The Bible through the Gospels –Matthew, Mark Luke and John recorded the miracles Jesus performed on earth. He healed leprosy, blindness and multiplied five loaves of bread and two fishes. These miracles are among proofs of the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. These unexpected recordings have raised several questions as to whether the miracles did take place. What is there meaning? How did they happen? Why did they happen? What are human supposed to conclude from them? Miracles provoke humankind with the questions on the nature of the world we live in and its self-sufficiency state. The Gospels accounts narrate the Gospels of Jesus Christ so that the world can believe He was send by the Father. Morris defines clearly sign in the first fifteen pages of his book Jesus Is the Christ 1 . Every miracle Jesus did does not only prove that He was sent by God but He Himself is God. Thus, they reveal the divinity power or the God-Head. This paper explores the eight miracles that Jesus performed and how they reveal His deity.
In John 2:1-11, Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding feast. This is the first miracle he performed. According to Towns' chart of the “eight signs of Jesus power,” Jesus shows his deity through this miracle by having “power over creation.” 2 Clearly, Jesus has the power to craft something new or redesign. He asked the maiden to fill the pots with water and by the words of his mouth; the wine was available for people to drink 3 . The Bible records that the people had never taken such wine before. People complimented about it. This miracle was a means of Jesus manifesting his glory and made the disciples have faith in Him (John 2:11). This is the first proof His deity.
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The second sign that reveals the deity of Christ is the curing of a political official's son in Capernaum (John 4:46-54). This miracle showed that Jesus had Power over space 4 . In this case, Jesus heals the boy without going to their home. At his words and the father’s faith the son gets well. The miracle also shows that He is an ever present God (omnipresent). This means that Jesus is everywhere at one time. In their nature, human beings are limited. They cannot be everywhere at the same time. However, Jesus is God (John1:1-4). In this verse we see the transition of the word (Jesus Christ) from being a spirit, then word and finally being flesh or being a person. That means everything was made through Him and in Him. It also means that he is life. Thus, Jesus’ deity is clear to all humanity through the miracle.
The third sign was seen through, the healing of the paralytic man at the pool of Bethsaida in John 5:1-17. According to Towns, this reveals Jesus “power over time.” 5 Throughout the Old Testament, it was unlawful for a man to carry his bed (Exodus 23:12) on the Sabbath day in Jerusalem. After Jesus had performed this miracle, the Jews were upset and wanted to kill him for they argued that He was making Himself equal with God. Notably Jesus scheduling is faultless when it comes to manifesting God’s glory. The Jews forgot that Jesus had come to fulfill the law and not end it (Matthew 5:17). The Jews were religious people and forgot that John 1:1-4 proves that everything was made by Him and thus He has power over the Torah. This extraordinary record reveals His deity.
The fourth sign is that of feeding of the five thousand with two fishes and five loaves of barley (Matthew 14:13-21). The miracle illustrates Jesus’ “power over food”. When Jesus sees the multitude approaching, He is moved with compassion and questions His disciples of where they could buy bread for the men to eat (Matthew 14:16). At that point, one of his disciple (Philip) began to get worried and explained the impossibility of feeding the crowd. The disciples even considered sending them away. However, Jesus identifies the physical need of this people as well as the spiritual need of his disciples (Matthew 6:26). He feeds the 5000 people with two fishes and five loaves of barley 6 . Surprisingly, the Bible records that they had twelve baskets left over. This miracle revealed that God is the provider. He answers to all human needs.
In Mark 6:44-52, the miracle of Jesus walking on water proves His power over natural laws. From the science of life knowledge, living thing is expected to sink into water because of our body mass. Logically no mortal being can float on water. For the disciples to witness Jesus walking on water, it is clear that He was not an ordinary man 7 . He was the God-man. The Bible states that the disciples were amazed and wondered. Also since the miracle of the feeding of the 5000, they had hardened their hearts and did not consider that sign. But as they came out of the boat into Gennesaret, the disciples began to carry those who were sick in beds and bringing to Jesus. They knew Him, and this divulges His deity.
The sixth miracle is that of healing of the blind man in Jerusalem (John 9:1-14). This miracle discloses his deity by having “power over physical laws.” 8 Physical law can be described as controlled by nature (Towns, 2004). Physical laws are maladies or medical states that physicians can do nothing about them. They include leprosies, blindness, and mute. John 9:1 records that the man was blind since birth. The disciples question whether it was his parents' sins or his own that cost him his eyesight. Jesus answered that it was God’s will to manifest His works through him. The miracle also proves that He is a great physician, hence a health deity.
The raising of Lazarus from death marks His seventh sign of divinity (John 11:1-14). This particular miracle ascertains His “power over death”.Mary and Martha’s brother was dead. But when Jesus hears about it John (11:4) He says that Lazarus sickness will not lead to death but rather it will reveal God’s glory so that the Son of God (Jesus) gets glorified 9 . The intriguing question is why didn’t He heal Lazarus the way he did for the official’s son? The answer is that Jesus wanted to prove that He is God and Omnipotent (All Powerful) 10 . At this point, the Jews also believed Him when He raised Lazarus (John 11:45). It is true that Jesus is the resurrection, truth, and life. He has power over death.
The eighth sign of his divinity is that of the miraculous catch of fish (John 21:1-11). This miracle proves that Jesus has “power over and above all things”. This was the third time after His resurrection He was revealing Himself to the disciples. He appeared to them at the sea of Tiberias and asked disciples to cast the fishing nets to their ships right side 11 . They were not able to draw it and John the beloved immediately realizes it was the Lord. Jesus proves his deity by all works. He is the sustainer, provider, healer, and has power over physical laws. He Himself was the evidence of divinity.
In a nutshell, Jesus has power over all creation. In some theological recordings it is true that the disciples were more than convinced that Jesus Christ was God. Eleven out of the twelve died martyrs. They went preaching the Gospel of Christ. Who can die for fibs? Sincerely nobody. The miracles from the changing of water into wine to the miracle of the catching of fish we see things that no ordinary man can do that. Clearly Jesus is God.
Bibliography
Kim, Stephen. The Miracles of Jesus According to John: Their Christological and Eschatological Significance . Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2010.
Kistemake, Simon J. The Miracles: Exploring the Mystery of Jesus's Divine Works . Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2006.
Morris, Leon. Jesus is the Christ studies in Theology of John. Grand Rapids Michigan: Wm.BEerdmans Publishing Company, 1989.
Towns, Elmer. A journey through the New Testament . Mson Ohio: Thomson custom publishing, 2004.
1 Leon Morris, Jesus is the Christ studies in Theology of John, (Grand Rapids Michigan: Wm.BEerdmans Publishing Company, 1989) 14.
2 Elmer Towns, A journey through the New Testament , (Mson Ohio: Thomson custom publishing, 2004). 19
3 Stephen S. Kim, The Miracles of Jesus According to John: Their Christological and Eschatological Significance , (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2010), 4.
4 Towns, A journey through the New Testament , 44.
5 Kim, The Miracles of Jesus According to John , 5.
6 Morris, Jesus is the Christ studies in Theology of John, 32.
7 Simon J. Kistemake, The Miracles: Exploring the Mystery of Jesus's Divine Works , (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2006) 29.
8 Towns, A journey through the New Testament , 90.
9 Ibi., 112.
10 Kistemake, The Miracles , 158.
11 Kim, The Miracles of Jesus According to John , 14.
