Christ Jesus declared that he came to do the will of his Father, and on this basis he healed the sick, raised the dead, walked on the water, fed the multitudes, and stilled the tempest. These beneficent acts and others of a similar nature are commonly called miracles, although, according to the teachings of Jesus himself, they were entirely in accord with the divine will; hence divinely natural. In these acts, wherein discord was defeated, God's law was not superseded; rather was the law of God fulfilled. "To suppose that God constitutes laws of inharmony is a mistake; discords have no support from nature or divine law, however much is said to the contrary," writes Mary Baker Eddy in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 183). Clearly nothing inharmonious could proceed from an all-harmonious God. God's law is the law of Love. That which seems to inflict injury or to produce discord is false human belief, not law, and it is only natural that it should be nullified by the law of Love.
The so-called miracles of Jesus, then, were not actually miraculous; they were the spontaneous expression of his spirituality, or his close alliance with divine Principle, Love. That Jesus himself regarded his works as in no way supernatural is clearly shown in the Gospel record, particularly if the original text is considered. The term most frequently used by Jesus for his works, ergon, according to the Greek text, conveys no sense of the miraculous, but means simply deeds or works. With one exception this is the term used throughout John's Gospel in those instances where Jesus referred to his own works. In the twentysixth verse of the sixth chapter the word semeion is used, which in the King James Version is translated "miracles," although the Revised Version more accurately renders it "signs," according to the meaning of the Greek word. The word teras, which corresponds to the English word "miracle," does not appear in the words of Jesus, as shown in the original text, except where it has reference to the acts of false prophets, and where it is used to indicate the unbelievers' concept of Jesus' works. (See Matthew 24:24, Mark 13:22, and John 4:48.) Although Jesus said of his works that they were such as had never before been done by men, nevertheless to him they were not miracles; they were simply the natural fruits of his obedience to the will of God.
It is inconceivable that God, who is infinite Love, should produce sin, suffering, or death; but God's law, rightly understood and demonstrated, destroys discord and restores harmony. Paul had a clear sense of man's superiority to so-called material laws. In his message to the churches of Galatia—that great epistle which a certain writer has termed "the manifesto of emancipation"—he urged the people to turn from matter to Spirit, and declared that if one is led by the Spirit he is not under the fleshly law. Then he went even farther. After enumerating the fruits of the Spirit, among which are included love, joy, and peace, he averred that "against such there is no law." While in this particular instance he had been refering to the Judaic laws, yet it can hardly be doubted that Paul saw all law, other than that which emanates from God, as without power. His clear understanding of law enabled him to annul the effects of the serpent bite and restore Eutychus to life.
