You’re reading the gospels and you’re amazed at the things Jesus does. Have you ever thought about the question “Why did Jesus perform miracles?” Why did he make miracles such a central part of his ministry?

To the question “Why did Jesus perform miracles,” here are 4 amazing reasons: First, it gave authority to his words. Second, it won people’s hearts to follow him. Third, because it’s in his nature to do miracles. And lastly, to model to the future church what was possible.

Let’s break it down so we can understand why did Jesus perform miracles. I hope that you’ll be amazed and appreciate Jesus so much more.

To Give Authority to His Words

Observe what is spoken about Jesus and the way that he taught people.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Matthew 7:28

Jesus was an amazing teacher.

Every time he taught, it says that people were amazed because he taught as one who had authority.

Unlike the religious teachers of the day, Jesus’ teachings weren’t just abstract concepts of religious piety. Rather, similar to one who had authority, his words came with power.

Remember the story of the man who was let down in the rooftop. Instead of healing him, do you remember what Jesus said to him?

Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven”, to which earned the aghast of all those around.

Then he says something very powerful.

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic— “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”

Matthew 9:6

He had asked earlier to them, “What is easier to say? To forgive sins or to say pick up your mat and walk?”

The answer is that both are equally easy to say. And anyone on earth can say both statements. Yet what separates what Jesus says and what anyone on earth says is that when he says it, it actually happens.

Jesus’ words were marked by authority as it carried power to carry it out.

Jesus came with a mission to seek and to save the lost. He would require people to hear a message of repentance, to hear a message of salvation, and to turn and change their lives.

It’s not a cheap decision for anyone to give up everything they have to follow Jesus. So in order to prove the authenticity of his message, and to answer the question of “Why did Jesus perform miracles?”, Jesus performed miracles to demonstrate the veracity of his message.

He performed miracles alongside his teachings so that when people listened to his teachings, they could say, “Yes, everything he says is true and he isn’t making anything up.”

To Win People’s Hearts

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is when Jesus encountered Nicodemus in John 3. That is the encounter where the famous John 3:16 verse happens.

However, there’s something else that happens in that story that I think is very crucial for people to understand.

Jesus was not only explaining to Nicodemus the way of salvation. He was winning the heart of Nicodemus again.

If you remember, Jesus tells Nicodemus that “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Nicodemus is shocked to hear.

Jesus then continues to explain more about heavenly realities until Nicodemus says this:

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”

John 3:9

Do you see what is happening here? Jesus is shocking and awing Nicodemus.

Jesus corrects him and asks, “Are you a teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?”

Nicodemus was an old teacher of the law who, like many Christians who have been Christian for a long time, got bored and old of their faith.

But Jesus is always in the business of winning our hearts. There is no state of our hearts where he can’t impress and woo us again.

This is what I call a Nicodemus moment.

Why did Jesus perform miracles?

Simple–to win and astonish the hearts of his hearers. Jesus wasn’t in the business of just raising up stoic followers who are bored of following God.

He is raising up people who love Jesus, who sing of his praises, who are amazed at who he is.

coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?

Matthew 13:54

He was in the business of astonishing his hearers.

Why did Jesus perform miracles? To astonish and win people’s hearts.

It is His Nature To Do Miracles

The funny thing about answering the question “Why did Jesus perform miracles” is that the assumption is that it’s an aberration from what is supposed to be normal.

In it, we forget the obvious answer to the question.

Because Jesus is God, it is in his nature to do miracles.

We who live normal human lives forget that it is God who made the heavens and the earth by the word of his mouth. He commands the stars and the sun to rise and go to their place.

He designed the laws of physics and science that operate in our world. Yet he stands above all of them and moves freely to demonstrate his power and wonder.

Psalm 77 writes:

You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.

Psalm 77:14

It’s in Jesus’ nature to perform miracles and to create life. He said that he himself was the life and the resurrection.

Doing miracles was just who Jesus was. And it causes our hearts to love and adore how awesome he is.

Why did Jesus perform miracles? Because that’s who he is! And he’s so awesome for being who he is

To Model to the Future Church What was Possible

At this point, I hope that you’re brimming with adoration about the person of Jesus

Yet, it doesn’t stop there.

Remember the words of Jesus before he left to go back to heaven:

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

John 14:12

Jesus promised that we would do greater works than him.

For a person who spent his whole life doing miracles, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, calling forth followers, that’s a tall expectation.

Yet it is exactly who we are supposed to be as the church of Jesus.

This is evinced in the book of Acts as the disciples, who now have the embodied Holy Spirit within them, continue the story of Jesus by doing the same things that he did–healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, and calling forth followers.

Jesus, by performing miracles, would model to people who would follow him what was possible and what was his expectation for how the church to be.

The church would be a living embodiment of his body would subsequently be the hands and the feet who would also perform miracles. And these miracles are happening all over the world today!

Read about a story of healing that happened in my life.

Why did Jesus perform miracles? What is the purpose of miracles in the Bible? So that we as the church would know what church should look like. If God is truly in our midst, miracles and healings should be a normative expression of what it means to be the followers of the greatest miracle worker Jesus himself.

Phil’s Encouragement: Expect Miracles

Why I love the idea of Jesus performing miracles is that it isn’t located in history for us to marvel and wonder. To the question of why does God perform miracles is that answer that we would know what kind of expectations we should have as we navigate and follow him in life.

The Christian life is not meant to be normal.

We are not to be like the rest of the world.

Because we have the living God inside of us, and we are called to, as Jesus instructed us to, perform greater works than he would, our lives should be marked by miracle after miracle.

A secular world that cares not for the miracles of God will never understand or report the work that God does; but you have the opportunity to recount and understand deep in your heart the miracles that Jesus can and does perform for you.

Are you experiencing the power of God currently? Remember them and write them down, and never forget them.

Are you living a boring and unmiraculous life? I pray that God would open your eyes such that you would see how awesome it is to follow a God who answers those who call on him.

Going Deeper

My joy and the aim of this site is to help readers go deeper in their Christian faith.

In the spirit of going deeper, check out Bill Johnson’s book When Heaven Invades Earth on Amazon.

That book really rocked my life and changed it such that I have this heavenly expectation for God to move miraculously in my life.

Why Did Jesus perform miracles?

I hope in reading this your heart is in awe of Jesus and inspired to be the church who would walk in miracles yourself.

How about you?

Why do you think Jesus do miracles? Are there miracles that have happened in your life that demonstrate that Jesus is alive?

Leave your comments below!