It was necessary, therefore, that the miracles which were to serve as the credentials of Christianity, should be especially marked, and placed beyond the reach of all their enchantments and incantations. And it seems an instance not the less remarkable, because easily overlooked, of the adaptation of means to an end, that in Ephesus, in which, of all others, magic was resorted to, the powers granted to the first heralds of redeeming mercy sufficed to place them at an immeasurable distance above the most consummate magicians.

Another fact is equally entitled to attention. Certain Jews travelling in that country, and professing to cast out the evil spirits which frequently possessed the bodies of men, took upon them, as avowed exorcists, to employ the name of the Lord Jesus, from the success with which it was used by the apostle Paul. Amongst these were the seven sons of Sceva, a Jew, who addressed an evil spirit in the name of Christ, thinking, perhaps, that their number would give special force to their adjuration. The spirit, however, answered, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?” nor was he content with refusing to be thus ejected; for, causing the man in whom he dwelt to put forth supernatural strength, “he leaped upon the young men and overcame them, and forced them to flee out of the house naked and wounded.” These facts soon became notorious; fear fell alike on the Jews and Greeks residing at Ephesus; the most potent appeal had been made to those accustomed to use charms and incantations; and numbers were led at once to renounce their arts of magic.

Very celebrated were the “Ephesian letters,” which appear to have been a sort of magical formula written on paper or parchment, designed to be fixed as amulets on different parts of the body, such as the hands and the head. Erasmus says, that they were certain signs or marks which rendered their possessor victorious in everything. Eustatius mentions an opinion that Crœsus, when on his funeral pile, was very much benefited by the use of them; and that when a Milesian and an Ephesian were wrestling in the Olympic games, the former could gain no advantage, as the latter had Ephesian letters bound round his heel; but these being removed he lost his superiority, and was thrown thirty times. Many of these were, probably, among the books of which we read, Acts xix. 19; while others were most likely occupied by descriptions of the prevailing modes of practising “enchantments.” But all were promptly and cheerfully consigned to the flames. Thus the sincerity of the converts was evident by no trifling sacrifice, for, when they counted the price of these books, they “found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.”

That there was a difference between the operations of the apostles and the agency of our Lord, should be clearly perceived. The power of the Saviour was inherent—that of the apostles was derived. How manifest is the miraculous agency of Christ shown in the cure of the leper! “Lord, if thou wilt,” said he to the Saviour, “thou canst make me clean.” Jesus answered, “I will—be thou clean,” and immediately he was made whole. Our Lord made no appeal to any other power. At the grave of Lazarus, indeed, he “lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.” But this prayer appears to have been offered not on his own account, but for the sake of those who surrounded him, and who needed such a seal to his mission to establish their faith. Therefore, he added, “And I know that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.” And as on other occasions, he said, “Thy sins are forgiven thee”—“Arise, take up thy bed and walk”—“I command thee to come out of her,” so now he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go,” John xi. 42–44.

Our Lord had previously said, “Therefore, doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father,” John x. 17, 18. In like manner, Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die,” John xi. 25, 26. How strikingly contrasted was the language of the apostles! In the case of the lame man laid at the beautiful gate of the temple, Peter said, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” These words, uttered on the first miracle of the apostles, expressed the great principle on which they performed every other, and the spirit in which they wrought all their wondrous deeds.

The apostle, like the prophet, laid down his authority, and resigned his commission with his life; but our Lord Jesus Christ not only exercised his power amidst his last sufferings and death, but extended his authority beyond the grave. “I lay down my life of myself; no man taketh it from me; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” And though he said, “This commandment have I received of my Father,” he also added, “I and my Father are one”—“thereby,” as the Jews distinctly perceived, “making himself equal with God.”

Even the diversity of gifts distributed among primitive saints, proved the infinite resources of Him by whom they were granted. Though bestowed by the Holy Spirit, they were purchased by the blood and supplied by the grace of the Son of God. Speaking of the outpouring of the Spirit, and its results, Jesus said, “He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” Most emphatically does he lay claim to all the fulness of the Godhead, when he adds, “All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and show it unto you.” Thus, the gift of tongues, of miracles, of prophecy, and of interpretation, proved the infinite power of the Giver, on whose will the extent and diversity of the operation alike depended. Some had one power and some another: but all these wrought that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he would. 1 Cor. xii. 11.