Was Jesus a witch and a pagan philosopher?

In biblical narratives, Jesus was not a witch; he never invoked the name of any pagan gods or spirits before performing any of his miracles nor did he ever preach pagan philosophies or say anything during his ministry that could be mistaken as such. As a matter of fact, Jesus was very anti-pagan as evidenced in his remarks to Satan in the book of Luke 4:8.

During his ministry, Jesus Christ asserted in response to suggestions that he practiced the “dark arts,” that if it were by the power of Hades that he performed his miracles, then it would be self-destructive on the part of Satan, the prince of Hades, to facilitate this (Matthew 12:25–26). Jesus said this because the reason that he performed miracles was to promote faith in God; the same God in fact, that condemned Satan, Satan’s angels, Death, and Hell to eternal torment (Isaiah 14:12–15, & Revelation 21:14).

I have, however, heard some rather interesting arguments made by occultists who say that Jesus was a witch. Some have indicated that Jesus learned mysticism and magic in Egypt, Persia, and India from the ages of thirteen to age 30, and this is why the Bible does not reveal Jesus’ life during this seventeen-year period. Furthermore, there are occultists that speculate that the reason that Jesus chose twelve disciples is because a witch coven is only effective when it has thirteen members. However, Jesus likely chose twelve disciples in homage to the original Twelve Tribes of Israel (Deuteronomy 33:6–25).

Some occultists have asserted further that the miracles that Jesus performed in the Four Gospels, such as the casting out of devils from various persons (Matthew 12:22,) turning water into wine (John 2:1–11,) healing of the sick (Mark 1:40–45,) walking on water (Matthew 14:22–33,) raising Lazarus from the dead (John 1:38–44,) and Jesus’ own resurrection (Matthew 28:1–7,) were all acts of witchcraft that Jesus performed due to his mastery of powerful magic spells and his conjuration of powerful demonic spirits. Even the Pharisees speculated that Jesus performed miracles such as the casting out of evils spirits from various persons by the power of Beelzebul, the “Prince of Demons” (Matthew 12:24).

Overall, some people find the idea of Jesus being a witch to be romantic or even exciting; and while mysticism, magic, divination, and witchcraft were very in-demand in the first-century near-east, I believe that the Bible does a fairly effective job in refuting any argument that Jesus Christ was a practitioner of these arts.