Why miracles? In short, miracles were proof! Proof that the person performing the miracle was sent from GOD and proof that the message given was God's message. When Moses was called by God from the burning bush (Exodus 3&4), he was told to preach to the children of Israel. Moses, concerned that they wouldn't believe him, appealed to the Lord: "Then Moses answered and said, 'But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, The Lord has not appeared to you.' So the Lord said to him 'What is that in your hand?' He said "A rod," And He said cast it on the ground.' So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Reach out your hand and take it by tail (and (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), 'that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Issac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.' Furthermore the Lord said to him, 'Now put your hand in your bosom.' And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold his hand was leprous like snow. And He said, 'Put your hand in your bosom again.' So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh. 'Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign.' (Exodus 4.4-8).
This passage, given so early in the Bible, clearly shows the purpose God gave for miracles, confirmation that the messenger was sent from God, therefore the message was, God's, message.
. In John 11, Jesus raised Lazarus, who had been dead four days and had begun to decompose and smell (John 11: 3 9). Jesus prayed to His Father, and called His friend from the grave! Notice the reaction of those pre sent, and notice the reaction of the Jewish rulers in John 11:43-48:
"'Now when He had said these things, he cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth!' And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Loose him, and let him go.' Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said., 'What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him and the Romans will come and take away our place and nation."'
In the next chapter (John 12:9-11), Jesus came back to this city and attended a banquet to which His friend Lazarus was also invited:
"Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus."
This miracle, like all miracles of the Bible, was a tremendous confirmation that the messenger, in this case Jesus, was sent from God. If you lived in Palestine after this happened, wouldn't you think of Jesus every time you saw Lazarus walking down the street, buying vegetables in the market or paying his taxes? Wouldn't you find Lazarus to be a strong testimony to the words of Jesus? Lazarus, like hundreds of others miraculously helped by Jesus and recorded in scripture, lived his life afterward as a powerful testimony of the words of God.
So do miracles still happen today? The Bible says "no." That's not to say that God doesn't even to this day intervene in the affairs of men, cure people of cancer or cause the downfall of governments. (How many times have you looked backward and saw the hand of God at work?) But it would be misguided to refer to these workings of God today as miracles, because they aren't. They're simply His divine providential hand at work, the same providential hand that created the universe and all in it. The same providential hand that sent "His only begotten Son " to die for you and me.
For you see, I Corinthians 13:8-10 Teaches that all spiritual gifts, including miraculous healing, would be replaced:
"Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish-away. For we know in part and we, prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away."
We learn from Acts 8 that these spiritual gifts were only endowed when the apostles prayed and laid hands on believers. Even men already endowed with these gifts, like Philip, could not "pass them on," so we know that these miraculous gifts did indeed, exactly as foretold by scripture, "vanish away." Once the Bible was complete, more miraculous proofs were not needed. The words and actions of Jesus and His disciples were there in black and white for all to read.
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