This article is contributed by Ray Konig, the author of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.
By Ray Konig
Published: August 13, 2024
Question: A reader asks: "Emperor Vespasian is alleged to have performed miracles (sometime around AD 69). Does this undermine the alleged uniqueness of Jesus as a miracle worker?"
Response: No. It actually accomplishes the opposite and reaffirms the uniqueness -- and impact -- of Jesus as a miracle worker. And it provides more evidence that the Gospels -- which contain the accounts of the miracles that Jesus performed -- were widely circulated throughout Israel and beyond, even during the first century of this era.
This is an interesting claim to dive into, that Vespasian, a Roman emperor, is said to have performed miracles, healing a blind man and another man with a disability. In short, the claim involving Vespasian clearly shows evidence of borrowing details from the Gospel accounts of some of the miracles that Jesus had performed about 40 years before Vespasian became emperor.
Let's start with some background, then take a look at the claims of miracle working by Vespasian, and then show how these claims appear to have copied details from the Gospels.
For background, Jesus carried out his public ministry for an estimated three-and-a-half years, from about late AD 26 to early AD 30. During that time, about 2,000 years ago, Jesus traveled throughout Israel, preaching about the Kingdom of God and performing miracles. His public ministry, and his miracles, are recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which are part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible.
Jesus performed miracles on at least 46 occasions, as explained in Jesus the Miracle Worker and at Aboutbibleprophecy.com/miracles.htm and About-Jesus.org/miracles.htm.
The reports of Jesus' miracles, during his public ministry, spread very quickly throughout the land of Israel, and beyond, according to the Gospels.
So, by the time of Vespasian, some 40 years later, people within Israel, and within nearby areas, including Egypt, were familiar with the accounts of Jesus' miracles. And this is reflected in the stories involving Vespasian's "miracle working."
Vespasian was a Roman general who had been sent to Israel to put down a Jewish rebellion for independence. This happened early during the First Jewish-Roman War (AD 66-73).
Vespasian arrived at Jerusalem sometime around AD 68 and he later assigned the task of besieging Jerusalem to his son, Titus. Vespasian then headed to Egypt, in about AD 69, to put down another uprising, which threatened the food supply for the Roman Empire. It was during this time in Egypt that Vespasian was named emperor of the Roman Empire and was reported to have performed miracles.
The "miracles" of Vespasian are recorded by two Roman historians: Tacitus and Suetonius, both of whom lived during the first century of this era.
Tacitus, however, provides us with the most detailed story in which Vespasian is featured as a miracle worker:
“In the months during which Vespasian was waiting at Alexandria for the periodical return of the summer gales and settled weather at sea, many wonders occurred which seemed to point him out as the object of the favour of heaven and of the partiality of the Gods. One of the common people of Alexandria, well-known for his blindness, threw himself at the Emperor’s knees, and implored him with groans to heal his infirmity. This he did by the advice of the God Serapis, whom this nation, devoted as it is to many superstitions, worships more than any other divinity. He begged Vespasian that he would deign to moisten his cheeks and eye-balls with his spittle.
“Another with a diseased hand, at the counsel of the same God, prayed that the limb might feel the print of a Caesar’s foot. At first Vespasian ridiculed and repulsed them. They persisted; and he, though on the one hand he feared the scandal of a fruitless attempt, yet, on the other, was induced by the entreaties of the men and by the language of his flatterers to hope for success. At last he ordered that the opinion of physicians should be taken, as to whether such blindness and infirmity were within the reach of human skill. They discussed the matter from different points of view. ‘In the one case,’ they said, ‘the faculty of sight was not wholly destroyed, and might return, if the obstacles were removed; in the other case, the limb, which had fallen into a diseased condition might be restored, if a healing influence were applied; such, perhaps, might be the pleasure of the Gods, and the Emperor might be chosen to be the minister of the divine will; at any rate, all the glory of a successful remedy would be Caesar’s, while the ridicule of failure would fall on the sufferers.’
“And so Vespasian, supposing that all things were possible to his good fortune, and that nothing was any longer past belief, with a joyful countenance, amid the intense expectation of the multitude of bystanders, accomplished what was required. The hand was instantly restored to its use, and the light of day again shone upon the blind. Persons actually present attest both facts, even now when nothing is to be gained by falsehood.”
- Tacitus, Histories, Book IV, section 81, as translated by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb.
This account, as related by Tacitus, shares undeniable details with some of the miracles that Jesus had performed decades earlier:
1. The ailments of the two people who are said to have approached Vespasian. In Tacitus’ account, one is blind and the other has a withered hand. Decades earlier, Jesus had healed several people of blindness, and had healed a man with a withered hand, as recorded in the Gospels.
2. The manner in which the two men are said to have approached Vespasian. In Tacitus’ account, the blind man throws himself to the ground in an act of humility. Decades beforehand, many people requesting miracles from Jesus also humble themselves, including a leper, who throws himself to the ground in front of Jesus (Luke 5:12-15).
3. The detail of persistence in Tacitus’ account. This is a key feature in many of Jesus' miracles. We see examples with the royal official (John 4:43-54), with the blind man named Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52), and with the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30).
4. The detail about the assessment. There is a segment in the Vespasian story in which physicians are assessing the blind man and the man with the withered hand, providing a context of whether a miracle would be needed to solve their problems. This type of context also is provided in some of Jesus’ miracles, including the one in which Jesus heals a blind man in Jerusalem (John 9:1-41), and another in which Jesus miraculously feeds 5,000 families (Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17 and John 6:1-15).
5. The quality of instantaneousness in the Vespasian story, with the healing of the withered hand. In many of Jesus’ miracles, the Gospel writers inform us that the healings were instantaneous, as was the case when Jesus heals a man with a withered hand (Matthew 12:9-14, Mark 3:1-6 and Luke 6:6-11), about 40 years before the Vespasian story.
6. The mention of spittle to heal the blind man. We see this previously in some of Jesus’ miracles, including the one in which he heals the blind man in Jerusalem.
And so, if one were to make the argument that the story involving Vespasian was directly inspired by, and copied from, the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ miracles, one would have at least six points on which to base that argument.
Long before Vespasian had become emperor, stories about Jesus and his miracles had spread far and wide throughout Israel -- and beyond. And the Vespasian story itself is evidence of that. Vespasian and the people around him would have had opportunities to hear about the miracles of Jesus, including the healings of blind people and the healing of a man with a withered hand.
Given the number of similarities that the Tacitus account shares with the Gospel accounts of miracles, one might consider the possibility that the similarities were intentional, and that they were meant to be obvious to Vespasian’s contemporaries, to invite comparisons to Jesus.
Some scholars have suggested that the story of Vespasian's "miracles" was meant to bolster his credentials as the new emperor, because he did not come from a distinguished family.
Suetonius, a Roman historian, alludes to this possibility in his work, The Twelve Caesars: “Vespasian, the new emperor, having been raised unexpectedly from a low estate, wanted something which might clothe him with divine majesty and authority.” And what better way to do that then to invite comparisons to the most famous miracle of all time -- Jesus.
In conclusion, the stories involving Vespasian's miracles do not undermine the uniqueness of Jesus as a miracle worker. In fact, they reflect the impact that Jesus had as a miracle worker in that others borrowed details from his miracles in crafting stories of their own.
© 2024 Ray Konig.
Ray Konig is the author of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.
See also the uniqueness of Jesus as a miracle worker: Claims of ancient miracle workers, outside of the Bible
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