THERE is nothing in the New Testament to justify the statement some have made that Jesus performed miracles in order to obtain a crowd so he could preach to them. The fact is simply this: Jesus healed people because he was sorry for them. In Matthew 9:36 we read, “When he saw the multitude . . . he was moved with compassion.” Jesus entered into the troubles of the people because he loved humanity. He cared when folk were sick, when their bodies ached, when they were crippled, blind, deaf, plagued with the palsy, or some other affliction. Jesus not only cared, but he had a way of letting folk know that he cared.
