Peter pondered my question for several minutes before replying. “A true miracle is not a trick of magic that anyone can learn to perform. It is a demonstration of God’s unlimited power, and it usually runs contrary to the laws of nature as we know them to be. A miracle is an expression of God’s will and purpose, and when we are witness to one it provides us with renewed faith that he is with us always.”

“By that definition, did Jesus perform miracles?”

“The miracles were wrought by Jesus,” Peter corrected me, “but the power to perform them came from God.”

“From your God—or mine?”

“Romans or Jews, Matthias, there is only one God!”

“Tell me, Peter, did Moses perform miracles when he transformed a rod into a serpent at the command of the pharaoh and later when he parted the sea of reeds so that your people could escape from the armies of Egypt?”

“Yes.”

“Did Elijah perform miracles when he raised the widow’s son from the dead and when he had the troops of Ahaziah consumed by fire?”

“Yes.”

Joseph was glaring at me, and I was sure the old fox thought he knew where I was going with my questions. “Peter,” I continued, “when Elisha supplied water to King Jehoshaphat in the wilderness of Edom and cured a leper and caused an axhead to float in the water—were these things tricks of magic or miracles?”

“Miracles.”

“When Daniel was sealed in the den of lions by King Darius and emerged the next morning unharmed—had he performed a miracle?”

“Yes.”

I ran my finger slowly across the glass tabletop. “Did any of these great miracle workers of the Jews ever claim to be a god—or the Son of God—or the Messiah?”

At last Peter realized where I had been leading him. “No.” He sighed.

“Miracles, then, of themselves, have never been considered by your people as a sign that he who worked them was anything more than a prophet at the very most, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Was the Jewish Messiah—he who would someday come to free your people from bondage, deliver them from their enemies, and establish the Kingdom of God here on earth—was he expected to prove his authority by performing miracles for the people?”

“No.”

“Then how is it that you called Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, based on the miracles you said he performed, when the long-awaited Christ was not expected to perform any?”

The big man nervously clenched and unclenched his fists. “Matthias,” he almost whispered, “I would have believed that Jesus was the Christ without a single miracle. His words alone set him far above any prophet who has ever lived.”

We had now come full circle. “And yet the wisest of your sages, the Pharisees and Sadducees, were always challenging Jesus to show them a sign to attest to his words. Why is that?”