YOUCAT Question n. 91 - But why did Jesus work miracles?
(Youcat
answer) The miracles that Jesus worked were signs that the kingdom of God was
beginning. They expressed his love for mankind and reaffirmed his mission.
A deepening through CCC
(CCC 549)
By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice,
illness and death (Cf. Jn 6:5-15; Lk 19:8; Mt 11:5), Jesus performed messianic
signs. Nevertheless he did not come to abolish all evils here below (Cf. Lk
12:13-14; Jn 18:36), 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 (Cf. Jn 8:34-36).
Reflecting and meditating
(Youcat comment) Jesus’
miracles were not self-aggrandizing displays of magic. He was filled with the
power of God’s healing love. Through his miracles he showed that he is the
Messiah and that the kingdom of God begins in him. Thus it became possible to
experience the dawn of the new world: he freed people from hunger (Jn 6:5-15),
injustice (Lk 19:8), sickness, and death (Mt 11:5). By driving out demons, he
began his victorious advance against the “ruler of this world” (meaning Satan;
see Jn 12:31). Nevertheless, Jesus did not remove all misfortune and evil from
the world. He directed his attention principally to freeing man from the slavery
of sin. His central concern was faith, which he also elicited through miracles.
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 550)
The coming of God's kingdom means the defeat of Satan's: "If it is by the
Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon
you" (Mt 12:26, 28). Jesus' exorcisms
free some individuals from the domination of demons. They anticipate Jesus'
great victory over "the ruler of this world" (Jn 12:31; cf. Lk
8:26-39). The kingdom of God will be definitively established through Christ's
cross: "God reigned from the wood" (LH, Lent, Holy Week, Evening
Prayer, Hymn Vexilla Regis: “Regnavit a ligno Deus”).
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