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Objection 1: It would seem that Christ worked miracles unfittingly
on men. For in man the soul is of more import than the body. Now
Christ worked many miracles on bodies, but we do not read of His
working any miracles on souls: for neither did He convert any
unbelievers to the faith mightily, but by persuading and convincing
them with outward miracles, nor is it related of Him that He made
wise men out of fools. Therefore it seems that He worked miracles on
men in an unfitting manner.
Objection 2: Further, as stated above (Question 43, Article
2), Christ worked miracles by Divine power: to which it is proper
to work suddenly, perfectly, and without any assistance. Now Christ
did not always heal men suddenly as to their bodies: for it is written
(Mk. 8:22-25) that, "taking the blind man by the hand, He
led him out of the town; and, spitting upon his eyes, laying His
hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And, looking up, he
said: I see men as it were trees walking. After that again He laid
His hands upon his eyes, and he began to see, and was restored, so
that he saw all things clearly." It is clear from this that He did
not heal him suddenly, but at first imperfectly, and by means of His
spittle. Therefore it seems that He worked miracles on men
unfittingly.
Objection 3: Further, there is no need to remove at the same time
things which do not follow from one another. Now bodily ailments are
not always the result of sin, as appears from our Lord's words
(Jn. 9:3): "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents,
that he should be born blind." It was unseemly, therefore, for Him
to forgive the sins of those who sought the healing of the body, as He
is related to have done in the case of the man sick of the palsy (Mt.
9:2): the more that the healing of the body, being of less account
than the forgiveness of sins, does not seem a sufficient argument for
the power of forgiving sins.
Objection 4: Further, Christ's miracles were worked in order to
confirm His doctrine, and witness to His Godhead, as stated above
(Question 43, Article 4). Now no man should hinder the purpose
of his own work. Therefore it seems unfitting that Christ commanded
those who had been healed miraculously to tell no one, as appears from
Mt. 9:30 and Mk. 8:26: the more so, since He commanded
others to proclaim the miracles worked on them; thus it is related
(Mk. 5:19) that, after delivering a man from the demons, He
said to him: "Go into thy house to thy friends, and tell them, how
great things the Lord hath done for thee."
On the contrary, It is written (Mk. 7:37): "He hath done
all things well: He hath made both the deaf to hear and the dumb to
speak."
I answer that, The means should be proportionate to the end. Now
Christ came into the world and taught in order to save man, according
to Jn. 3:17: "For God sent not His Son into the world to
judge the world, but that the world may be saved by Him." Therefore
it was fitting that Christ, by miraculously healing men in
particular, should prove Himself to be the universal and spiritual
Saviour of all.
Reply to Objection 1: The means are distinct from the end. Now
the end for which Christ's miracles were worked was the health of the
rational part, which is healed by the light of wisdom, and the gift of
righteousness: the former of which presupposes the latter, since, as
it is written (Wis. 1:4): "Wisdom will not enter into a
malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins." Now it was
unfitting that man should be made righteous unless he willed: for this
would be both against the nature of righteousness, which implies
rectitude of the will, and contrary to the very nature of man, which
requires to be led to good by the free-will, not by force. Christ,
therefore, justified man inwardly by the Divine power, but not
against man's will. Nor did this pertain to His miracles, but to
the end of His miracles. In like manner by the Divine power He
infused wisdom into the simple minds of His disciples: hence He said
to them (Lk. 21:15): "I will give you a mouth and wisdom"
which "all your adversaries will not be able to resist and gainsay."
And this, in so far as the enlightenment was inward, is not to be
reckoned as a miracle, but only as regards the outward
action---namely, in so far as men saw that those who had been
unlettered and simple spoke with such wisdom and constancy. Wherefore
it is written (Acts 4:13) that the Jews, "seeing the constancy
of Peter and of John, understanding that they were illiterate and
ignorant men . . . wondered."---And though such like spiritual
effects are different from visible miracles, yet do they testify to
Christ's doctrine and power, according to Heb. 2:4: "God also
bearing them witness by signs and wonders and divers miracles, and
distributions of the Holy Ghost."
Nevertheless Christ did work some miracles on the soul of man,
principally by changing its lower powers. Hence Jerome, commenting
on Mt. 9:9, "He rose up and followed Him," says: "Such was
the splendor and majesty of His hidden Godhead, which shone forth
even in His human countenance, that those who gazed on it were drawn
to Him at first sight." And on Mt. 21:12, "(Jesus) cast
out all them that sold and bought," the same Jerome says: "Of all
the signs worked by our Lord, this seems to me the most
wondrous---that one man, at that time despised, could, with the
blows of one scourge, cast out such a multitude. For a fiery and
heavenly light flashed from His eyes, and the majesty of His Godhead
shone in His countenance." And Origen says on Jn. 2:15 that
"this was a greater miracle than when He changed water into wine, for
there He shows His power over inanimate matter, whereas here He
tames the minds of thousands of men." Again, on Jn. 18:6,
"They went backward and fell to the ground," Augustine says:
"Though that crowd was fierce in hate and terrible with arms, yet did
that one word . . . without any weapon, smite them through, drive
them back, lay them prostrate: for God lay hidden in that flesh."
Moreover, to this must be referred what Luke says (4:30)
---namely, that Jesus, "passing through the midst of them, went
His way," on which Chrysostom observes (Hom. xlviii in
Joan.): "That He stood in the midst of those who were lying in
wait for Him, and was not seized by them, shows the power of His
Godhead"; and, again, that which is written Jn. 8:59,
"Jesus hid Himself and went out of the Temple," on which
Theophylact says: "He did not hide Himself in a corner of the
Temple, as if afraid, or take shelter behind a wall or pillar; but
by His heavenly power making Himself invisible to those who were
threatening Him, He passed through the midst of them."
From all these instances it is clear that Christ, when He willed,
changed the minds of men by His Divine power, not only by the
bestowal of righteousness and the infusion of wisdom, which pertains to
the end of miracles, but also by outwardly drawing men to Himself, or
by terrifying or stupefying them, which pertains to the miraculous
itself.
Reply to Objection 2: Christ came to save the world, not only by
Divine power, but also through the mystery of His Incarnation.
Consequently in healing the sick He frequently not only made use of
His Divine power, healing by way of command, but also by applying
something pertaining to His human nature. Hence on Lk. 4:40,
"He, laying His hands on every one of them, healed them," Cyril
says: "Although, as God, He might, by one word, have driven out
all diseases, yet He touched them, showing that His own flesh was
endowed with a healing virtue." And on Mk. 8:23, "Spitting
upon his eyes, laying His hands on him," etc., Chrysostom
[Victor of Antioch] says: "He spat and laid His hands upon the
blind man, wishing to show that His Divine word, accompanied by His
operation, works wonders: for the hand signifies operation; the
spittle signifies the word which proceeds from the mouth." Again, on
Jn. 9:6, "He made clay of the spittle, and spread the clay upon
the eyes of the blind man," Augustine says: "Of His spittle He
made clay---because 'the Word was made flesh.'" Or, again, as
Chrysostom says, to signify that it was He who made man of "the
slime of the earth."
It is furthermore to be observed concerning Christ's miracles that
generally what He did was most perfect. Hence on Jn. 2:10,
"Every man at first setteth forth good wine," Chrysostom says:
"Christ's miracles are such as to far surpass the works of nature in
splendor and usefulness." Likewise in an instant He conferred
perfect health on the sick. Hence on Mt. 8:15, "She arose and
ministered to them," Jerome says: "Health restored by our Lord
returns wholly and instantly."
There was, however, special reason for the contrary happening in the
case of the man born blind, and this was his want of faith, as
Chrysostom [Victor of Antioch] says. Or as Bede observes on
Mk. 8:23: "Whom He might have healed wholly and instantly by a
single word, He heals little by little, to show the extent of human
blindness, which hardly, and that only by degrees, can come back to
the light: and to point out that each step forward in the way of
perfection is due to the help of His grace."
Reply to Objection 3: As stated above (Question 43, Article
2), Christ worked miracles by Divine power. Now "the works of
God are perfect" (Dt. 32:4). But nothing is perfect except
it attain its end. Now the end of the outward healing worked by
Christ is the healing of the soul. Consequently it was not fitting
that Christ should heal a man's body without healing his soul.
Wherefore on Jn. 7:23, "I have healed the whole man on a
Sabbath day," Augustine says: "Because he was cured, so as to be
whole in body; he believed, so as to be whole in soul." To the man
sick of the palsy it is said specially, "Thy sins are forgiven
thee," because, as Jerome observes on Mt. 9:5,6: "We are
hereby given to understand that ailments of the body are frequently due
to sin: for which reason, perhaps, first are his sins forgiven, that
the cause of the ailment being removed, health may return."
Wherefore, also (Jn. 4:14), it is said: "Sin no more,
lest some worse thing happen to thee." Whence, says Chrysostom,
"we learn that his sickness was the result of sin."
Nevertheless, as Chrysostom says on Mt. 9:5: "By how much a
soul is of more account than a body, by so much is the forgiving of
sins a greater work than healing the body; but because the one is
unseen He does the lesser and more manifest thing in order to prove the
greater and more unseen."
Reply to Objection 4: On Mt. 9:30, "See that no man know
this," Chrysostom says: "If in another place we find Him saying,
'Go and declare the glory of God' (cf. Mk. 5:19; Lk.
8:39), that is not contrary to this. For He instructs us to
forbid them that would praise us on our own account: but if the glory
be referred to God, then we must not forbid, but command, that it be
done."
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