1. Jesus is Always Good 

Acts 10:38 And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

Jesus is same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8) and yet wherever He went He brought change, and that change was always good.

• Humanity – as a man walking around healing the sick, raising the dead, performing miracles
• Attraction – people were attracted to Him and what He could do
• Goodness – everything He did was good
• Hope – His actions created hope in people
• Power – there was undeniable power and authority displayed
• Miracles – many of the things He did can’t be explained

2. Examples

Below are some examples – harmonised from the various Gospel accounts. Part of keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus is knowing the things He does and the way He does them. In the following passages we see Jesus going round doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, and it gives us more insight into who He is. We see He healed all the sick, He had compassion on the crowds.

Feeding of the Five Thousand Matt 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-15

• As soon as Jesus heard the news about the death of John the Baptist he left by boat to the far side of the Sea of Galilee (to be alone). His disciples had also just returned from a ministry tour and He wanted them all to go to a quiet place and rest for a while because they didn’t even have time to eat. 
• Crowds (from many towns) followed, some ran along the shore and got there first. He had compassion on them and healed the sick. He also taught them many things. He climbed a hill and sat down with disciples around Him.
• Jesus asked Philip where could they buy bread for the huge crowd – it was a test because He already knew what He was going to do.
• The disciples wanted to send the crowd away to go to the nearby farms and villages and buy food and find lodging because it was a remote place.
• Jesus said “You feed them”, they said “With what? – We’d have to work for months to earn enough money”.
• Andrew (Simon Peter’s brother) said, “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”
• They said they only had five loaves and two fish.
• Jesus told the disciples to get them to sit in groups (of 50 or 100) on the green grass.
• Jesus said “Bring them”. He looked to heaven, blessed it and broke it (He kept on giving) – gave it to the disciples who distributed it.
• Everyone ate as much as they wanted. 
• The disciples collected twelve baskets of leftovers because Jesus told them, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.”
• Over 5000 men plus women and children were fed.
• People said, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”
• Jesus saw they were ready to force Him to be their king so slipped away into the hills by Himself

Jesus Walks on Water  Matt 14:22-36, Mark 6:45-56, John 6:16-21

• Immediately after the feeding of the 5000 he insisted the disciples get back in the boat and return to the other side, to Bethsaida. However, they didn’t leave until evening (it was dark). He sent the people home and then went into the hills by himself to pray. He was there until night time.
• The disciples were in trouble because a strong wind (a gale) had risen (suddenly) and they were fighting heavy seas (rowing hard).
• At 3 o’clock in the morning Jesus came towards them walking on the water (He intended to go past them).
• They saw Him and they were all terrified, thinking He was a ghost.
• Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!”
• Peter said, “if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water”. So Jesus said come.
• Peter went over the side of the boat and walked towards Jesus on the water.
• When he saw the strong wind and waves, he was terrified and began to sink – “Save me”
• Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. 
• “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”
• They climbed into the boat (the disciples were eager to let them in) – the wind stopped and they were totally amazed because they didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves, because their hearts were too hard to take it in.
• The disciples worshipped Him. “You really are the Son of God!”
• They immediately arrived at Gennesaret and landed there. People recognised Jesus – news of His arrival spread quickly.
• All the sick were brought to Him – some on mats (in the marketplaces), begged for the sick to touch the hem of His garment – all who touched Him were healed.

3. Jesus said we can do the same

John 14:12  “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.

There are many examples from the time of Jesus on earth to now of people doing the works that Jesus did. In his book “Like a Mighty Wind” Mel Tari writes of a group of children during the Indonesian revival who walked across a large river that was in full flood; those who tried to copy them were almost washed away. I’d encourage you to discover examples of people doing the works Jesus did, and let it build faith in you about what He wants to do through you.

4. Unbelief

Jesus encountered unbelief in His divinity and power on several occasions and He dealt with it differently according to the situation, as we can see in the two accounts below.

Mark 8:22 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. 23 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?” 24 The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.” 25 Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him away, saying, “Don’t go back into the village on your way home.”

There are several occasions where Jesus either removes the person He’s praying for from the surroundings or removes people from the person He’s praying for (Jairus’ daughter (Matt 9:22-26). In Matthew 11 we read that Jesus rebuked Bethsaida, among other cities, for its unbelief and in Mark 6 and Matthew 13 it says that in some areas He could do no mighty works because of their unbelief. So Jesus removed the man from the culture of unbelief and even after he was healed told him not to go home through Bethsaida.

The other way Jesus dealt with unbelief is found in the following passage:

Healing of the Demon-Possessed Boy (Matt 17:14-29, Luke 9:37- 43)

• The next day, at the foot of the mountain, there was a large crowd waiting for them. The crowd were surrounding the other disciples who were arguing with some teachers of religious law.
• When the crowd saw Jesus they were overwhelmed with awe and ran to meet Jesus.
• Jesus asked what all the arguing was about.
• A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, I beg you to look at my son, my only child. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk (making him scream). And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. He often falls into the fire or into the water. It batters him and hardly ever leaves him alone. So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”
• Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
• So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground (the demon knocked him to the ground), writhing and foaming at the mouth.
• How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father.
• The father replied, “Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”
• “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
• The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”
• When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!”
• Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.”
• But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up. Then He gave him back to his father. From that moment on the boy was well.
• Awe gripped the people as they saw this majestic display of God’s power.
• Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?”
• Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; I tell you the truth, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. 

Here Jesus could see that the man had faith, he wasn’t cynical or testing Jesus – he wanted to see his son healed. So, Jesus challenged him to believe in Him, to overcome the unbelief he was experiencing.

Both of these passages are helpful for us. Many times we are in the position of the father; we have unbelief and faith present. In those situations we need to repent of our unbelief and release faith. On other occasions it is the unbelief in the situation that we need to get out of. There is so much we can learn from just watching how Jesus did stuff when He was on earth.

5. Pursue Love and desire spiritual gifts

1 Corinthians 14:1 Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy.

Jesus calls us to do the works He did from the same heart that He did them from. He loved people, He had compassion on them and that is how it will work best for us. But love looks like something, and on some occasions that looks like a healing, a prophecy or a miracle. We need to build an expectation that God  wants to use us and one of the most effective  ways we can do that is by meditating on the things He did and how He did them.