Why did Jesus perform miracles and signs during His earthly ministry?
Jesus performed miracles and signs to prove to the nation of Israel who He was—that He was the Christ, the promised Messiah. The required response was faith: believing that He was the Son of the living God, as Peter and Martha confessed.
Les teaches that the whole reason for Christ performing all these miracles and signs was to prove to the nation of Israel who He was, that He was the Christ, the promised Messiah, and that all they had to do was believe that. That was their article of faith. Jesus asked the twelve shortly before His crucifixion whom men said He was; some said Elijah, John the Baptist, or one of the prophets. When He asked whom they said He was, Peter spoke up and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Les emphasizes that Peter did not add “the One who died for me and rose from the dead.” Similarly, Martha, at Lazarus’s death, confessed she believed He was the Christ, the Son of the living God. That is all they were expected to believe and confess because that is what He had revealed.