After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.—John 6:14, NIV

Timothy Alexander

From prison, John the baptist sent Jesus a question: “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3). John carefully placed that question into the hearts of two of his disciples, and it immediately became their own. They now wondered, they now needed to be persuaded, so they came to Jesus with that question. And Jesus answered it carefully.

Jesus knew that with their teacher in prison, John the Baptist’s disciples would be fearful, perplexed, and scattered, much like Jesus’ own disciples when he would be arrested prior to his crucifixion. So when the two came to him with their question, Jesus responded with a simple but ­powerful answer that would cultivate faith in their hearts much more firmly than any verbal claim of messiahship. Jesus used miracles to teach them.

Jesus’ response was to heal the sick, cast out demons, and restore sight to the blind. Afterward Jesus sent those two back to John in prison in­structing them to tell him what they saw and heard (verse 4). What they had witnessed were miracles. What they witnessed were proofs that Jesus was the messiah. For these two, witnessing the miracles had the power to convince them of Jesus’ authority far beyond words or reason. They went back to John the Baptist convinced that Jesus was indeed the one.

The Man Born Blind

The apostle John records the miracle of Jesus giving sight to a man who was born blind. The Pharisees challenged Jesus’ authenticity by noting that he had done this miracle on the Sabbath. To the disingenuous heart, this was evidence that Jesus was a sinner and therefore not of God. But the man whose eyes had been healed saw beyond that. The Pharisees argued that Jesus must be a sinner and that this supposed miracle was a deception. But the man whose eyes had been healed was convinced without the need for argument, reason, or logic. He felt no need to debate whether Jesus was a sinner or not. What was important to him was that once he was blind, but now he could see. No amount of logical debate from the Pharisees could shake this man’s new faith in Jesus. This man’s solid faith, against all political maneuvering, was wrought by the miraculous healing of his eyes.

Miracles appeal to both the rational and emotional aspects of the human mind. Human beings make decisions by either logic or emotion using judgment or experience. In both examples we just considered, Jesus used miracles to appeal to his observer’s emotional decision-making faculty through experience. Human decisions made by this method often produce a strong and sometimes rather sudden conviction, a conviction of the heart that cannot be easily shaken.

The apostle Paul spoke about a peace that surpasseth all understanding (Philippians 4:7), the kind of resolute confidence that settles deep into the Christian heart after that heart witnesses God’s personal faithfulness and protection. A Christian with this kind of peace might say, “I don’t need to understand how God will provide; I just know that he will, because I’ve seen it so many times before.”

The peace that does not need a logical understanding is much like the faith that does not need a logical reason. Both are strong and true and empowering, and cannot easily be rooted out of a disciple’s heart. Likewise, how a miracle was performed had far less effect on the faith of its recipient than the healing that resulted. Jesus taught this kind of unshakable faith with miracles.

The apostle Paul observed that culturally, the Jews needed a miracle, a wonder, to believe (1 Corinthians 1:22). Jesus understood this cultural characteristic, and, apart from a few notable ex­ceptions, all of Jesus’ miracles were performed for the Jews. Jesus knew that the Jews would need this kind of sign and perhaps this is why he gave them miracles.

Elijah’s Miracle

In his day, Elijah had a similar experience with Israel. Elijah gathered all of Israel together and appealed to their reason: “If the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him” (1 Kings 18:21). The people were not able to make a decision on the strength of this statement alone, so they “answered him not a word.” Like the Jews in the days of Jesus and Paul, they needed a sign. Through Elijah God provided such a sign, a tremendous demonstration of power, by sending fire down from heaven that consumed both the water-soaked sacrifice and the stones of the altar. The miraculous fire even licked up the water in the surrounding trench. Now the people were able to make a faith decision. The miracle provided the emotionally charged evidence they required to accept Elijah’s earlier statement. When the people saw this sign, they immediately fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God” (1 Kings 18:39).

So the Jews needed signs to establish their faith in Jesus as the messiah, and Jesus provided them in miracles. But the instructional power of Jesus’ miracles goes far beyond the emotional, faith-inducing impact toward a greater purpose.

When the apostle Paul said the Jews needed a sign, he continued by saying that the Greeks “seek after wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:22). He was saying that the Greek or Gentile mind needed logic and reason to make decisions of faith. They would need a logical explanation before they would believe. The miracles Jesus performed also provided that required proof and instruction for this different cultural mindset.

Many of the miracles Jesus performed have become teaching tools, encapsulating a richer meaning much like his parables. A parable is a fictional story that contains a lesson. Elements in the parable represent elements in reality. Similarly, a miracle is an actual, historical event that also contains a lesson. Elements in the miracle represent elements in reality. Jesus was keen to use many of his miracles in this way, to not only convince the Jewish disciples of his day, but to also carry prophetic meaning through the Gospel age to his Millennial age kingdom, and provide meat in due season to Jesus’ Gentile disciples at the close of this age.

While reading accounts of Jesus’ miracles in the Scriptures, it may be difficult to enter into the full dramatic power of the event. This would especially be true if the child whom Jesus healed had been our own. Therefore, it is impossible for our faith to be affected in the same way as the faith of the child’s parent. But one of the blessings we do have at the end of this age is the spiritual eyesight through the holy spirit that allows us to see the greater purpose, the parable-like symbolisms that Jesus built into his miracles.

Jesus’ First Miracle

For example, the first miracle Jesus performed was changing water into wine at a wedding in the city of Cana (John 2:1-11). This miracle did not heal any dying child or raise a loved one back to life. It simply resolved an inconvenient and socially embarrassing situation that had arisen at a wedding in a family that Jesus must have known.

On the surface, the immediate purpose for this miracle looks like a simple demonstration of Jesus’ power. But on another level, the miracle becomes a beautiful announcement of the eternal purpose of Jesus’ newly-begun ministry: how it would change the way people of faith would be atoned to God. As an announcement of this grand purpose, it is fitting that this was his first miracle.

During this happy wedding celebration, Jesus’ mother noticed that the wine was gone. After discussing the situation with Jesus, Mary told the servants to do whatever Jesus asked of them. Jesus directed them to fill the water pots to the top with water and then draw that water out of the pots and take it to the master of the feast. As they did, the water was miraculously transformed into wine, a pure wine of exceptionally high qual­ity.

In parable-like fashion, this miracle represents how Jesus’ first advent would transition God’s people from the Jewish age into the Gospel age. There were six water pots that were specifically set aside for the “purification of the Jews” (John 2:6). But the pots were not full, just as the purification that the Jews believed they had under the law was incomplete. Though the law was beautiful and holy, it was only typical and fell short of providing real justification for the Jews. Likewise, the water pots for purification were not full.

So Jesus gave the servants a command: “Fill the water pots … up to the brim” (John 2:7). The servants needed to exercise faith in Jesus’ command, and when they did, the provision for purification was now complete and the water became wine.

This is a beautiful picture of the transition from the typical justification by works under the law to real justification by faith in Jesus. Wine in Scripture often represents either doctrinal in­struction or the joy of one’s relationship with God. When Jesus’ followers realize that true pur­ification comes from their faith in Jesus and not from their own works, then the teaching of Scripture and the joys of the kingdom open up to them in a way they have never before experienced, like a pure wine of unexpected quality. This is a beautiful truth taught by a miracle.

Healing the Demoniac

One of the grandest truths of both the Old and New Testaments is that God’s love and promise of redemption and, therefore, resurrection through Jesus extends not only to Christians, but also to the entire non-Christian world, including the Jews. As Peter said, this principle has been taught by every one of God’s holy prophets since the world began (see Acts 3:21). This teaching, specifically relating to the Jews, is crafted into the miraculous healing of the demon-possessed man recorded in Mark 5.

After a dramatic journey across the Sea of Galilee, Jesus and some of his disciples landed on the shore near the home of the Gadarenes (Mark 5:1-20). As Jesus set foot on land, he was approached by a man who was possessed by many demons. The demons collectively called themselves Legion, for there were many. This man was an outcast: he lived in the mountains and among the tombs. He had broken every chain designed to bind him; no one could tame him.

This man immediately ran to Jesus, fell at his feet, and worshiped him. Jesus cast the demons out of the man and allowed them to enter a large herd of pigs that were nearby. As a result of this demonic possession, the pigs ran violently down a steep hill into the sea and drowned. After being released from his suffering, the man was soon clothed and sitting peacefully at Jesus’ feet.

As Jesus began to leave, the man who had been restored, in a responsive display of new faith, asked if he could become Jesus’ disciple. Remarkably, Jesus said no. Instead he said: “Go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee” (vs. 19). So the man went to Decapolis and broadcast what great things Jesus had done for him.

This miracle is a beautiful picture of how natural Israel will be healed in the Millennial age. The man possessed represents the Jewish people. The chains that could not bind him symbolize the Mosaic Law. He lived in the hills and among the tombs and experienced great mental and physical anguish, separated from the larger community. Even so, the Jews, during their period of national disfavor, as a people, have been outcasts from the whole world and have been living a tormented life, persecuted and separated from the rest of the world of mankind.

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 uses the word “hell” to describe this same disfavored condition. The parable describes the suffering condition of the Jews during their period of disfavor, but it offers no solution, no remedy, no relief. But the miracle in Mark 5 goes beyond just describing the condition. It actually shows the relief God has promised.

The man in the tombs ran to Jesus and worshiped him (Mark 5:6). This act of faith is what sparked Jesus’ miraculous healing. Zechariah describes the parallel condition that will ignite in the collective Jewish heart after God defends Israel from all nations who come against her. The prophet speaks for God: “I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me [Jesus] whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10). This collective rending of heart will set in motion the true and final healing of Israel, the apple of God’s eye (Zechariah 2:6-10).

But at this point in Scriptural history, the new creation will be complete. Like the man from the tombs, when the Jewish people recognize Jesus as the messiah, they will ask: “May we be your disciples?” Jesus will respond: “No. The time for Christian discipleship is over. The Gospel age is finished. Instead, go to the rest of the world and tell them what great things God has done for you.”

In the miracle, the healed man went to Deca­polis to report these great things. Decapolis means “ten cities.” It reminds us of a well-known prophecy of this event: “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you” (Zechariah 8:23).

Like the man from the tombs, telling the nations about the blessings a faithful God has given will be a cherished opportunity for God’s Jewish children. The prophet Isaiah speaks about the blessings of God’s kingdom on earth and speaks of the role of the Jewish people in dispensing those blessings to the rest of mankind: “It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:2,3). Surely, this will be the time when God’s words to Abraham and Jacob will come to pass: “In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 28:14).

A detail of the healing of the demoniac in Mark 5 is that it happened in the country of the Gadarenes. The Matthew account calls it the country of the Gergesenes. The two names suggest the following two elements of Israel’s blessing: when God will reward Israel and what their reward will be. The word “Gadarenes” according to Thayer means “reward at the end.” It is in the Millennial age, toward the end of God’s plan of salvation, that Israel will receive her reward. The word “Gergesenes” according to Thayer means “a stranger drawing near.” And that in­deed will be Israel’s reward, a permanent drawing near to God: “I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart” (Jeremiah 24:7). What careful and subtle details Jesus wove into the blessing of a single troubled man for our benefit, to strengthen our faith at the end of the Gospel age.

The miracles with which Jesus chose to teach were elegant and beautiful. Their dramatic na­ture attracted everyone’s attention. Their human kindness comforted the soul. Their power moved hearts and instilled lifelong faith. Their careful detail became symbols of promise, and their fulfillment will eventually become the blessing of the world of mankind.

When we look out at the world around us and see the collapsing social, religious, and civil systems, it appears that actually healing the nations will take a miracle. And indeed it shall. But before Jesus establishes the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, he promised to develop a new creation from the ground up (see Matthew 16:18). This is the work for which he enlists the Gospel age church, and it is the beginning of the “greater works” that his disciples would perform and of which he spoke (see John 14:12).

Miracles We Can Perform

Most of us would consider it far-fetched that any of us could actually emulate this teaching technique of Jesus and perform miracles as he did. But this is just what Jesus indicated to the twelve and we should consider it carefully. While we do not have the power to resuscitate the dead, cast out demons, or make the lame walk, we do have the ability to bring troubled souls to the Lord and show them the way of consecration by sacrifice. Through the holy spirit, we have the responsibility to participate in this great work of the harvest that Jesus taught so beautifully through metaphor (Matthew 9:37,38).

We can be reasonably certain that our participation in the development of the new creation will be seen by the world of mankind throughout eternity as one of the greatest miracles the world has ever witnessed (Ephesians 1:4-6; 1 Peter 2:9,10; Revelation 21:1-7).

Our ability to do the Lord’s work and touch the emotional and rational minds of men to help develop their faith and faithfulness is in the power of our hand and made sure by the promise of Jesus: “The Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you” (John 14:26, ASV). But we must exercise faith: faith in God’s provision of the holy spirit, faith in Jesus’ words, faith in the intrinsic power of his teaching techniques, and faith in our ability to use them as sure and proven tactics in our life’s work.

Imagine what we could do if we approached our work in the harvest with the belief that we could never fail!