Up from the grave he arose;
with a mighty triumph o’er his foes;
he arose a victor from the dark domain,
and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose![i]

[i] Robert Lowry, Christ Arose, 1874, Public Domain

Photo by L. Kranz

Thus far in our examination of the ministry of Elisha and Jesus, we can see there are striking parallels in the miracles they worked:  

• Their first public miracle was the transformation of water. Elisha turned a spring of foul water into good water at Jericho (2 Kings 2:19-22). Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-12).
• Elisha healed Naaman the Syrian leper (2 Kings 5:1-19). Jesus healed a leper after delivering his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 8:1-4).
• Elisha brought the Shunammite’s son back to life (2 Kings 4:8-37), and Jesus brought the synagogue leader’s daughter back to life (Matthew 9:18-26).
• Elisha miraculously fed a hundred men (2 Kings 4:42-44). Jesus miraculously fed a crowd of five thousand men (Matthew 14:13-21), and then a crowd of four thousand (Matthew 15:29-39).
• Both prophets demonstrated miracles of supernatural buoyancy. Elisha caused an iron axe-head to float (2 Kings 6:5-7), and Jesus walked on water (Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:15-21).
• Both men worked miracles of provision. A widow’s jar of olive oil kept pouring and filled dozens of containers (2 Kings 4:1-7), and at Jesus’ command Peter caught a fish with a gold coin in its mouth (Matthew 17:24-27).
• Both demonstrated power over nature. Elisha prophesied the arrival of water in the desert without wind or rain (2 Kings 3:15-18). Jesus stilled the wind and waves on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:23-27).
• Elisha opened the spiritual eyes of his servant (2 Kings 6:16-17), and Jesus opened the eyes of the blindman at the Pool of Siloam (John 9:5-7), as well as numerous others.

            When seen in tandem, this string of eight parallel miracles points to the arrival of the great Messianic prophet that Israel was longing for. Elisha’s double anointing was being doubled yet again through the ministry of Jesus. The New Testament Elisha had arrived, and his name was Jesus of Nazareth.
            Matthew deliberately framed his Gospel narrative so his Jewish readers could easily discern how Jesus duplicated and fulfilled the pattern established by the Old Testament miracle-working prophets.
            When the disciples of John the Baptist arrived to inquire if Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, how did he respond? He listed a string of miracles:

            Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me” (Matthew 11:4-6, NIV).

           Why did Jesus respond in this somewhat indirect enigmatic way? With his answer, he was drawing the link between his current ministry and the miracle-working prophetic ministry of the Old Testament duo of Elijah and Elisha. When John’s disciples leave, Jesus makes this abundantly clear to the crowd gathered around him by explicitly stating that John “is the Elijah who is to come” (Matthew 11:14).
            For those who have ears to hear, the implications are clear. If the new Elijah is already here in the person of John, then the miracles of Jesus herald his arrival as the new Elisha. Furthermore, Jesus’ answer implies that he is John the Baptist’s successor just as Elisha was Elijah’s successor. With John imprisoned, the double anointing now rests on Jesus, and in his conversation with John’s disciples he offers up his accomplishments as a miracle-worker as full proof of this prophetic transition.
            The hallmark of Elisha’s ministry was his double anointing (2 Kings 2:9). Elisha performed twice as many miracles as Elijah—more than thrice as many by some calculations. In his Gospel, Matthew signals that this double anointing resting on Jesus in a most unusual way. Generations of Bible scholars and apologists have puzzled over Matthew’s double vision. Repeatedly, Matthew reports on two men receiving miraculous help when the other Gospel writers report only one person receiving help.
            The first example of this is found in Matthew’s report on the restoration of two demon possessed men in the region of the Gadarenes (Matthew 8:28-34). This corresponds closely with the report of what appears to be the same event in Mark’s Gospel (Mark 5:1-20) and Luke’s Gospel (Luke 8:26-39). Mark’s account goes into considerably more detail, but Mark and Luke make no mention of a second man.
            The second occurrence is found in Matthew’s healing of two blindmen (Matthew 9:27-31). Again, for the perceptive, this double healing serves as a sign of the double anointing now resting on Jesus.
            The third example of Matthew’s double vision occurs as Jesus is leaving Jericho on his last Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

           Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” (Matthew 20:30, NIV).

          Similar accounts appear in Mark’s Gospel (Mark 10:46-52) and Luke’s Gospel (Luke 18:35-43). Again, Mark provides more detail by identifying the blindman as Bartimaeus. And yet again, Mark and Luke make no mention of a second man.
            Finally, all four Gospel writers report on the feeding of the 5,000, but only Matthew and Mark include the feeding of the 4,000. Again, Matthew reports a double miracle, while Luke and John remain silent on the second miraculous feeding.
            Bible scholars and apologists have come up with some sound reasons for these discrepancies in the four Gospels, which for the sake of brevity we will not explore here. But the following is one possible explanation:
            We tend to see what we are looking for, and undoubtedly, this principle applies to Matthew as well. When we are watching for something, we will pick out the item or event we are searching for against a busy backdrop of other sights and events. We see it because we are watching for it. The words of Jesus ring true, “Seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7).
            A recent experience David Kitz had serves to illustrate this point. While walking along the shoreline of a marsh, he came upon a muskrat lodge protruding above the ice. He was fascinated by this discovery. After continuing further, he returned and then retraced his steps and found five more muskrat lodges. He had passed by these lodges minutes earlier but had noticed none of them. He saw them now because he was looking for them.

Petrie Island — photo by David Kitz

            So, why did Matthew see and record his list of double miracles? Could it be because he was actively watching for evidence of a double anointing resting on Jesus, whereas the other Gospel writers had their attention fixed elsewhere? Matthew was expecting to see miracles in duplicate because he was keenly aware of the Old Testament dynamic duo and their prophetic narrative. He was familiar with Elisha’s miracles, and now he was watching the same pattern of miracles repeated with a twofold impact. Yes, Elisha’s double anointing was being doubled yet again.
            Furthermore, Matthew was writing with his Jewish audience in mind—an audience that was familiar with and watching for the return of the voice and power of the Old Covenant prophets. He was writing to his people in a code they could readily decipher because they were steeped in Old Testament lore and primed to expect the arrival of their Messiah. Matthew was declaring to his countrymen that the prophetic power and anointing had returned first in the person of John the Baptist, and now through the ministry of Jesus. For this reason, his Gospel narrative directly sites more than forty Old Testament references and alludes to many others.[i]
            Like any great storyteller, Matthew saves the climax of the story until the end—just before the conclusion of his Gospel. And there is no greater climax to any story than the resurrection of Jesus. Again, in Matthew’s account, there is a discernable link to resurrection and the end-of-life experiences of both Elisha and Jesus.

The promise of resurrection — photo by David Kitz

            Elisha has his own post-death resurrection story. Like many of Elisha’s miracles, it is an event without precedent in the Old Testament. Elisha’s final miracle happened months or possibly years after his death.

             Elisha died and was buried.
             Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet (2 Kings 13:20-21, NIV).

            In his death Elisha brought forth life. How miraculous—how Christ like!
            In the same way Jesus, the New Testament Elisha, brought forth resurrection life when he died.

             And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
            At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. (Matthew 27:50-53, NIV)

                Again, Matthew is the only Gospel writer who reports this phenomenal event. Perhaps Matthew met with residents of Jerusalem who told him of their encounters with these resurrected holy people. Perhaps, he or some of the other apostles had such an encounter.
                Once more, we see a striking parallel between this final resurrection miracle of Jesus’ earthly ministry, and the final resurrection miracle of Elisha. Of course, Christ’s miracle in death is an amplified version of Elisha’s posthumous resurrection miracle. Elisha brought only one man back to life, while Jesus brought many holy people up from their graves. Jesus was, after all, more than a prophet. He was and is the only begotten Son of God, and this resurrection miracle acts as a token or sign pointing to the final resurrection that will come at the end of the age when Jesus returns.
                This then is the nineth and final miracle of Jesus that reflects a direct parallel miracle from the life and ministry of Elisha. It is a miracle that is found exclusively in Matthew’s Gospel. It is recorded there because Matthew was painting a portrait of Jesus for a Jewish audience. For the perceptive, it is a portrait of a prophet who came in the miracle-working power of Elisha. And like any great storyteller, Matthew saved the most power-packed event until the end.
                Will you and I be sparking a revival after our death just as Elisha did?

[i] Matthew’s use of the Old Testament — Wednesday in the Word

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