He [Jesus] could have been that [a healer and exorcist]—indeed, he could have been "the most extraordinary figure in … the stream of Jewish charismatic healers," as the same New Testament scholar goes on to say—without attracting more than local attention. What made him outlive his time and place was the way he used the Spirit that coursed though him not just to heal individuals but — this was his aspiration — to heal humanity, beginning with his own people.

The World's Religions (1991)