What is the point of a miracle?

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Luke states that Peter and John attributed their miracles to God’s glorifying his servant Jesus (3:13). After the lame man was healed on the temple steps, Peter deflected the praise the people gave him. He stated that the miracle occurred because in it God chose to glorify Jesus. His response was instinctive, not contrived. The apostles recognized that their miracles pointed to Jesus’ power, not their own. 

This account reveals two aspects of God’s glory. 

 First, miracles are not an end in themselves. They point others to Jesus. Miracles bring the glory of God into the human sphere. God’s glory has power to change circumstances, correcting evil and evidencing heaven’s completeness. Miracles do not simply point people to God; they bring God to people, allowing them to receive and acknowledge his glory. 

Second, God is glorified when Jesus is glorified. Describing God as the “God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers” demonstrates the continuity between the God the Israelites knew through the Old Testament and the God they were to acknowledge because of the incarnation and resurrection. Jesus worked in harmony with the God of their fathers. Even more specifically, God the Father chose to allow his Son, Jesus, and his glory, to be the way to God himself. 

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