Why was Jesus miracle shy?

Jesus set up an interesting metric when He pronounces some pretty serious woes on Capernaum and Bethsaida. Basically, He said we are responsible for the weight of evidence placed upon us, especially for overt miracles. Jesus said the famously evil cities of Tyre and Sidon would get less judgment because they saw fewer signs.

That’s why Jesus refused to be a miracle machine. He was actually being protective. He doesn’t want to expose the thick-hearted to further judgment, so He only acts when a person’s heart is ready. That’s also why He told the recipient of miracles to be quiet about it… he was trying to protect the thick-hearted in case of future potential repentance.

Normally, Jesus is attempting to hold back certain ramifications in order to protect long enough for thickened hearts to heal. Hearts can thicken through pain or pleasure, scar tissue or fat. But it’s only the implanted word of God that unthickens hearts, not signs or wonders. Consider that the most widely witnessed miracle in the Bible was the parting of the Red Sea… and only two people survived the ultimate ramifications of it.

So after Jesus stated that his listeners had thickened hearts he quoted Isaiah: “That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.”

I’d argue what Jesus meant is that the unseeing shouldn’t be given signs, and the unhearing shouldn’t be given much to hear because their hearts aren’t ready and there is a spiritual cost to miracles. God wants to heal their hearts first because ironically enough miracles rarely (if ever) change a thickened heart. Think of the ten lepers who receive a super miracle but nine can’t even be bothered to say thanks?

That’s also why Jesus delivered His “hard” sayings to the crowds that had just seen His most open and public miracle: the feeding of the 5000. Evidence, signs and wonders carry a spiritual cost.

Consider Judas. Luke clearly says all the disciples cast out devils and healed, which would imply that Judas did too. But somehow that didn’t change his heart! How could you see all that and DO all that and yet it doesn’t get inside you? This is completely counterintuitive to us, yet that is what Jesus repeatedly says.

This also explains why the early church and apostles were miracle shy. In our culture we’d spread far and wide any miracle, thinking that would aid the gospel. But the book of Acts only speaks about them in passing and Paul only rarely mentions his rather large and impressive miracles in passing (he had a vision of heaven and came back to life and he only mentions it ONCE briefly in all his letters!) Instead Acts has long sermons for chapters by Stephen and Paul privileging the word highly, and a quick verse or two about pretty stunning supernatural miracles 

And those temporary wowed by miracles can quickly change their minds (because the heart remains untouched). Think of the Greeks in Lystra who tried to worship Paul in the morning after a miracle and were ready to kill him that afternoon!

Consider the masses who ate miraculous bread who then tried to grab Jesus by force and demand another miracle… that’s hardly obedience or worship. Yes, of course, a miracle will temporarily fascinate the mind but it can’t penetrate a thickened heart. And eventually the heart will rule the mind.

So that’s why it says in Hebrews: “Today if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

Matthew 13:15 – Ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου