In the Old Testament, the job of prophets was to pass on God’s message to the people. The prophets did not speak their word; God’s word was spoken through them. They revealed who God was, and what He planned to do. Some did preform miracles.
Then things changed in the New Testament, as described to us through the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It’s from the gospel of John that we learn when Jesus arrived, He was the Word:
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
When God’s Son came, the Word of God now lived among man. Jesus was here demonstrating God so that man might believe.
John 10:36-38 . . .what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
How did Jesus demonstrate God to unbelievers?
One way was through miracles. Recorded in the gospels are thirty seven miracles Jesus performed during His three year adult ministry. The miracles were not carried out to entertain. Jesus was either helping/healing someone or showing His deity.
The first miracle happened at Cana in Galilee during a wedding. Mary, Jesus’ mother, told Jesus there was no more wine, though she had no idea how Jesus would solve the problem. Jesus helped the host avoid embarrassment, by turning water into wine.
Other helping miracles include: feeding five thousand people, calming a storm, feeding four thousand people, and fishermen’s nets become filled.
The second miracle, also performed while Jesus was in Cana, was a healing. An official’s son lay sick at Capernaum in Galilee. The official begged Jesus to heal his dying son. When Jesus told him his son would live, the man believed and returned home. Part way home, the official met his servants and they stated the boy lives!
John 4:52-53 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed.
Other healings’ from Jesus include a paralytic, a leper, a sick woman, a blind men receives sight, a mute man can speak, and a man with swelling.
Many of Jesus’ helping/healing miracles could also be claimed as displays of divinity because He was claiming power over the elements. To me, those miracles certainly demonstrated His divine nature.
But most notably, His divinity shined in three situations where He raised others from the dead:
- Jesus Raises a Widow’s Dead Son in Nain – Luke 7:11-17
- Jesus Raises Jairus’ Daughter Back to Life in Capernaum – Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43, Luke 8:40-56
- Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead in Bethany – John 11:1-45
Through Jesus’ miracles we also learn demons fear Him, Mark 1:23-27 and Matthew 8:28-34.
So miraculous were the teaching of Jesus, the very last verse in John’s gospel reads:
John 21:25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
I invite you now to contemplate the miracles of Jesus. Imagine the wondrous life He lead performing these miracles throughout Galilee, so that all would believe He is God’s Son.
If you are not a believer, I encourage you to read of Jesus’ greatest miracle of all – His resurrection from the dead, John 20.
Jesus is still as alive as He was in Galilee, just waiting for you to BELIEVE!
Read my post next week, as I share why believing in Jesus is so important to our eternity.
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