90. Jesus’ "mighty works and wonders and signs" attest that the Father has sent him.

Jesus’ "mighty works and wonders and signs" attest that the Father has sent him.

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 90

Ave Maria series

90  Did Jesus work miracles, or are they just pious tales?

Jesus really worked miracles, and so did the apostles.  The New Testament authors refer to real incidents.  [547-550]

Jesus cures the blind man Bartimaeus in Jericho. Painting by Eustache Le Sueur. --Mark 10:46-52 .....90

Even the oldest sources tell of numerous miracles, even the raising of the dead, as a confirmation of Jesus’ preaching:  “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28).  The miracles took place in public; some of the persons involved were known by name, for instance, blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52) or Peter’s mother-in-law (Matthew 8:14-15).  There were also miracles that in those Jewish circles were considered shocking and outrageous (for example, the cure of a crippled man on the Sabbath, the cure of lepers).  Nevertheless they were not disputed by contemporary Judaism.

“A miracle does not take place contrary to nature but rather contrary to our knowledge of nature.”  St. Augustine (354-430)

“Nowhere in the world has so great a miracle occurred as in that little stable in Bethlehem; here God and man became one.  Thomas A Kempis (1379/80-1471, German mystic, author of the “Imitation of Christ”).

[547-550]

THE MYSTERIES OF JESUS' PUBLIC LIFE

The signs of the kingdom of God

547 Jesus accompanies his words with many "mighty works and wonders and signs", which manifest that the kingdom is present in him and attest that he was the promised Messiah. (Acts of the Apostles 2:22; compare Luke 7:18-23.)²⁶⁸  –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

548 The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They invite belief in him. (Compare John 5:36; Jn 10:25, 38.)²⁶⁹ To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what they ask. (Compare Mark 5:25-34; Mk 10:52; etc.)²⁷⁰ So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his Father's works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God. (Compare John 10:31-38.)²⁷¹ But his miracles can also be occasions for "offense"; (Matthew 11:6)²⁷² they are not intended to satisfy people's curiosity or desire for magic. Despite his evident miracles some people reject Jesus; he is even accused of acting by the power of demons. (Compare John 11:47-48; Mark 3:22.)²⁷³ –CCC

549 By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness and death, (Compare John 6:5-15; Luke 19:8; Matthew 11:5.)²⁷⁴ Jesus performed messianic signs. Nevertheless he did not come to abolish all evils here below, (Compare Luke 12:13-14; John 18:36.)²⁷⁵ but to free men from the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts them in their vocation as God's sons and causes all forms of human bondage. (Compare John 8:34-36.)²⁷⁶  –CCC

550 The coming of God's kingdom means the defeat of Satan's: "If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." ( Matthew 12:26, 28.)²⁷⁷ Jesus' exorcisms free some individuals from the domination of demons. They anticipate Jesus' great victory over "the ruler of this world". (John 12:31; compare Luke 8:26-39.)²⁷⁸ The kingdom of God will be definitively established through Christ's cross: "God reigned from the wood." (Liturgy of the Hours, Lent, Holy Week, Evening Prayer, Hymn Vexilla Regis: "Regnavit a ligno Deus.")²⁷⁹ --CCC