Luke 7:18-23: Why Jesus did Miracles

"And he answered them, 'Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.'” Luke 7:22-23

Let me first point out this morning that this is not a comprehensive systematic theology on why Jesus did miracles. Nevertheless, we find in our text for this morning at least one reason for why Christ did them (though there certainly were many others!). Let us observe our text and find what it is!

In Luke 7:18, we find John the Baptist sending two of his disciples to Jesus, asking him a simple question: "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" Put simply, the disciples of John were asking whether or not Jesus was the messiah prophesied about in the Old Testament, or whether he was not. This was a simple question, and it only needed a simple answer. Jesus, however, decided to make things more complicated.

Rather than directly answering his question, Jesus told John's disciples this: "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them." In other words, rather than giving John a simple "yes" or "no," Jesus told the disciples of John to report what was going on. The blind were receiving sight, the lame were walking, the dead were talking, and the poor* were hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thus, Jesus let John decide for himself whether he thought he was the Messiah, the Christ, or not.

The obvious answer that Jesus was giving to John was "yes," but it paints a beautiful picture for us, does it not? Rather than simply answering John who he was, Jesus says this: Look at what's going on here: the dead are walking and the mute are talking. The curse of sin is being reversed, and the kingdom of God is coming. So, John, what do you think? Am I the Messiah, or am I not? The obvious answer was "yes," and Christ proved this by his actions. Thus, we find a great question to our question this morning: Why did Jesus do miracles? Well, for a lot of reasons (and those certainly do not go beyond healing his people!), but one of them is this: to prove he was the Christ!

Let's flesh this out a bit more. I remember learning in class once how Jesus' miracles "reversed the curse." I really like this. Remember that since Genesis 3, things have been going massively downhill (just read the Old Testament). Nevertheless, when Jesus entered the picture, things started to go the other direction. Rather than men dying, they were raised. Rather than men getting sick, they were healed. Rather than men being condemned for their sins, they were forgiven. Thus, Jesus, by his own actions, proclaimed to be the hope of all the world. He was the solution to the curse of sin; he was the one who would crush the serpent's head (Gen. 3:15); he was (and is!) the Messiah--the Christ (these two terms mean the same thing; the first is Hebrew, the second Greek).

So, when we read Christ's miracles, let us not skip past them as if they are unimportant. When we look at these things, let us remember: Jesus is reversing the curse and proving that he is the Messiah, the only hope for mankind. When we read of Jesus' miracles, let us remember of how these miracles point us to his ultimate salvific work on the cross and in the resurrection. Is my God a God who can make the lame walk, the leper healed, and the blind man see? Yes! Yet he is also the God who preached good news to the poor and forgives the poor of their sins!

In application today, let us tell of God's good deeds! We serve a God who raises the dead! Amen!?!? Let us not hide this Good News in our hearts. Who can you share God's Good News with today? A coworker? A friend? A family member? Do not quench the Spirit's leading in your heart. Share God's Good News, and let God be magnified in the process! Go tell those around you today: "the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them." AMEN!

*This does not mean that the upper and middle-class people weren't hearing the Gospel. Firstly, there wasn't much of a "middle-class" in that time--most people with either rich or poor. Secondly, In the Gospel of Luke, the outcasts of society are highlighted. Jesus came not to save those who were content with their riches or satisfied with their own righteousness (cf. Luke 5:32). Thus, Luke highlights this by accentuating the "poor" and the "sick" throughout his book. Luke was a doctor after all!