Fifth mondays in the month mean throwback blog posts and since Easter is fast approaching, here is our reminder from the great Blaise Pascal about why we follow Christ:
Jesus Christ has verified that He was the Messiah, never in verifying His doctrine by Scripture and the prophecies, but always by His miracles. (Pascal, 808)
Pascal seems to think that the miracles of Christ should be what ultimately sways us to believe everything that Jesus said and did. He’s not alone:
“I should not be a christian, but for the miracles.” Saint Augustine
Did Jesus quote prophecies? Yes. Did he teach doctrine? Yes. How do we know to believe the prophecies and follow the doctrine? Miracles.
Jesus performed countless miracles while on the earth and when He specifically didn’t want the Jews to know who He was, we told them to keep the miracles a secret. When he was ready to be known throughout Judea, His miracles were public. The turning point was revealed in His miracles.
The centrality of the miracles is shown in Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the blind man who regained his sight, and ultimately the miracle of the cross and resurrection. Because these miracles worked to support the claims of Christ, we have hope that what Christ teaches and proclaims is true.
With miracles, we come to the end of our journey with Pascal. Pascal has walked us through the search for the true infinite God and nails it all in place with the miracles of Christ.
I prefer to follow Jesus Christ than any other, because He has miracle, prophecy, doctrine, and perpetuity. (Pascal, 822)