preached by John, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and He went about doing good and healing all who were possessed by the devil, for God was with Him; and we are witnesses of all that he did both in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem: but they killed him by hanging him on a tree. This God raised up on the third day," etc. (D. 10, 37 ff.). God sent a word to the children of Israel, preaching the gospel of peace through Jesus, anointed with the Spirit and power, and He went about all the land of Judah, healing and doing good – until His death on the cross: such is the Gospel of Peter and this is the Gospel of Mark, the translator of Peter, written according to this basic scheme – probably even before the destruction of Jerusalem: "And he preached in their synagogues" (1:39); "And they were all amazed, so that they asked one another, saying, What is this? What new teaching is this, which commands even unclean spirits, and they obey Him? And the news of Him immediately spread throughout all the region around Galilee" (1:27-28). The same is said by other synoptics, who follow the same basic scheme: "And Jesus went about all the cities and their villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every infirmity among men" (Matt. 9:35).

It is impossible not to pay attention to the significant parallelism between the word of evangelism and beneficence, i.e. healing: He walks about evangelizing and healing, and sends His disciples to heal and proclaim the approach of the kingdom κηρύσσειν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἰᾶσθαι (Luke 9:2; Μκ. 6:6 ff.; Matt. 10:1 ff.); the rumor of His healings grows, so that soon Jewish exorcists begin to cast out demons in His name in their incantations (Mk. 9:38; Lk. 9:49; D. 19:13). He Himself points to His healings as signs of the approaching kingdom both to John (Matt. 11:4-5) and to the Jews: "If I be by the Spirit of God (Lk. 11:20 with the finger of God) cast out demons, then the kingdom of heaven has come to you" (Matt. 12:13). We find exactly the same thing in the Gospel of John: "The works that I do bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me" (5:36).

The scribes argued about Christ's healings; it was not for nothing that they asked Him for a messianic "sign from heaven" in order to be convinced of His messengership from above, to which He, "groaning in spirit," answered them: "Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I tell you, it will not be given

–  446  –

signs to this generation!" (Mark 8:12). But if already in the wilderness He condemned unbelief, which required miracles, then, on the contrary, He demanded works and signs from faith: it is not faith that requires miracles, but faith that requires miracles – it must move mountains. Jesus reproached the disciples for unbelief or lack of faith, when they could not heal a demon-possessed boy (Matt. 17:20), or when they were frightened by a storm (Mk. 4:40; Matt. 8:26; Lk. 8:25), or when Peter was frightened and began to drown, trying to walk on the water (Matt. 14:31). Of course, critics disagree about the authenticity of this last story, but at any rate those who reject it as evidence of a real event recognize in it a true representation of the very demand for an unconditional, unshakable faith that overcomes all.

Jesus himself possessed this supreme assurance: the kingdom of God was at hand, Satan was defeated; the event that took place in heaven has its manifestation on earth, for in Him, in Christ, comes the kingdom: in Him it is already among men (ἐντὸς ὑμῶν {48} Luke 17:21). God anointed him "with the Spirit and power" to preach sight to the blind, resurrection to the dead, and to set the tormented at liberty (Luke 4:18), to loose the bonds bound by Satan (Luke 13:16). He Himself is a living testimony to the approaching kingdom, which must change the image of this world with its infirmities and sicknesses. He has the power to forgive sins, and His healings are a sign of this (Mark 2:10); He defeated the "mighty man," and His power over demons is a sign of this (Matt. 12:28 ff.); He is also Lord of the Sabbath – since He heals on the Sabbath (Mk. 2:28; 3:2 ff.; John 5:17); He is, in the words of the Book of Acts, "a man testified to by the signs and wonders which God has wrought through him" (D. 2:22).

For those moralists who want to turn Christ into a moral preacher in modern taste, this aspect of His activity is alien and incomprehensible, but this does not give them the right to deny it or belittle its significance. Without it, we cannot explain the outward course of the Gospel history, as well as many of the main features in the history of the Apostolic Church. There is no doubt that the life of Christ was not only a feat of preaching, but also a feat of "doing good" (to do good, ἀγαθοποιῆσαι Mk. 3:4 – meant for Him to heal). Tradition in this

–  447  –

attitude is too unanimous and complete, so that even those who are inclined to see in the legends of Christ's miracles a significant part of the legend, must admit that there was an aspect in His activity that served as the basis for such a legend. Not to mention the fact that many of Christ's words, and those whose authenticity lies beyond doubt, refer to His healings or the gift of healing, as, for example, His discourse about healings on the Sabbath or about casting out demons.

Let us take, for example, the undoubtedly authentic testimonies of the impression made by Christ on the masses of the people. We see these crowds crowding around Him, seeking to touch Him, not allowing Him to eat, forcing Him to go up the mountain or get into a boat to speak to the people; the sick are carried from everywhere, as in Capernaum in the evening, after sunset on the Sabbath day, when it was possible to carry the sick without breaking the Sabbath (Mark 1:32). They even dismantle the roof of the house, which cannot be entered from the crowd in order to lower the sick at His feet. He goes into the wilderness, and the crowd follows Him without taking bread; He hides for a time within the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and, entering the house, wants to remain unnoticed, but even there he cannot hide. Even the pagans, like the centurion of Capernaum or the Syrophoenician woman, show examples of the most ardent faith in Him. To deny the authenticity of such stories means to refuse to understand the history of the Gospel and the whole of early Christianity. This means to neglect the historical analogies of subsequent times: what happened around Christ later happened around the apostles, and then throughout the entire subsequent history of the Christian Church around the holy ascetics and healers, and what is happening to this day – with the difference that the impression made by Christ must have been as strong as He surpassed His followers and disciples in power and gifts. It is true that the gospel triumphed by its inner truth, by its word; but in this word power was felt and manifested (ἐξουσία). It is true that the gospel preached the highest truth and the highest good; but this truth was confessed as

–  448  –