The "Signs" of Jesus' Authority:

These are the "Signs" and "Miracles" that Jesus performed to demonstrate his authority to speak for God and forgive sins:
1. changing water into wine.
2. expelling demons.
3. a great catch of fish.
4. curing deafness.
5. curing blindness.
6. healing crippled bodies.
7. healing an issue of blood.
8. curing epilepsy.
9. healing a leper.
10. knowing secrets of the heart.
11. feeding the multitude.
12. transfiguring his appearance.
13. stilling a storm.
14. walking on water.
15. raising the dead.
16. cursing the fig tree.
17. repairing a detached ear.
18. suffering crucifixion.
19. resurrection as He promised.
20. imparting the Holy Spirit.
21. ascending into Heaven.

Why were these particular signs considered relevant and/or convincing?
A. Only God is able to heal such impossible cases of suffering.
B. Only the Creator would have the power to ignore the laws of nature.
C. Only God can solve the problem of sin and guilty consciences.
D. Only God can overcome the powers of darkness and evil.
E. As God's Word, his speech can effect miracles & change reality.

The problem:
1. The perceived problem was not suffering, darkness and evil. It was political oppression and vassalage to the Roman Empire.
2. The Law was to be the vehicle of Israel's unique identity, and not something to be revised and shared with the gentiles.
3. The Messiah was supposed to be a leader who would turn Israel into a leader among the nations, and establish its people's freedom forever, as the first of a dynasty of holy kings.
4. The Messiah was not supposed to be a divine figure, neither a Son of God, nor an avatar of God, and certainly not the God of Moses in the second person of a Trinity.
5. "My kingdom is not of this world" was NOT what they wanted to hear.

Once the shift in the message became clear, the Jews rejected it as irrelevant, and a hijacking of the whole expectation of the promised Messiah and his kingdom. Indeed, the claim to divinity was an intolerable blasphemy. Spirit and flesh do not "mate" to produce semi-divine heroes! Preposterous! Only the pagan gentiles believe that foolishness.

The way the Jews saw it, then and now, the Christians got it all wrong. But from the Christians' point of view, the Jews were not convinced because they began from an attitude of doubt.

The Jews asked for a sign, so they could parse and discredit it. They thought He was mad, not quite in step with reality, and misleading the people with his strange stories about God. So Jesus refused to work a "miracle" for them, since they would still not be convinced, and asked them to look at Him with eyes of expectation and faith.

Only one sign, or miracle, would He offer them, and they would have to wait for it: the sign of Jonah, his resurrection from the grave. In the early hours of the the morning after the Sabbath ended, the stone rolled away from his tomb, and the transfigured Christ emerged, to the total amazement of the guards who had been posted there. Hours later, He appeared to his followers to show them He was alive again, and give them a few last words of encouragement and teachings. Then, a few weeks later, after appearing to a great many people, He ascended, in full view of a gathered crowd, into Heaven. He had told his disciples to wait for Shavuot, for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in power, before beginning the Great Commission to spread the Gospel around the world. And so they did. You can read the whole story in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.

These signs were "miracles" in the sense that they caused faith among the witnesses, since the emergence of faith is itself a miracle. The resurrection and appearances of Jesus gave his disciples and followers such strong faith that they were willing to face derision, being cast out of their synagogues, libel, getting chased from town to town, and even stoned to death, or arrested, thrown into prison and eventual crucifixion. They knew in their hearts that Jesus' resurrection meant that they would be saved if they were martyred for his sake, while doing as He asked. They KNEW that Jesus is the Living God.