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OpinionAn accurate interpretation of the meaning of healing miracles can best be found in Mark, because this was the earliest gospel and the main source document for the other gospels.

From the Gospel, we can attempt to find Christ's motive or intention when he performed healing miracles. It could be expected that he performed these miracles so that people would understand who he was, and believe. Yet the author of Mark says that Jesus usually told people not to reveal his identity. It coud be that Jesus performed healing miracles out of compassion for sufferers, yet when a gentile woman asked him to exorcise demons from her daughter, his first reaction was to speak of gentiles as 'dogs' (Mark 7:27). In another case, the woman with the issue of blood was cured quite unintentionally (Mark 5:25).

It was customary for holy men to use spit when curing afflictions. In two early episodes (Mark 7:32 and 8:23), Jesus is reported as using this technique, in one case with difficulty. Mark could have created the stories based on his knowledge of holy men in general, or Jesus had learnt tricks from them. After this, Jesus is shown as more confident and more powerful, no longer needing to use spit to effect cures. By the time of John's Gospel, Jesus was even able to resurrect Lazarus, who had been dead for more than three days. However, Jesus never restored lost limbs or saved people suffering from life-threatening injuries.

The best interpretation of the healing miracles of Jesus is that they showed the power of Jesus, but that the gospel authors were mindful of the extent to which their audience would believe the stories told.
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Q: How can you arrive at an accurate interpretation of the meaning of healing miracles in the Christian Scriptures?
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