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Claim ID: HIS-IS38
Claim: Jesus is Attended by God's Power, not Satan's
Summary: Throughout the Bible we learn that Satan has limited power over nature granted to him by God. While it is understandable that the scribes and Pharisees attributed Jesus' powers to Satan, the results of Jesus' miracles authenticate the source of his power. Based on the gospel accounts, we observe that Satan and his demon's power results in alienation, oppression, destruction and ultimately death. Conversely, Jesus power results in wellness, restoration and life. Throughout Jesus' ministry there is not any evidence to suggest that Jesus was acting with evil intent. All of his miracles were performed to help the individual, not harm them.
Description: The following evidence affirm that the Jesus' miraculous power is from God.
The scribes and Pharisees understood that Satan himself had power over nature. This was evidenced in the Book of Exodus when Pharaoh's sorcerers and magicians performed similar signs as those performed by Moses. The full account is found in Exodus 7-9.
During this contest of powers, Moses demonstrated that God's powers were absolute and superior to Pharaoh's sorcerer's and magician's power.
11Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. (Exodus 7:11-12)
18The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. 19Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." (Exodus 8:18-19)
And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. (Exodus 9:11)
For every plague brought upon the Egyptians, God's power prevailed, despite feeble attempts on the part of Pharaoh's magicians to counter God's power. In the end, Satan's power was limited by the absolute power of God.
In Jesus' rebuttal to the Pharisees in Matthew 12 where he states that his power is superior to that of Satan's.
28But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. 29For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger —someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house. (Matthew 12:28-29 NLT).
In this passage, Jesus argues that because his power is from God and God's power is superior to Satan's, then his power is superior to Satan's.
It is not unreasonable for the scribes and Pharisee's to question the source of Jesus' power given his claims. However, the proof of Jesus' source of power is clearly authenticated by the results of his miracles.
Satan's power results in alienation, oppression, destruction and ultimately death. Conversely, Jesus power results in wellness, restoration and life.
28And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" 30Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31And the demons begged him, saying, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs." 32And he said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. (Matthew 8:28-32)
5Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. (Mark 5:1-20}
That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. (Matthew 8:16)
Finally, the demons testify that Jesus was the Christ (Messiah) (Luke 4).
And demons also came out of many, crying, "You are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. (Luke 4:41)
Throughout Jesus' ministry there is not any evidence to suggest that Jesus was acting with evil intent. All of his miracles were performed to help the individual, not harm them. Unlike Satan, Jesus was a blessing to all that encountered him.
Jesus' power did not come from incantations, potions, rituals, or other devices used by healers of his day. Rather, Jesus' power was rooted in his personhood, the fact that he was God.
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