The Unlimited Power of Jesus

Matthew 8:1-17

I love the miracles of Jesus. Every time I read the gospel accounts of how He reached out to touch the lame, the blind, the diseased, the dying and the dead, I am moved. The miracles are my favorite part of biblical pageants.

The miracles show how Jesus changed lives. A man who has been blind since birth suddenly sees. A woman who was terribly sick for twelve years who spent all her savings on specialist after specialist is healed by touching his robe. A grieving widow in a funeral procession sees her dead son rise to life again at His word.

The miracles exhibit the love and mercy of the Lord Jesus. I imagine His eyes as He told weeping parents that their daughter was not dead but asleep. I believe He laughed with joy when a lame man who was lowered through the roof jumped up and danced, carrying his bed with him! How Jesus must have loved these people. How their misery must have been His misery.

The miracles are displays of Jesus' awesome, unlimited power. With a word He stills the raging, stormy sea. With a touch light shines into eyes where there was only darkness. At His presence the demonic powers of hell trembled.

Matthew records for us nine miracles. It is important to remember that the Holy Spirit led Matthew to select these nine out of hundreds, perhaps thousands of miracles performed by Jesus during His three-year ministry. The Apostle John concludes his account of Jesus' life by saying in John 21:25, "And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."

Why did the Holy Spirit inspire Matthew and the other writers to include them in Scripture?
The answer is rather simple. The miracles of Jesus showed His unlimited power, confirmed His deity and His claim to be the Messiah, the Son of God.

Jesus still responds with compassion.
You may not be a leper, but you are a sinner. Like leprosy, sin is a disease that invades your life. You can't do anything about it, but Jesus can! Whatever your situation, if you will be like that leper, come to Jesus in confidence, reverence, humility, and faith, He will heal you!

We desperately need to remember that God's love and power is not just for you and me but for the whole world.
Longfellow could take a worthless piece of paper, write a poem on it, and instantly make it worth thousands of dollars -- and it's called genius. Rockefeller could sign his name to a piece of paper and make it worth millions of dollars -- and it's called riches. A mechanic can take material worth only five dollars and make it worth five hundred -- and it's called skill. An artist can take a fifty-cent piece of canvas, paint a picture on it, and make it worth thousands of dollars -- and it's called art. Jesus can take a worthless, sinful life, wash it in His blood, put His Spirit in it, and make it valuable to God -- and that's called salvation.