According to the very books which record the miracles of Jesus, he never claimed to perform such deeds, and Paul declares that the great reason why Israel did not believe Jesus to be the Messiah was that "the Jews required a sign."[276:1] He meant: "Signs and wonders are the only proofs they will admit that any one is sent by God and is preaching the truth. If they cannot have this palpable, external proof, they withhold their faith." A writer of the second century (John, in ch. iv. 18) makes Jesus aim at his fellow-countrymen and contemporaries, the reproach: "Unless you see signs and wonders, you do not believe." In connection with Paul's declaration, given above, these words might be paraphrased: "The reason why the Jews never believed in Jesus was that they never saw him do signs and wonders." Listen to the reply he (Jesus) made when told that if he wanted people to believe in him he must first prove his claim by a miracle: "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a _sign_, and no sign shall be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonas."[276:2] Of course, this answer did not in the least degree satisfy the questioners; so they presently came to him again with a more direct request: "If the kingdom of God is, as you say, close at hand, show us at least some _one_ of the signs in heaven which are to precede the Messianic age." What could appear more reasonable than such a request? Every one knew that the end of the present age was to be heralded by fearful signs in heaven. The light of the sun was to be put out, the moon turned to blood, the stars robbed of their brightness, and many other fearful signs were to be shown![276:3] If any _one_ of these could be produced, they would be content; but if not, they must decline to surrender themselves to an idle joy which must end in a bitter disappointment; and surely Jesus himself could hardly expect them to believe in him on his bare word. _Historians_ have recorded miracles said to have been performed by other persons, but not a word is said by _them_ about the miracles claimed to have been performed by Jesus. Justus of Tiberias, who was born about five years after the time assigned for the crucifixion of Jesus, wrote a _Jewish History_. Now, if the miracles attributed to Christ Jesus, and his death and resurrection, had taken place in the manner described by the Gospel narrators, he could not have failed to allude to them. But Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, tells us that it contained "_no mention of the coming of Christ, nor of the events concerning him, nor of the prodigies he wrought_." As Theodore Parker has remarked: "The miracle is of a most _fluctuating_ character. The miracle-worker of to-day is a matter-of-fact juggler to-morrow. Science each year adds new wonders to our store. The master of a locomotive steam-engine would have been thought greater than Jupiter Tonans, or the Elohim, thirty centuries ago."