“If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. … Why do you call it blasphemy when I say, ‘I am the Son of God’? After all, the Father set me apart and sent me into the world. Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work. But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.” [John 10: 24b-25, 36-38 (NLT)]
After driving out an evil spirit from a man in Capernaum, Jesus went to the home of Andrew and Peter. When He learned that Peter’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever, Jesus went to her bedside, took her hand, helped her up, and the fever was gone. Having shown his authority over both demon possession and physical disease that day, reports of His ability circulated throughout town. That evening, a crowd gathered wanting to be healed by Jesus.
Early the next morning, Jesus went off by himself to pray. As word of His power spread, more people desirous of healing gathered around Peter’s house. Wanting to bring Jesus back to town to continue His healing ministry, the disciples searched for Him. Rather than return to Capernaum, however, Jesus informed the disciples that they needed to go elsewhere to preach to other people, explaining, “That is why I came.” [Mark 1:38]
Jesus fed the hungry, cast out demons, gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, brought healing to the sick, and even raised the dead, but those miracles were secondary to His real purpose. Miracle-making was merely a sign of His authority as the Messiah. While our lives are far better with Jesus, His purpose was not to make our lives painless, simpler or free from trouble.
Although many were healed by Him, Jesus’s ministry was not one of physical healing but one of spiritual healing and salvation. His purpose was not to repair bodies but to fix souls. He explained it best Himself when He told Nicodemus that God sent His son to save the world. In response to the repentance of the corrupt Zacchaeus, Jesus told the crowd: “The Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” When Jesus disclosed to the disciples that He’d come to give His life as a ransom for many, He never said He’d come to make our lives easier with miracles. Jesus came to change the world and save our lives!
Devotions of the Heart 