And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. (Matthew 4:23-25)

Having called His first disciples, Jesus our Messiah got busy visiting and expounding the Scriptures in the synagogues of Galilee. Publicly, he proclaimed the good news that in Him the kingdom of heaven has arrived and that the time of fulfillment has begun (Matthew 4:17). And to prove to Israel and to us as well that He is indeed the Messiah, he healed the sick and demon-possessed. Moreover, His miracles illustrate His work of salvation (re-creation). They assure us that through His death and resurrection, Christ totally set us free from God’s wrath and the slavery of sin. Indeed, in Him the restoration of all things has begun.

“These miracles of Christ assure [us] that Jesus is truly the savior sent by God… that the gospel he preached is powerful enough to save [us] eternally. These miracles illustrate for [us] what God has done for [us] inwardly, that through Christ’s death and resurrection he has freed [us] from the dominion of sin and death. And these miracles remind [us] that as [our] souls have already been cleansed, [our] bodies also will one day be renewed.” – Todd Bordow

“First, Jesus’ miracles confirmed the truth of His words… Secondly, they formed proof that in Him the kingdom of heaven had arrived in principle. The coming of this kingdom brings deliverance, not only for the soul, but also for the body. It embraces nothing less than the re-creation of heaven and earth. In His miracles Jesus gave the signs, the prelude, and the pledge of this complete renewal… The wonders that He performed thus already were a visible and tangible manifestation of the kingdom of heaven.” – Herman Ridderbos