What was the purpose of Jesus’ miracles?

Answer  
  

A [miracle](definition-miracle.html) is an unexpected outpouring of God’s power that defies ordinary explanation and occurs outside the bounds of natural order. Miracles in the Bible demonstrate God’s involvement in humans’ lives. Their purpose is always to advance the kingdom of God in some way. The miracle of Jesus’ incarnation served that very purpose. Nothing Jesus Christ did during His earthly ministry was random. Everything He said and did conformed to the will of God (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; 12:49; 14:31; Luke 22:42; Hebrews 10:5–9; cf. Psalm 40:6–8\). Thus, Jesus’ miracles were meant to reveal and advance His heavenly Father’s kingdom.  
  

The miracles of Jesus—about 37 are recorded in the Gospels—include physical healings, casting out demons, providing food, controlling or altering elements such as water, wind, and rain, and raising people from the dead. All these supernatural occurrences served a specific purpose in God’s plan of salvation for humanity.  
  

The central purpose of Jesus’ miracles was to reveal and advance the kingdom of God (see Matthew 12:28\), but these miracles also served several other peripheral purposes. The first recorded miracle of Jesus was turning water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana (John 2:1–12\). John called this miracle a “miraculous sign” (verse 11\). It accomplished two critical purposes: it proved Christ’s power and revealed His glory. As a result, the disciples put their faith in Jesus.  
  

Another purpose of Jesus’ miracles was to reveal His divine identity and authority as the [Messiah](is-Jesus-the-Messiah.html) and Son of God (John 11:41–42\). Jesus said, “The works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me” (John 5:36\). As Jesus performed various signs and wonders, He proved that He was divinely endowed with power to control physical elements (Matthew 8:27\), spiritual forces (Matthew 12:28; Mark 1:34\), and even life and death (Luke 7:14–15; Matthew 9:25\).  
  

Sometimes, Jesus performed miracles in the Father’s authority (John 10:37–38\), and at other times, He acted on His own authority (Matthew 12:9–14\). This revealed both His divine nature and His participation in the Trinity (John 5:17, 19–30\).  
  

Jesus’ miracles fulfilled Old Testament [prophecies](prophecies-of-Jesus.html) about Israel’s Messiah. Matthew writes, “That evening many demon\-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick. This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said, ‘He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases’” (Matthew 8:16–17, NLT).  
  

When John the Baptist sent the disciples to Jesus to confirm His identity, Jesus responded, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor” (Matthew 11:4–5, NLT). Here, Jesus showed He was fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 61:1–2\.  
  

Another purpose of Jesus’ miracles was to validate who He is. Jesus told a group of His enemies, “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” (John 10:38\). With the healing of a paralytic, Jesus revealed His power to forgive sins; in other words, He is God. Most of those who witnessed the miracle praised God in amazement (Mark 2:1–12\), but some remained opposed to Jesus.  
  

Christ’s miracles also had the purpose of opening people’s hearts to receive His message and trust Him as Savior (John 2:23–25; 11:45\). John emphasized this purpose as one of his motives for writing his Gospel: “The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name” (John 20:30–31, NLT).  
  

Jesus’ miracles provide dramatic evidence that He is God’s only Son, sent to be our Savior (John 3:16–17\). They show His great compassion for people (Matthew 14:14\), lifting their burdens (Matthew 11:28\), healing their diseases (Matthew 4:23\), and meeting their deepest needs (Luke 8:35; John 4:10\). So, another purpose of Jesus’ miracles was to show God’s love. Jesus had the power to help people, and He helped.  
  

The apostle John asserts that Jesus performed so many miracles that most of them were not even recorded in the Bible (John 21:25\). These countless demonstrations of God’s love and power caused people to flock to Jesus (Mark 1:32, 37, 45\) where they could hear His message, receive it by faith, accept God’s gift of salvation, and enter into His eternal kingdom.  
  

