Why did Jesus perform miracles?

Regularly, we see people asking for a miracle in prayer—whether it’s for healing, wealth, relationships, etc. We also see people seeking signs of miracles. “Oh, if you’re doing the work you do, then you must see miracles often, right?” Some of those questions give me negative chills. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with asking God to help you in your times of need. Yes, God can absolutely perform miracles if He wills it for His glory. But sometimes, it seems like there’s also a kind of craving for sensation.

Let’s take a look at why Jesus (He seems like a good example to me) performed miracles. A clear example is John 10:37-38. Here, Jesus Himself explains why He performs miracles. For context: the Jews wanted to stone Jesus because they didn’t believe He was God. Jesus explains there why He performs miracles:

If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.” (John 10:37-38)

So, Jesus explains that the miracles show that He is in the Father and that the Father is in Him. He clearly states that the purpose of the miracles is to show people who He is and to bring them to faith. His purpose is not sensation or even healing. Yes, people were certainly amazed by what He did, and that must have been sensational, and yes, people were healed, but that was not His goal. The primary goal He describes Himself is clear: “so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.”

So, it’s not about the miracle itself for Him… And notice, we see this theme return often:

But I have a testimony greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—these very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.” (John 5:36)

Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.” (John 14:11)

Jesus answered, ‘It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.’ (John 9:3 NASB)

Do you see the trend? Jesus keeps saying that His miracles testify that He was sent by the Father. They serve as proof of His divine mission, and all those miracles point to the Father. So, the miracles themselves are not the goal, but they have a purpose: to provide evidence that Jesus was sent by God the Father, so that people would believe in Christ’s salvation and come to God. That is the goal, and nothing else…

Yes, but it also says in Luke 4:18-19:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19)

Doesn’t this mean that Jesus Himself says He came to “give sight to the blind”? So, doesn’t that mean healing is the goal?

Well, no. (Context, people, context) Because here, Jesus is quoting a verse from Isaiah 61:1. And Isaiah 61 is a prophecy. It’s one of the messianic prophecies in the Old Testament and is often seen as an announcement of the role and work of the Messiah. In this chapter, the Spirit of the Lord speaks through the prophet Isaiah and describes an anointed one who brings good news to the poor, heals the brokenhearted, proclaims freedom for the captives, and breaks the chains of oppression. So, when Christ quotes this verse, He is confirming that Isaiah 61 is indeed a prophecy about the Messiah and His mission, and that Jesus is the person who fulfills that prophecy. So again, the miracle is not the primary goal, but the miracle plays the role of proving who Christ is, so that people may believe in Him and come to God.

In other words, Jesus Himself says that He performed those miracles to:

• To confirm His divine mission.
• To show that He is one with the Father.
• To provide evidence that the prophecies about the Messiah have been fulfilled.
• To reveal God’s glory and power.
• With His ultimate goal: To bring people to faith. (That is the(!) purpose for why Jesus came to this world in the first place.)

So, His primary goal was not to make people better, not to cause sensation, but to bring people to God. That was His goal. Clear, right?

And now back to today… why do people ask for miracles today? Is it so that through those miracles people will come to God, or to get better themselves, to experience positive thrills, or… you name it…

By the way, Christ Himself had a clear opinion on people asking for a miracle… The scribes and Pharisees also asked for one… and then Jesus gave them His more than clear answer:

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Him, saying, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.’” (Matthew 12:38-39)

Wow! Strong answer!

So, now the question for you and me today: why do we ask, or think we can ask for a miracle today? Is that the right reason, or is it secretly about me, about “I,” or perhaps even for sensation, and not about God Himself? Everything Jesus did pointed to the Father, that was His goal. What is your goal? Be careful not to fall under the label “evil and adulterous generation that craves a sign…”

Something to think about…