Standards2030

Jesus accompanies his words with many "mighty works and wonders and signs", which manifest that the kingdom is present in him and attest that he was the promised Messiah. [Acts 2:22; cf. Lk 7:18-23.]

The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They invite belief in him. [cf. Jn 5:36; 10:25, 38.] To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what they ask. [Cf. Mk 5:25-34; 10:52; etc.] So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his Father's works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God. [Cf. Jn 10:31-38.] But his miracles can also be occasions for "offence"; [Mt 11:6.] 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. [Cf. Jn 11:47-48; Mk 3:22.]

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.]

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.]