[Note: my Bible links go to the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE), at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). They bring up the entire chapter of the reference, where the verses can be easily found. The exception is where, for some reason, the USCCB links don’t work, in which case I connect with BibleGateway, using the same version of the Bible.]
In one specific example, John Chapter 5 relates that Jesus Christ healed a man who had been unable to walk for 38 years. It is worthwhile to read the whole chapter. Some Jews, probably indicating leaders of the religious sects, saw the healing but criticized Christ for doing it on the Sabbath, since doing work on that day was against their religious laws. In response, Christ spoke about the prophet who came before Him, John the Baptist. John testified about the truth, meaning that of Christ being the Son of God. Then Jesus says, “But I have a greater testimony than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me” (John 5:36).
Backtracking in John 5 a bit, Christ had said, “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work” (John 5:17). The next verse relates, “For this reason, the Jews tried all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath but He called God His own Father, making Himself equal to God” (John 5:18).
Christ’s use of the word “works” may go beyond “miracles,” perhaps also meant to include the suffering for which He was headed on behalf of humankind. But we can associate the healing miracles with His works since He used the word in this context. In these cases, affected people were cured instantly. They were not given pills or operated upon.
So, some people saw physical wonders, yet squirmed out of directly considering the phenomena. They accused Jesus Christ of disobeying the religious laws, which they, in their own way, carried to the extreme.
Other people accepted the miracles for what they were. Certainly 2000 years ago, they did not understand medicine as we do today. But they knew that never otherwise would lepers spontaneously heal at a touch (Matthew 8:1-4), or crippled persons instantaneously walk with a few words (John 5:1-15). Never before had the blind been able to see with an application of mud (John 9), or the dead respond to commands to return to life (Mark 5:21-43; John 11:1-44).
And the works went beyond healing humans. Storms ceased (Mark 4:35-41), food was replicated (Matthew 14:15-21), among many other things (John 21:25).
It is worth contemplating that in His particular time on Earth, Christ placed so much emphasis on these miracles, to the point of using them to prove He is God.
How did Christ mend the failed biological systems of human bodies so they could once again function? He had to have a fundamental understanding of what organs and circulatory systems are, down to the cells and their extremely intricate makeup. He obviously had to have the ability to re-build tissue which was damaged and destroyed by disease and aging, and do so immediately. How did he change the trajectory of the wind? He probably knew all about the Earth’s weather patterns and systems. But having information about these things and commanding them to change immediately are two different things.
God is way above our possible knowledge. Humanity has come a long way in understanding natural laws, but what the Bible describes about the miracles is at a supernatural level. To blame Christ for healing on the Sabbath is a poor excuse for denying the Divine.
Atheists don't believe in God at all, and I don't think I'm exaggerating that many secular scientists hold that our intellects will use science to reveal all the physical properties of our universe. Some Christians seem to acknowledge God and yet not the supernatural in any sense that pertains to us. Many think our universe came about by purely natural causes, and they also refuse even the possibility that God may have created different living species directly.
Of course, Christians have become gun-shy about science relating to religion. Medicine changed when people realized that diseases are caused by natural agents instead of spirits or evil gods. We all know about the revolution of understanding of the universe since Copernicus and Galileo. St. Augustine warned in so many words that the Bible is not a science book (The Literal Meaning of Genesis). However, St. Thomas Aquinas recognized that experts can disagree and "facts" be replaced. We know this to be true from progress in the understanding of scientists, such as from Newtonian gravity to the relativity of Einstein, and from determinism to the discoveries of quantum physics. St. Thomas advised to rely on what is taught about God from revelation (cf. Summa Theologiae II-II, Q. 2, AA. 3,4).
When one speaks of balance, it is difficult to avoid the pull of the natural. Biology, physics, chemistry, are magnificent and continue to amaze. But a person needs to consider the supernatural, which goes beyond what many scientists have limited reality to be. To think everything is only natural is also an extreme. He or she does not have to believe in a young Earth to believe in Christ’s miracles. We must be careful against making false associations that bring “all or nothing” conclusions, but, at least for a time, consider separate fields of study separately and then, where appropriate, integrate them.
The denial of Christ performing supernatural works is one area where Christian theology has gone wrong in the last few centuries: the historical-critical method where miracles can be negated, primarily due to our progress in science and associated fields. Various theologians attributed the Biblical information to unreliable stories, contemporary misunderstandings, or downright fabrications. Alfred Loisy (1857-1940) is considered the father of the Catholic modern movement, but theologians from other denominations were already sharing these ideas before him.
To some degree there has been a backlash to the historical-critical method, with Pope Benedict XVI one of the most influential persons in re-establishing a balance of factual investigation and allowance for Divine reality. He addressed this need in several places, including the Foreword to his book, Jesus of Nazareth, Part II.
However, I think there is still a strong impression among many Christians that God made humans capable of knowing all physical properties and laws, and we must find the subsequent sequences of all causes that got us to our present state. Christ’s amazing miracles, for many, do not fit in the step-wise logic.
Where does anti-supernaturalism stop? Catholics should believe the hosts in Mass are changed to Christ’s body and blood, yet many do not. We are told in the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit is living within believers (1 Corinthians 6:19 is one example). The late Pope Francis, who initiated the Synods on Synodality, asked us to pray that the Holy Spirit guide us in these proceedings. Once again, we are talking about a supernatural level.
God uses His judgment to do what is best. It is not for us to tell Him what that is, but to accept and appreciate what He has done and ask Him to continue to work in our lives. There's nothing in that to stop us from learning all we can about His Divine actions and the physical laws around us. Let us seek discernment to get a better idea of each realm.
