PROOFS OF JESUS CHRIST'S DIVINITY: HIS GREAT MIRACLES

The four Gospels abound in evidence that Christ had great miraculous powers such as had never been seen before. Christ’s first “recorded” miracle was the result of His mother’s request to create some wine for distraught hosts. In the Gospels we find the description of many more astonishing miracles, such as he healing of the leper (Matt. 8:1-4), of the centurion’s servant (Matt. 8:5), Peter’s wife’s mother (Matt. 8:14), a palsied man (Matt. 9:1), the raising of Jairus daughter (Matt. 9:23), the two blind men (Matt. 9:27), a man with a withered hand (Matt. 12:10), the epileptic boy Matt. 17:14), and several more including the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38).

But what if God had not given Christ such mighty miraculous powers? What if God had simply allowed Christ to come and die for us, as prophesied in the Scriptures, without ever performing great miracles?

Christ’s identity as Messiah had to be undeniably proven. Just as doing great miracles alone would not have sufficed, prophecies alone would not have been sufficient either. During Christ’s earthly ministry, there was a need to quickly and dramatically attract the attention of the people so that they would listen to and consider His message. The relationship between Christ and the messianic scriptures would have been established later on. In the immediate, God’s power in Christ had to be manifested with undeniable works. Christ was not just another self-proclaimed Messiah; He was the Savior sent by God, and great miracles would testify to it.

This theme becomes evident from the beginning of Christ’s ministry when John, “heard about the works of Christ,” and sent two of his disciples to confirm what Christ’s miracles implied: “Are you the coming one or do we look for another?”(Matt.11: 2-3). The evidence Christ offered was undeniable: “The blind receive their sight and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached unto them” (Matt. 11: 5).

As the word spread, “multitudes…followed him on foot from the cities” (Matt. 14: 13). Great numbers of physically and mentally afflicted people thronged Him, and Christ healed them (V. 14). As the numbers grew, Christ had a perfect opportunity to preach the gospel to them and, indirectly, to the many who would have heard about Christ’s message when the crowds went home.

As time progressed, the approach produced great results to the point that the crowds became multitudes and finally “great multitudes came to Him having with them those who were lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. So the multitudes marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, the blind seeing; and the glorified the God of Israel” (Matt. 15: 30-31).

The apex of God’s involvement with Christ is, of course, His resurrection from the dead. After Christ paid for the sins of humanity, God was now ready to show to all the ultimate evidence that Christ was His beloved Son and Messiah. Thus, a badly mangled body, emptied of blood that had been dead for three days and three nights is brought back to life miraculously. To make sure that there would have been no doubt as to the event, Christ appeared to His disciples (Matt. 28), and then to over five hundred brethren, (I Cor. 15:6). From the beginning of Christ’s ministry to the end, God bore “witness both with signs and wonders with various miracles” (Hebrews 2: 4). Christ was, without doubt, the promised Messiah, as the scriptures attested to and as great miracles proved beyond any doubt.

There was a critical need, therefore, that the coming of Christ be framed by power and great glory---and so it was. Had God not accompanied Christ’s redeeming work on earth with great wonders, the Gospel message would not have received the enormous attention that it received, and Christ would not have become the focus of the nation of Israel. God gave Christ the stamp of approval in every necessary way so as to make His credentials undeniable. For those who have ears to hear and eyes to see, Christ was indeed the mighty Son of God and your and my Savior.

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