Our word ‘miracle’ tends to imply that God, normally ‘outside’ the closed system of the world, sometimes ‘intervenes’; miracles have then frequently been denied by sceptics as a matter of principle. However, in the Bible God is always present, however strangely, and ‘deeds of power’ are seen as special acts of a present God rather than as intrusive acts of an absent one. Jesus’ own ‘mighty works’ are seen particularly, following prophecy, as evidence of his messiahship (e.g. Matthew 11.2–6).
