Jesus is known for his miracles. There are at least 42 recorded in scripture, yet even what is recorded pales in the number he actually conducted (Jn 21:25). Of these 42 recorded miracles, Matthew records 64% of them, Mark records 55% of them, Luke records 55% of them, and John records 19% of them. This being the case, it is obvious that many of these were recorded by more than one gospel writer. Yet, each gospel records some unique ones as well.

There are five miracles recorded only by Matthew: 1-healing a sick and demon-possessed man: Mt 4:23-25; 2-healing two blind men: Mt 9:27-31; 3-healing a demon-possessed, mute man: Mt 9:32-34; 4-healing mute, blind, lame, and impaired individuals: Mt15:29-31, and 5-temple tax found in a fish’s mouth: Mt 17:24-27.

There are two recorded only by Mark: 1-healing a deaf and mute man: Mk 7:31-37; and 2-healing a blind man at Bethsaida: Mk 8:22-26.

There are six recorded only by Luke: 1-miraculous catch of fish: Lk 5:1-11; 2-raising a widow’s son from the dead in Nain: Lk 7:11-17; 3-healing a woman who had been crippled for 18 years: Lk 13:10-17; 4-cleansing ten lepers: Lk 17:11-19; 5-healing a man with dropsy on the Sabbath: Lk 14:1-6; and, 6-healing a servant’s ear which was cut off as he is arrested: Lk 22:50-51.

And, there are six recorded only by John: 1-turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana: Jn 2:1-11; 2-healing an official’s son at Capernaum: Jn 4:46-54; 3-healing a man at Bethesda: Jn 5:1-15; 4-healing a man born blind: Jn 9:1-41; 5-raising Lazarus from the dead in Bethany: Jn 11:1-45; and 6-another miraculous catch of fish: Jn 21:4-11.

That means 23 were recorded by more than one of the gospel writers. Of the 42 miracles recorded, only one of these were recorded by all four gospels: the feeding of the 5,000 men plus women and children (Mt 14:13-21; Mk 6:30-44; Lk 9:10-17; and Jn 6:1-15). And, finally, of all these recorded miracles of Jesus, only one appears negative in nature: he curses a fig tree, and it withers (Mt 21:18-22; Mk 11:12-14, 20).

So, what was the purpose of Jesus conducting these miracles? After all, it’s not like he healed everyone. So, how did he pick and choose? There are likely several reasons for him doing this. Here are a few thoughts about this topic. You may even think of more than I have.

1.      Jesus preached “the good news of the kingdom of God”(Lk 6:20). Many of the Jewish prophets had taught that the Messiah would bring in an age of wonder where many things would be restored: Isaiah was one such prophet who declared the eyes of the blind would be opened, and the ears of the deaf would be unstopped, the lame would leap like a deer, and the mute tongue would shout for joy (Is 35:5-6). He also declared the dead would live (Is 26:19). Isaiah also stated the Messiah would proclaim good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom to the captives, and release prisoners from their darkness. So, Jesus was doing all these things to help everyone realize that he was the one to whom Isaiah spoke and he could do all the things the prophets had taught about what their coming Messiah would bring them.

2.      It seemed some people had been born with an infirmity for this very time so Jesus could release them and demonstrate his power to everyone (Jn 9:1-5).

3.      More often than not, Jesus stated it was the person’s faith that had healed them: the woman with a bleeding disorder for 12 years (Mt 9:22; Mk 5:34), two blind men (Mt 9:29), healing the daughter of a Canaanite woman (Mt 15:28), healing a paralyzed man (Mk 2:5), healing blind Bartimaeus in Jericho (Mk 10:52), healing a Roman Centurion’s servant (Lk 7:9), the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her hair (Lk 7:50), a leper (Lk 17:19), and others. It seems some healings did not take place because of their lack of faith (Mt 13:58).

4.      Many times, Jesus just had so much compassion for the people he could not help himself but minister to their physical needs as well as to their spiritual needs (Mt 9:36, 14:14, 15:32; 20:34; Mk 6:34, 8:2; Lk 15:20).

Over the next several posts, we will look at several of Jesus’ miracles in more detail and see what we can glean from them. I hope you join me. Until then, God bless!

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens