The Miracles of the Messiah

0. Introduction

Some Rabbinic apologists argue the King Messiah will not perform miracles when he arrives. Some members of the Sanhedrin accepted Bar Kochba as the Messiah even though he performed no miracles whatsoever. I shall argue that there are traditions which support the concept that he will be a miracle worker. 

1. Miracle Working

There is some disagreement among the Rabbis even today over whether the Messiah will be a miracle worker when he arrives. But the Rambam teaches that the Messiah must not be a miracle worker when he arrives but a warrior and scholar. 

"One should not presume that the Messianic king must work miracles and wonders, bring about new phenomena in the world, resurrect the dead, or perform other similar deeds. This is definitely not true. Proof can be brought from the fact that Rabbi Akiva, one of the greater Sages of the Mishnah, was one of the supporters of King Bar Kosibah and would describe him as the Messianic king. He and all the Sages of his generation considered him to be the Messianic king until he was killed because of sins. Once he was killed, they realized that he was not the Mashiach. The Sages did not ask him for any signs or wonders." (Mishneh Torah, 11:3, 4) 

The Targums express the concept of a miracle working Messiah.  The Aramaic Targum renders Psalm 18:32 this way, 

אֲרוּם נִסָא וּפוּרְקָנָא דְתַעְבֵּיד לִמְשִׁיחָךְ וּלְשִׁיוּרֵי עַמָךְ דְיִשְׁתָּאֲרוּן יוֹדוּן כָּל עַמְמַיָא אוּמַיָא וְלִשָׁנַיָא וְיֵימְרוּן לֵית אֱלָהָא אֶלָא יְיָ אֲרוּם לֵית בַּר מִנָךְ וְעַמֵךְ יֵימְרוּן לֵית דְתַקִיף אֶלָא אֱלָהָנָא:

"For because of the miracle and deliverance that you will perform for your Messiah, and for the remnants of your people who will remain, all the Gentiles, nations, and tongues will confess and say, ‘There is no God but the Lord, for there is none besides you.’ And your people will say, ‘There is none mighty except our God.’" 

Targum Jonathan of Isaiah 53:8, 

מִיסוּרִין וּמִפּוּרְעֲנוּת יְקָרֵיב גַלְוָתָנָא וּפְרִישָׁן דְיִתְעַבְדָן לָנָא בְּיוֹמוֹהִי מַן יִכּוּל לְאִשְׁתְּעָאָה אֲרֵי יַעְדֵי שׁוּלְטָן עַמְמַיָא מֵאַרְעָא דְיִשְׂרָאֵל חוֹבִין דְחָבוּ עַמִי עַד לְוַתְהוֹן יִמְטוֹ:

"He shall gather our captives from affliction and pain, and who shall be able to narrate the wonderful works which shall be done for us in his days? He shall remove the rule of the nations from the land of Israel, the sins which my people have committed have come upon them."

The "wonderful works" refer not only to healings as in Isa. 35:5, but also to resurrections. This is seen in the Targum Jonathan of Hosea 6:2, "he will quicken us in the days of consolation which are to come, and on the day of the resurrection of the dead he will raise us up." The Midrash of Psalm 106:9 states that the resurrection will begin in Palestine during Messianic age and a similar interpretation is given for Psalm 142:5. (Bereshit Rabbah 74, 96)