Jesus is described as the Word, who is God. “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:3). When asked for evidence of his identity, Jesus—the creator of space, time, matter, and the spiritual realm—performed miracles showing his power over space, time, matter, and the spiritual realm.
“Can I see some ID?” We get this question a lot. We all have many kinds of ID that verify who we are by our eye color, height, weight, where we were born, where we live, and our family of origin. Verifying a human’s identity is simple if you have the right documents, but how would God verify his identity to humans?
Jesus has something to say about this: “The works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me” (John 5:36).
Jesus claims that the works he does, the signs and wonders, verify his identity. But how do they do this?
To understand what the miracles performed by Jesus prove about his identity, we need to look at the types of miracles he performed.
The God described in the Scriptures is said to be omnipresent. This big theological term simply means that God is cognitively aware of all things in his creation. Basically, nothing happens that God doesn’t know about because he isn’t limited by geographical space. Jesus performed miracles showing he was aware of things happening away from his physical presence.
In John 1:47–49, Nathaniel comes to meet Jesus, and Jesus says Nathaniel is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. Perplexed, Nathaniel asks how Jesus knows this, and Jesus replies, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” This statement shocks Nathaniel, to which he replies, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” Nathaniel was amazed at Jesus’ knowledge of his character and whereabouts because Jesus wasn’t physically present at the fig tree.