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WHY DID JESUS PERFORM MIRACLES, SIGNS and WONDERS?




PART 1: Signs - Their Presence and Necessity

  1. ABOUT DEMANDING SIGNS [It was not necessarily wrong.]
  2. ABOUT IGNORING SIGNS AND DEMANDING MORE SPECTACULAR ONES

  3.  
    1. Wicked people do that
    2. Sometimes not given more signs
    3. Sometimes given signs unlike what they wanted

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PART 2: Signs - Their Nature

  1. NOT ALWAYS A SPECTACULAR "ON THE SPOT" MIRACLE
  2. SOMETIMES INTENDED FOR SPECIFIC GROUPS OF PEOPLE
  3. JESUS HIMSELF WAS A SIGN!

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PART 3: The Purpose of Jesus' Miracles

  1. TO SHOW WHO HE WAS [They were "signs" that pointed to who he was.]
  2. TO BRING PEOPLE TO REPENTANCE AND TRUST IN HIM
  3. [It did not always happen, though.]
  4. NOT A PURPOSE: TO GET ATTENTION!

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PART 4: The People's Response to Jesus' Miracles and Signs

  1. (NOTE: Their response was often less than what it should have been.)
     
  2. RESPONSES ASSOCIATED WITH BELIEVING IN HIM (TRUSTING HIM) - OR NOT DOING SO

  3.  
    1. People believed / trusted him, when they saw his miracles. [Some did so only because they saw them...]
    2. But many had a temporary or incomplete (or imperfect) faith.
    3. Some would refuse to repent and believe, even after they did see miracles. [Sometimes they would even demand more miracles! (See also Part 1, Sec. B.)]
  4. OTHER TYPES OF RESPONSES

  5. (In addition to believing / trusting)

     
    1. Following him; wanting to see him
    2. Praising God
    3. An awareness that Jesus was from God
    4. Considering him a prophet / leader
    5. Some hated him and would want to kill him; they were guilty of sin because they rejected the evidence of the miracles.

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PART 5: A Few Comments about Some Other Passages in the Bible

  1. OTHER VERSES IN THE BIBLE ABOUT MIRACLES
  2. TWO PASSAGES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, WHICH NEED TO BE CONSIDERED. (God gave directions for distinguishing between true and false prophets.)
  3. A FEW COMMENTS ABOUT NEW TESTAMENT PASSAGES NOT INCLUDED IN THE ABOVE STUDY:

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Dennis Hinks © 1998, 2004
Note: Parts of this study are based on the New International Version, but no verses are directly quoted from it.
Any verses quoted are either my paraphrase or common among many translations.
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