The Miracles of Jesus: Summary
Our God is a God of love, salvation, power, healing, provision, speaking, and freedom
I have just spent many devotional sessions here in Heaven on Wheels exploring the miracles that Jesus performed during His ministry on Earth. I found several on-line resources that identified 37 separate miracles documented in one or more of the Gospels, so I used that list as a reference and then I dove into these signs and wonders, exploring commentary and sermons and seeking to understand. I learned so much doing this and I hope my readers also learned about our Lord Jesus. The entire list of miracles is at the end of this article with the lessons that seem applicable.
The compassion and love of Jesus underlies His teaching and His signs and wonders. He sees the suffering and feels compassion for every person and weeps at the sight of death. His miracles overcome death, nature, evil, birth defects and horrid diseases and conditions. He can provide sustenance and joy. His power is infinite and He is not restrained by time or distance. Seven of His miracles are considered the signs in the Gospel of John and seven were done on the Sabbath to poke holes in the tyrannical religiosity of the Pharisees and Scribes.
I am an analyst by nature and training, so I love to âbucket dataâ and look for trends. We use a daily Bible In One Year journal at our church that is a marvelous tool. One of the things that you can note each day after your Bible study (or when it is an obvious testimony) are things for thankfulness in these categories:
Love - Calling, Carrying, Correcting
Provision/Protection - Financially, Spiritually, Physically, Emotionally
Speaking - Guidance, Correction, Direction
Healing - Directly, Through Another, Redemptively
Salvation - Personal, Family, Local, Global
Power - Strengthen, Overcome, Evangelism, Anointing
Freedom - Identity, Confidence, Joy, Peace
All of the miracles that Jesus performed were part of His plan of salvation, to guide/correct/direct us, and to ensure our identity, confidence peace and joy in Him. So I used the categories of Provision, Healing, and Power to categorize the primary aspect of each of the miracles. In the list at the end, there are also some secondary and tertiary factors that could be part of the testimony of that miracle.
Provision - There were six miracles where physical or financial needs were provided for. These include the feedings of the 5000+ and the 4000+, turning water into wine, the two miraculous catches of fish, and the temple tax in the mouth of the fish.
Healing - There were 19 recorded miracles of healing, including miracles that healed multiple or many people at the same event. Jesus overcame birth defects, paralysis, leprosy, blindness, deafness, edema, a withered hand, a severed ear, a bleeding disorder, a severely bent back, fevers, and unspecified ailments in many, many others.
Power to Overcome death - There were three miracles of people being raised from the dead (besides His Resurrection). Jesus raised the son of a widow in Nain, the daughter of Jairus (who was high in the leadership of the religious elders), and Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus was raised after four days in the tomb. We never hear from Jairus again - his testimony would have been crucial in confirming Jesus as the Messiah, but the path is through the Cross to salvation.
Power to Overcome evils - There were six miracles where evil spirits and demons were driven out of a suffering human. At one of the âmany peopleâ healing events, there were also evil spirits removed from an uncounted number besides those healed of ailments. These miracles include the special trip to the east side of the Sea of Galilee to release demons from a man who has been long-possessed. The demons take over a herd of pigs. More than one also included a demon who could not speak.
Power to Overcome nature - There were three miracles where Jesus showed His mastery over His creation. He calmed the storm, walked on water and withered the fig tree. Nature is His creation and its beauty and miracles can be seen every day, like in the photo below:
As I noted in a previous devotional, the prophetic Messianic signs are healing of a leper, driving out a âdumbâ demon and healing a person born blind, not to mention raising someone from the dead. These signs and wonders were there for the doubting and skeptical religious leaders to see and acknowledge, but they elected instead to blaspheme the Holy Spirit and work to crucify the Lord. I find it particularly sad that He raised Lazarus from the dead and that didnât impress them, but only made them more anxious to get rid of Him as soon as possible.
The disciples also demonstrated their continuing inability to understand the miracles or see a miracle as a solution (even though they could perform miracles themselves), but fortunately, they were finally able to comprehend what our Lord was teaching after the Resurrection and Ascension, when they received the Holy Spirit. It would be interesting to do a study of how many miracles occurred in the Book of Acts. Iâm no longer a âfrozen chosenâ from a mainstream Protestant denomination who believes that miracles ceased during the Apostolic age. God is alive and doing a new thing! In fact, since we have been going to our current church, we have the following personal testimonies of healing; there are many other testimonies at our church along these same lines:
Steve, after a bad fall in 2019 that included a fracture of a cervical vertebra and facial bones, went for healing prayer after a service. He has also suffered from cervical stenosis for many years. The fracture and the stenosis were healed. He was a likely candidate for surgery for the stenosis before that day.
I went for prayer last year after having some severe foot pain from my rheumatoid arthritis. The pain is essentially gone or, when it does occur (now rarely), it is much less severe than before.
Just last month I went for healing because of the intestinal infection that I had, along with surgery to place a natural drain of the abscess area that takes âmonthsâ to heal up, according to one of the doctors. When I had a check recently, the drain is almost healed up, which the doctor found to be âamazingâ. Iâm not out of the woods yet (thereâs a possibility of a chronic condition) but prayers are being sent every day!
Thanks for reading! My next devotional series examines the beautiful Psalm 8, praising His miraculous creation.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - I thank you every minute of every day for your love, provision, speaking, healing, salvation, power, and freedom! Amen.
Summary of the Miracles:
Water to wine: Jesus can overcome time, He creates beauty and abundance, and He shares in our joy.
Provision
Power - Overcome nature
Freedom - Joy
Healing of the officialâs son: Jesus can overcome space (distance), He does not need to see the person He heals, He has infinite power, but He also wants us to believe without signs and wonders.
Healing
Casting out of the evil spirit in the synagogue: The authority of Jesus is recognized by the demons and He triumphs over evil and silences it. He performs this exorcism on the Sabbath.
Power - Overcome evil
Freedom - Restore identity, peace
Healing of Peterâs Mother-in-Law: Jesus does not need crowds to demonstrate His power and He has compassion about the needs of one person, even if those needs seem smaller and only worthy of a couple of verses of scripture.
Healing
Healing and casting out demons of many in Capernaum (at Peterâs house): Jesus has compassion on all who come to Him and has no conditions that He places on giving them His mercy. He can heal instantly with a light touch and again demonstrates authority over demons and silences them.
Healing
Power - Overcome evil
Freedom - Identity, Peace
Miraculous catch of fish on the Sea of Galilee: Jesus demonstrates His powers over His creation, He once again brings abundance, and He teaches humble fishermen that their task of bringing souls to Him is the most important thing they can do. They must follow Him.
Provision
Speaking - Guidance
Power - Anointing
Cleansing of the Leper: Jesus is willing to heal us, is compassionate towards those who suffer and can instantly cure a dreadful and feared disease. We must have faith when circumstances seem hopeless.
Healing
Healing of the Centurionâs Servant: Jesus came so that anyone who believes on His name is saved, Jew or Gentile. One of the most humble and devout persons that He encounters during His ministry is a Roman Centurion who cares and loves a servant who is sick or paralyzed. Jesus has instant authority over this illness, again eliminating space (distance) as a barrier to healing; He also marvels at this manâs faith.
Healing
Healing of the paralytic passed through the roof: Jesus demonstrates His ultimate authority as the Son of God to forgive sins and to heal a condition that seems irreversible. He can sense and read the hearts and thoughts of others. He turns a major disruption into a lesson on forgiveness. The friends of the paralytic show tremendous faith in how they solve this problem.
Healing
Speaking - Correction
Healing of the withered hand on the Sabbath: Jesus can instantaneously heal a chronic condition, restoring a hand to full function. The man he heals exhibits great faith in His ability to heal and obeys Him. Jesus also challenges the assumptions and rules that have taken the place of faith and wisdom in the hearts of the Pharisees and Scribes. His anger is righteous; their rage is murderous.
Healing
Speaking - Correction
Raising of the widowâs son from death: Jesus is filled with compassion for the suffering and grief of others. He has power over death and can restore us to joy and hope in the face of a hopeless situation. His endless grace and the power of His word are sufficient. We are to spring into action, serving Him and bringing His hope to the hopeless.
Power - Overcome death
Taming the storm on the Sea: Jesus has the unlimited power to tame nature and He calms a storm on the Sea of Galilee instantly. His disciples, after seeing one miracle after another before this, are struck with memory loss when this crisis hits and forget that He is the Creator of the Universe and creation will obey Him. Jesus is there in the storms of life for those who believe on His name.
Power - Overcome nature
Casting demons into a herd of pigs: Jesus has the ultimate authority over evil and demons must have His permission to even enter into animals that immediately die. Demon possession is a real thing, but is likely rare and would not occur in a believer who is under the power of the Holy Spirit. We should not get so comfortable with evil surrounding us that we are fearful of holiness and good. Jesus wants us to tell others about His power and healing and to be without superstitions. The suffering man who was possessed becomes calm and peaceful.
Power - Overcome evil
Freedom - Restore identity, peace
Healing of a woman with a bleeding disorder: Jesus knows when His healing powers are used and, with great love and compassion, tells this daughter of the Kingdom that her faith has made her well. Casual contact with Jesus doesnât save us. We are saved by coming to Him with everything (sins, sufferings, distractions, hopes, and belief). Jesus cleanses and revives us!
Healing
Jesus raises the daughter of Jairus from the dead: Jesus, the Son of God, has power over life and death. His power is infinite - healing can come from a touch of His garment or a touch from His hands. His compassion is infinite. His words can bring a person back to life and He knows for those who believe that death is just sleep. Just as in His time, our age is filled with mockers and scorners and we must pray for those lost souls.
Power - Overcome death
Jesus heals two blind men: Faith and persistence leads to miracles. Jesus extends mercy and compassion to those who are suffering and recognize Him as the Messiah, by healing two blind men who follow Him.
Healing
A mute demoniac is healed and speaks: Jesus has ultimate authority over evil and easily casts out a demon, allowing a man to finally speak. The Pharisees are not impressed and accuse Him of being a demon. As He continues His ministry and healings, He laments the lack of harvesters.
Power - Overcome evil
Freedom - Restore Identity, peace
A man is healed by Jesus by the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath: Jesus homes in on a man among the many who has hopelessly waited for healing in the pool for 38 years. He asks him if he wants healing, then tells him to stand, take up his pallet, and walk. We are all waiting for something, but we should stop waiting and be actively seeking Him in our everyday lives through our worship and prayers. Human-made rules and rituals can separate us from our Creator, who is working to sustain us and His creation.
Healing
Speaking - Direction
The feeding of the 5000+: Jesus is compassionate and involves his believers in provided abundance. Nothing is too meager or small for the Lord to use in a big way. The disciples continue to look for worldly answers to solve problems and He points them, once again, to His supernatural abilities. People are physically hungry and Godâs resources should not be wasted. The Word is also needed to feed the masses spiritually.
Provision
Jesus walks on water: Jesus again demonstrates mastery over creation by walking on deep waters. His disciples donât initially recognize Him, but when they do, Peter wants to join Him (Matthew account). Peter walks in faith a short distance, then is distracted by a worldly fear (the wind). Jesus grabs him to help home and asks him why he has so little faith and is full of doubts. The disciples declare Him the Son of God.
Power - Overcome nature
Speaking - Guidance
Healing the many in Genneserat: Jesus has absolute power over Nature and over sickness. He heals many, often just from their touch of His garments. The crowds recognize Him but do not know Him.
Healing
Jesus heals the demon-possessed daughter of a Gentile: Jesus travels to a Gentile region and the only recorded act there is His response to the deep faith of a Gentile woman, who even turns aside His gentle remonstrations. She is the only person who is told directly that her faith is strong. The healing is once again a remote and instant casting out of the demon in the womanâs daughter.
Power - Overcome evil; Evangelism
Freedom - Identity
Jesus heals a deaf and (mostly) dumb man: Jesus uses His supernatural healing powers in many different ways. He has compassion on this man and sighs heavenward when seeing the suffering in front of Him and uses unique healing techniques. He instantly heals this manâs hearing and speech, leaving many astounded.
Healing
The feeding of the 4,000+: Jesus can provide sustenance to those who are hungry for His word. He again miraculously creates adequate real food for thousands who are listening to Him, while also having to deal with the blindness and deafness of His disciples, who cannot put the big picture together and think outside their narrow worldly boxes of ârealityâ.
Provision
Speaking - Guidance
Jesus restores the sight of a blind man near Bethsaida: Jesus uses natural and supernatural methods to restore the sight of a blind man, giving His disciples a lesson in overcoming spiritual blindness.
Healing
Jesus heals a man blind from birth: Once again, Jesus demonstrates His mastery over His creation and can cure a congenital defect, a blindness that has been there since this manâs birth. The manâs story enrages the Pharisees, but he grows in faith and courage from not knowing Jesus to worshipping Him (and probably becoming a member of the larger entourage).
Healing
Power - Overcome nature
Jesus heals a boy with an unclean spirit: Jesus returns with Peter, James and John from the Transfiguration and is greeted almost immediately with a worldly issue: A boy has a vicious unclean spirit that throws him into regular convulsions and keeps him from speaking and his father is asking for help. The disciples have been unable to cast out the unclean spirit. Jesus sighs at their unbelief. The father believes but also asks for help for his unbelief. The powerful demon is cast out and the boy is now spared. This type of demon requires effective prayer and the faith of a mustard seed, which the disciples still lack.
Power - Overcome evil
Freedom - Restore identity, peace
Miracle of the temple tax in the mouth of a fish: Jesus uses His creation to provide a temple tax for Himself and for Peter, hoping to avoid controversy for this minor issue with the religious leaders. Using secular sources like Wikipedia for stories of the miracles of Jesus should be avoided or used with caution, because of their tendency to cast doubt on the Word of God.
Provision
Jesus heals a blind, mute demoniac: In a miracle used as a segue into a serious teaching from Jesus, He once again demonstrates His power over demons and physical ailments. The scoffing Pharisees are warned about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (settled rejection of Jesus and His revelation by the Spirit in an unbelieverâs life). Our words will be counted, for justification or condemnation.
Power - Overcome evil
Freedom - Identity, peace
Speaking - Correction
Jesus heals a woman crippled for 18 years: Jesus sees this woman at a synagogue service on the Sabbath, has compassion on her, and instantly heals her of an affliction that came from an evil spirit. The woman was bent over, unable to look up at other people and only seeing the ground, suffering immensely. He uses her healing as a lesson to the legalistic religious leaders, who value their convoluted laws about the Sabbath (that had exceptions to care for animals) more than they cared about the pain and suffering of a daughter of Abraham. The people rejoice in the healing.
Healing
Speaking - Correction
Jesus heals a man with dropsy: Jesus has a Sabbath visit with Pharisees and heals a man in their presence with dropsy (edema). This healing would have been remarkable because of the instantaneous change in the manâs appearance. The Pharisees refuse to answer Him about healing and other acts of compassion and rescue that could happen on the Sabbath because they would be trapped in their own legalism. Jesus goes on in that same chapter in Luke to lecture them using parables about humility and accepting the offer to the Great Banquet.
Healing
Speaking - Correction
Jesus heals ten lepers on the way to Jerusalem: Jesus encounters ten lepers near a village and they ask Him for mercy, addressing Him as Master. He tells them to go and show themselves to the priests, instantly healing them without touching them. One of the ten returns and worships Jesus, thanking Him for the healing. All of the lepers expressed obedience to His will, but only one, who was a Samaritan, wanted more from Him (spiritual healing) and was grateful to God.
Healing
Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead in Bethany: Jesus delays leaving His location after a request comes to Him to help Lazarus, who is dying. He arrives four days after Lazarusâ death to show His disciples the full glory of God. Jesus is deeply moved by the mourning of Mary and Martha and the others and weeps in His compassion for fallen humanity. He prays to the Father and summons Lazarus from the tomb, demonstrating that His powers have no time limit for resuscitating the dead. The wheels are set in motion by this event for His arrest and execution.
Power - Overcome death
Speaking - Guidance
Jesus heals Bartimaeus on the road from Jericho: Jesus is heading to His destiny in Jerusalem and the entourage is interrupted by the fervent pleas from Bartimaeus and another companion (as noted in Matthew). They beg for mercy and ask for healing of their blindness. Jesus heals them instantly and with compassion and Bartimaeus (as named in Mark) joins the followers. For believers, we need to pray earnestly and specifically and we also need to reject and refute the naysayers who point out every tiny variation in the Gospels as hard evidence that none of it happened. The Gospels were written with the guidance of the Holy Spirit who led four men with different observations and writing styles and eyewitness testimonies to paint a complete and true portrait of the Savior.
Healing
Jesus curses a fruitless fig tree: Jesus has pronounced His judgment on the religious leaders and their practices through the temple purging and the cursing of a fig tree that had no fruit. He has power over nature and teaches His disciples about faith that can move mountains.
Power - Overcome nature
Jesus heals the severed ear of a servant in the arrest party at Gethsemane: Jesus, even as He is being betrayed and arrested, shows compassion for one of those in the arresting party. Peter acts impulsively and severs the ear of Malchus, a servant of the High Priest. Lord calms down the disciples, heals Malchus instantly, and departs with the arresting party.
Healing
Jesus directs the disciples to pull in a second miraculous catch of fish: In the Gospel of John after the Resurrection, Jesus meets the disciples at the Sea of Galilee. He instantly fills their net with large fish (153 to be exact) and uses the time at breakfast with them to reconcile with Peter and pull them into their roles as Apostles of the new church, bringing the Word to the sheep of the world and following Him.
Provision
Power - Anointing
Speaking - Direction
Thank you Barb your words were wonderful during the series and summary was excellent. Thank you again.