Lesson Two
Jesus, The Miracle Worker

Jesus, The Miracle Worker: 
•	"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that be should written" (John 21:25).
•	"The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach" (Acts 1:1).
•	The ministry of Jesus is filled with one miraculous act after another. 
•	The record of His ministry contains one continuous list of miracles.
•	In this unit of study we shall be studying thirty-six miracles which are given in the four gospels. 
•	It is to be understood that the Bible gives us only a partial list of the miracles performed by our Lord. 
•	The inference is that there were countless numbers of them, which were not recorded.
•	The Apostle John makes this fact very clear when he wrote that world itself could not contain all the books if a complete record was written. 
•	In verse one of Acts chapter one we read that the Gospel of St. Luke only gave the record of what Jesus BEGAN to do and teach. 
•	In other words what we shall be studying is only the miracles which he began to do.
•	In this unit, Life of Christ II, we shall study what Jesus began to do; in the next unit, Life of Christ III, we shall study what Jesus began to teach.

Jesus, A Miraculous Being:
•	"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14).
•	Jesus Christ was and is the God-man. He was "God manifest in the flesh" (I Timothy 3:16). 
•	Everything about Jesus Christ is miraculous–His birth, His ministry, His resurrection and His Ascension.
•	His birth was a miracle. 
•	If a miracle had not taken place, He could never have been born of a virgin. 
•	This was one of the greatest miracles of all times.
•	Someone has written concerning Jesus, "It would have been a miracle if Jesus had not performed miracles!" 
•	Jesus is such a miraculous Being Himself that we are not surprised that He exerted His power over diseases, demons, death and nature.

Miracles Proved The True Identity Of Jesus:
•	"And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached" (Luke 7:21-22).
•	 John the Baptist sent two disciples to Jesus with the question, "Art thou he that should come? or look we for another." 
•	Apparently John had allowed some doubts to enter his mind concerning Jesus. 
•	He had announced Jesus at Jordan, "Behold the Lamb of God, “but now he was in doubt.”
•	Instead of Jesus sending back just a simple answer, He demonstrates His power before these disciples. 
•	They saw the blind given sight; they witnessed men delivered from infirmities, plagues and evil spirits. 
•	They were now able to return to John with positive proof for they had actually seen the power of God in demonstration.
•	There can be no greater proof than that of miracles which bear evidence of the power of God. 
•	The miracles gave proof of the true identity of our Lord.
•	Someone has said that the miracles performed by our Lord were His credentials. 
•	They were signs revealing His true nature and mission. 
•	We can see the personality and nature of Jesus Himself in each of His miracles. 
•	For example: 1) The miracle of feeding the multitude reveals Him as the Bread of life; 2) The miracle of healing the blind man reveals Him as the Light of the world; 3) The miracle of raising Lazarus reveals Him as the Resurrection and the Life.

Miracles Proved The True Ministry Of Jesus: 
•	"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me... recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised... This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:18-21).
•	"Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28).
•	One thing we must always keep in mind is that Jesus came not into the world to minister to Himself. 
•	He came to minister to others. 
•	The miracles of our Lord prove this fact conclusively. 
•	He came to meet the needs of others.
•	Not once was there a miracle performed to minister to Himself. 
•	He was human and as such was often weary and hungry, but never did Jesus perform a miracle to minister to His own needs.
•	Two examples to prove this are: 1) Jesus refused to turn stones into bread even when He was hungry (Matthew 4:3-4) and 2) Jesus refused to call for twelve legions of angels when He was betrayed and arrested in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:53).
•	Never did Jesus perform miracles in order to make a display of His power to entertain people. 
•	He was no magician performing miracles to receive the applause of people, nor did He perform healing for a price. 
•	His entire ministry bore witness to the fact He that lived and died to minister to the needs of men and women.

Jesus Gave Power To His Ministers To Perform Miracles:
•	"Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases" (Luke 9:1).
•	"And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name" (Luke 10:17).
•	"Greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father" (John 14:12).
•	Jesus made it very clear that miracles were to follow the preaching of the gospel. 
•	In Mark 16:17 Jesus stated that, "these signs shall follow them that believe." 
•	In I Corinthians 12:10 we read that "working of miracles" is one of the gifts of the Spirit.
•	Jesus authorized and commissioned the twelve disciples and the seventy to perform miracles.
•	However, we must always keep clearly in mind that no man apart from Jesus has the power to work miracles. 
•	If miracles follow a man's ministry, it is always in the "Name of Jesus" and through the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:17; Acts 3:16).
•	Never can man take any glory for what He sees accomplished but the glory always will belong to Jesus.

Lesson Two
Self Help Test

A. How do we know that we have only a partial list of the miracles performed by Jesus Christ?

B. Write a paragraph beginning with this sentence: "It would have been a miracle if Jesus had not performed miracles."

C. Give two examples of where Jesus refused to perform a miracle to minister to Himself.
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2. 
D. Write out three Scriptures with references to prove that Jesus gave His ministers power to perform miracles.