“Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee”
Jesus performed His first miracle at the wedding feast at Cana as we read in the gospel reading. However, many people today do not fully understand what miracles are and why Jesus performed them.
What is a miracle? “A sign or wonder, such as a healing or the control of nature, which can only be attributed to divine power.”[i]
Besides a typical miracle, there are also “Miracle of Grace”, which is, “A sudden and unexpected conversion from ignorance to faith, from doubt to certainty, from sinfulness to holiness, It is not due to ordinary causes but to God’s particular special and unmerited grace. It is an effect of divine intervention beyond the ordinary working of Providence.”[ii]
TV SHOW – How I Met Your Mother
Marshal tries to prove there are such things as miracles. While his scenario is not a miracle in the true sense, He is at least open to the fact that there could be a divine power.
SPORTS – Miracle on Ice
One of the greatest upsets ever in any sport happened at the Winter Olympics when the U.S. Hockey team defeated the Soviet Union team. The U.S. team was not even supposed to be competitive against the Soviets, and yet they were able to defeat them in an amazing game. Near the end of the game the announcer, Al Michaels, gave an infamous remark “Do you believe in Miracles? Yes!”
Who does miracles? Ultimately, miracles are only produced by God. God can work through others to show miracles as He did with the Apostles while on earth, and as He does with the saints and Mary. He allows a miracle to work through someone, “…to witness to some truth or testify to someone’s sanctity.”[iii]
How many miracles did Jesus do? Ultimately we do not know the exact number while He was on earth because as it says at the end of John’s gospel, “There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world could contain the books that would be written.”[iv] Not to mention all the other miracles He has performed while in Heaven. However here is a list of the miracles of Christ in Scripture:
Activity – Miracles of Christ[v]
The miracles of Jesus can be broken down into five classes: nature miracles; healing miracles; deliverance of demoniacs; victories over hostile wills; cases of resurrection. If in a group setting, break the group into five small groups. Give each group a category “natural miracles” but do not tell them what category they have. Write the categories on the board and then have each group figure out which category they fit in. Another option would be to give each person a verse. Set up categories in different areas of the room. Once each person has read their verse, they then move to the category their miracle fits in and share with others in that group.
Nature Miracles
John 2 – Changing of the water into wine at Cana
Luke 5 – First miraculous draught of fishes
Matthew 8; Mark 4; Luke 8 – Calming of the tempest (Storm)
Matthew 14; Mark 6; John 6 – First multiplication of loaves
Matthew 14; Mark 6; John 6 – Jesus walking on the water
Matthew 15; Mark 8 – Second multiplication of loaves
Matthew 17 – Stater in the fish’s mouth
Matthew 21; Mark 11 – Cursing of the fig tree
John 21 – Second miraculous draught of fishes
Healing Miracles
There are several unnamed cases that are not spoken in great detail, but here are several.[vi]
John 4 – Healing of the nobleman’s son
Matthew 8; Mark 1; Luke 4 – Cure of the mother-in-law of Peter
Matthew 8; Mark 1; Luke 5 – Cleansing of the leper
Matthew 9; Mark 2; Luke 5 – Healing of the paralytic
John 5 – Healing of the sick man at Bethesda
Matthew 12; Mark 3; Luke 6 – Restoring of the man with the withered hand
Matthew 8; Luke 7 – Healing of the centurion’s servant
Matthew 12; Luke 11 – Healing of one blind and dumb
Matthew 9; Mark 5; Luke 8 – Healing of the woman with an issue of blood
Matthew 9 – Opening of the eyes of two blind men
Matthew 9 – Cure of the dumb man
Mark 7 – Healing of the deaf and dumb man
Mark 8 – Opening the eyes of one blind at Bethsaida
Matthew 17; Mark 9; Luke 9 – Healing the lunatic child
John 9 – Opening the eyes of one born blind
Luke 13 – Restoring the woman with a spirit of infirmity
Luke 14 – Healing of the man with the dropsy
Luke 17 – Cleansing of the ten lepers
Matthew 20; Mark 10; Luke 18 – Opening the eyes of the blind man near Jericho
Luke 22 – Healing of Malchus’s ear
Healing of Demoniacs
Mark 1; Luke 4 – Demoniac at Capernaum
Matthew 12; Luke 11 – Deaf and dumb demoniac
Matthew 8; Mark 5; Luke 8 – Gerasene demoniacs
Matthew 9 – Dumb demoniac
Matthew 15; Mark 7 – Daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman
Matthew 17; Mark 9; Luke 9 – Lunatic child
Luke 13 – Woman with the spirit of infirmity
Victories over Hostile Wills
“Under this heading Catholic scholars admit a greater or smaller number of miracles; it is not clear in certain cases whether the incidents in which Our Lord wielded extraordinary power over his enemies were cases of supernatural intervention of Divine Power or of His human will over that of other men. Such cases are mentioned in John (7:30 and 44; 8:20 and 59), where Jews failed to arrest him ‘because His hour was not yet come,’ or, in the fourth case because he hid himself from them.”[vii] The two main cases that appear of Divine Power:
John 2; Matthew 21; Mark 11; Luke 19 – The casting out of the vendors
Luke 4 – The episode of the escape from the hostile crowd at Nazreth.
Cases of Resurrection
Matthew 9; Mark 5; Luke 8 – Raising of the daughter of Jairus
Luke 7 – Raising of the son of the widow of Naim
John 11 – Raising of Lazarus
Why does Jesus perform miracles? “The signs worked by Jesus attest that the father has sent him. They invite belief in him. To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what they ask. Miracles strengthen faith in the one who does his father’s works; they bear witness that he is the son of God. But his miracles can also be occasions for ‘offense’; they are not intended to satisfy people’s curiosity or desire for magic. Despite his evident miracles some people reject Jesus; he is even accused of acting by the power of demons.”[viii]
Search: Magic or Miracle
Why do miracles matter? Miracles show us that God is the supreme authority or everything. “By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness, and death, Jesus performed messianic signs. Nevertheless he did not come to abolish all evils here below, but to free men from the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts them in their vocation as God’s sons and causes all forms of human bondage.”[ix] Jesus has brought and established His kingdom on earth through the Catholic Church. He gives us the ability to be freed from sin by the miracles of the Sacraments. We await His glorious return where He will reign forever.
[i] Catechism of the Catholic Church, Glossary 888
[ii] Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary, pg. 352
[iii] Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary, pg. 352
[iv] Jn. 21:25
[v] Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary pgs. 352-353
[vi] cf. ibid.
[vii] ibid.
[viii] CCC 548
[ix] CCC 549