“This, the first of his miraculous signs, was performed by Jesus at Cana in Galilee. Thus he revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.” John 2:11

Anyone who does not believe in God finds the concept of a miracle, any event that contradicts and even suspends the laws of nature, impossible to accept. That is, if God does not exist, only nature controls life. Therefore, no miracle is possible and any account of a miracle cannot be true. This logical argument against miracles was first formulated by Benedict Spinoza (1632-1677). Spinoza’s argument can be summarized as follows:

• A miracle violates natural laws.
• Natural laws are immutable.
• It is impossible to violate immutable laws.
• Therefore, miracles are impossible.

However, if God exists, He created natural laws, so it should not be a problem for Him to move beyond or outside these laws, nor can He be restricted by these laws. Jesus used miracles as signs of his credentials as the Son of God. Without miracles it would be exceptionally difficult to believe his claims. As John wrote in John 20:30-31:
“The disciples of Jesus saw him perform many other miraculous signs besides those recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life.”Notice that Jesus’ miracles not only showed His power over nature, but also revealed His approach to ministry: helping others, speaking with authority, and connecting with people. the keyword is
compassion. Almost all of his miracles were driven by compassion. He healed people who sought help from him. He raised the dead to comfort grieving families. He calmed the storms to calm the fears of his friends. He fed multitudes to stave off famine of himself. Be sure to note that Jesus never performed a miracle for his own benefit or gain. The miracles helped others, not Him. On five occasions Jesus performed a miracle as a sign only for the disciples: walking on water; curse of the fig tree; both miraculous catches of the disciples; and the coin for the temple tax. All other miracles arose from compassion for the people around him. The New Testament gospels record thirty-five miracles. Only one miracle (the feeding of the five thousand) is described in each gospel. About half of the miracles are recorded in two or more of the gospels. Unsurprisingly quite a few, eleven in fact, are shared among all the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), but only seven are recorded in only two of the three synoptic accounts. Two miracles in John also appear in one or more of the Synoptic Gospels. Matthew has three unique miracles, Mark has two, while Luke and John record six each.

This distribution demonstrates once again that Matthew, Mark and Luke are personal testimonies. Even Mark, the gospel “copied” by Matthew and Luke, has two miracles not mentioned in the other two. Why are they omitted if Matthew and Luke relied on Mark as their primary source as the synoptic theory claims?

Since miracles are evidence of Jesus’ deity, it is useful to classify them into:

• Healing miracles: The vast majority (26) of miracles in which Jesus heals one or more people or even raises (Jairus’s daughter, a widow’s son, and Lazarus) from the dead.
• miracles of nature: Nine miracles are recorded where Jesus does something simply impossible within our natural world. He defied the laws of nature.

Healing miracles are easy targets for critics. Many simply insist that the healed person was not sick, that the person might be “self-healed” (the “power of positive thinking”), or that there might even have been some kind of hypnosis or other “magic.” Obviously our ancestors didn’t have our knowledge of science, but they weren’t stupid either! Even an uneducated first-century Jew could tell the difference between a magician’s trick and a genuine miracle. They would have identified a false cure. The healed people were not selected from the audience willingly participating in a performance. These were locals, known to the community for their disabilities, perhaps blindness or long-term injuries. Resurrecting someone moments after their death would suggest that they didn’t actually die. Lazarus, however, was in the tomb four days (John 11:39: ”
‘But, Lord,’ said Marta, the dead man’s sister, ‘at this time it already smells bad, because it has been there for four days'”.), so it can hardly be argued that “it wasn’t really dead”. Still, from the perspective of evidence, the most amazing confirmations of Jesus’ deity are the miracles of nature. There is simply no explanation for walking on water, calming a storm, feeding large crowds from a single lunch box, or turning water into wine. Such events are true miracles and show the divine power of Jesus. Note that such miracles have never been claimed by other professed miracle workers. Only Jesus has shown such power. Take a close look at the miracles of nature and test them for the characteristics of a genuine miracle. We learn:

· Meaning: There is no doubt that the miracles of nature are significant. It is unlikely that any of those present were not amazed! This is clear in the reactions of the people, such as when Jesus got into the boat after walking on the water: “Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying: ‘Truly you are the Son of God'”. (Matthew 14:33). After Jesus calmed the storm: “In fear and amazement they asked each other: ‘Who? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him‘” (Luke 8:25).

· Immediate: All of Jesus’ miracles had immediate results. Both the cures and the miracles of nature were instantaneous.

· Defy the laws of nature: This cannot be argued, because this is the exact definition of a miracle.

· Multiple Witnesses: As a last resort, unbelieving critics try to refute Jesus’ nature miracles by dismissing them as myth or legend. However, the evidence is overwhelming. First, the miracles were performed in groups of varying sizes, either the disciples (arguably not objective) or a crowd of several thousand. Second, five of the miracles of nature are recorded in multiple gospels, one even in all four gospels. Third, Jesus’ opponents never denied or even disputed his miracles. They admitted that Jesus performed miracles and tried to claim that Jesus had consorted with the devil: “But when the Pharisees heard this, they said: ‘It is only because of Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.‘” (Matthew 12:24). Or they tried to destroy the evidence: “So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus also, because because of him many of the Jews went over to Jesus and put their faith in him(John 12:10-11).

Among all the miracles, stands out the amazing feeding of a crowd of five thousand men plus women and children, probably a total of ten to twelve thousand or more people.

This may well be the most impressive natural miracle of all. Some see a symbolic link between Jesus as the “bread of Life“and God’s gift of manna to the Israelites in the desert long before.

Second, it is the only miracle found in all four Gospels. Each one describes the events on that hillside near the Sea of ​​Galilee: only five loaves and two fish to feed the great gathering. Jesus broke the bread and the disciples shared the food. There was enough for everyone and the leftovers filled twelve baskets. Comparing all four accounts is gratifying. Unsurprisingly with eyewitness recollection, they all describe the same story, but each provides different details. For example, Mark and John estimated “eight months salary of a man“It would be necessary to feed all the people. All the gospels relate that the people had to sit down, but only Mark and Luke say that they sat in groups of “fifty hundredJohn mentions the Sea of ​​Galilee, Mark and Matthew only mention a ship, and Luke adds that they are near a town called Bethsaida. John also reveals that he was a boy who had brought the barley loaves and the fish. John identified a number of disciples by his name. Once again, there is a random pattern of detail in the various gospels. Contrary to synoptic theory, Mark, which is supposed to be the shortest and simplest gospel, actually has the longest account with the most detail. A total of four independent eyewitness accounts of this remarkable event.

Third and last, this miracle is performed in the presence of five thousand men, not counting women and children. Nothing was done in secret. It was born out of compassion for the hungry crowd, but the number of witnesses is momentous. And at least three of the four gospels were written within a generation of this event, many of these witnesses still alive when these accounts began to circulate. There were plenty of opportunities for someone to confirm or deny this miracle.

In the words of the famous Christian philosopher, theologian, and author GK Chesterton:

“The most incredible thing about miracles is that they takeNo.”