The first record we have of Jesus as miracle worker is when he turned water into wine at a wedding. We don’t have other similar miracles recorded, but He certainly could have done them. The miracles we have most record of are the ones that prove Jesus was the Messiah promised to the Jewish people.
John the Baptist was Jesus’s cousin and was sent to prepare people for Jesus by instructing them to repent and turn from their sins. He told people that Jesus was the Lamb of God who had come to take away the world’s sins. When John was imprisoned, he sends his disciples to ask if Jesus is really the Messiah, the Savior. Here’s what Jesus replied to let John know He was the Christ come to take away the sins of the world.
Matthew 11:4-5 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.”
Jesus was sent to go from town to town in Israel teaching and preaching, but He also healed people everywhere He went. The Old Testament, the books of the Bible written before Jesus was born, contain hundreds of prophecies about Jesus, saying things that He would do hundreds of years later. Here’s one of those prophecies.
Isaiah 35:4-6 Behold, your God … will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
When Jesus was on earth, he opened the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, the mouth of the mute, and made the lame to walk. He fulfilled the prophesy.
We’re told that Jesus healed everyone that came to Him. I’ve given you a couple of verses before about Jesus healing, but read through these. What could Jesus heal? Who was Jesus willing to heal?
Matthew 8:16 (NKJV) When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick…
Matthew 14:14 (NKJV) And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
Matthew 19:2 (NKJV) And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.
Matthew 21:14 (NKJV) Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.
Matthew 12:15 (NKJV) But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.
Mark 6:56 (NKJV) Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.
Mark 3:10 (NKJV) For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.
Luke 4:40 (NKJV) When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.
Luke 6:19 (NKJV) And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.
It’s clear Jesus can heal anything. It’s clear who received healing from Jesus: everyone who sought Him. There were others who weren’t healed. They didn’t seek Jesus for their healing.
Lesson Point: Jesus performed miracles to help people, mostly when they sought help from Him and not just because there was a need.
Challenge Question: Is there anything in your life that you question whether God is able to do anything about it?
Note: Later in the course we’ll talk about faith when God doesn’t do the thing we ask. For now let me say that we keep faith in the God who is able and who is always good and loving.
John 2:1-10 (The story of water into wine)
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”