The Meaning of Christ’s Miracles

“…by His wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

Jesus was no ordinary man. He performed countless miracles. In one chapter alone (Matthew 8), we are told that Jesus cleansed the defiled, healed the diseased, and drove out demons with a word. Have you ever wondered why exactly Jesus performed these miracles? First and foremost, the miracles are His credentials. Often, when an ambassador is given a new post in another country, he must first return to his home country to have an audience with the president and receive his credentials. He then carries these credentials with himself to present to the head of state in the country where he will now serve. In similar fashion, the miracles of Jesus are His credentials. They are proof of His authority and His office—His identity and mission.

The miracles of Jesus prove that He is the Lord’s promised Saviour and that, in Him, God has come to rescue His people. Isaiah 35 pointed forward to the miracles that would accompany the age of the Messiah: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.” (v. 5). The miracles were Jesus’ stamp of authenticity. As the Apostle Peter explained, “Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him…” (Acts 2:22).

The miracles of Jesus did something else as well. They pointed forward to the greater work that Jesus would achieve at the cross. Matthew 8:17 explains, “This [the group of miracles Jesus performed] was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”’ This passage quotes Isaiah 53, which is a prophecy about the cross of Christ. It tells the story of the Lord’s Servant who would come and die in the place of His people, bearing our sin and the very judgment of God. Matthew 8 makes the link to Isaiah 53 because the miracles of Jesus—cleansing a leper, casting out demons, healing the sick—teach us about the nature of the cross. And how is that so? Well, demons, death and disease are all tied to the problem of sin. The brokenness that Jesus confronted and addressed in His miracles are all symptoms of the deeper problem that this world is alienated from God, guilty before God, and under the judgment of God. At the cross, Jesus addressed the problem of sin so that we can ultimately spend eternity in a new creation where demons, death and disease have no hold.

How then should we respond to the miracles of Jesus? The leper in Matthew 8 provides a clue. That leper said reverently, on bended knee, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” (v. 2) He had confidence in the healing power of Jesus. As we read these words, as we do, from the other side of the cross– knowing that Jesus has shed His blood for our cleansing – we too can approach Jesus as defiled people confident that He can cleanse us. Notice how Jesus responds to the leper. He does not brush the man off or ignore him or send him away hopeless. Instead, Jesus reached out and touched this unclean man – not repulsed by him, not hesitant in any way—saying, “I am willing. Be clean.” Immediately, the man was cured. Have you asked Jesus to make you clean? He is willing, and if He has cleansed you, you are clean indeed!