Mark 5-10, Luke 5-9, Matthew 8-9, John 9-11.

There’s a lot of diversity in the gospels. Stories that are told one way in Matthew are probably way different in Luke and just left out of John.
One thing that this has always seemed to suggest to me is that the author of the gospel that is different has different intentions. In Luke, Jesus’ sermon “on the mount” is greatly different than the way we’re probably more used to it in Matthew. Did Jesus actually give two different sermons about similar things? I don’t think so. I think it’s more likely that Luke is more interested in the literal while Matthew is more interested in the transformational and renewal aspects of Jesus’ message.
Of course, the stories of Jesus’ miracles are not entirely an exception. There are subtle differences between accounts that probably relate to the motive of the author. Mark recalls Jesus telling those who he heals to stay quiet about his miracles, because Mark is more interested in the “messianic secret” of Jesus, for instance.
However, throughout nearly all the gospels, Jesus is described as healing the blind and the sick. He multiplies fish, calms a storm, and walks on water. Why would these events have been recorded the same way, regardless of the author’s motivation? To me, this seems like a proof that Jesus’ miracle-working is truth, and not a storytelling device.
As I think I’ve mentioned before, I have struggled a lot to understand the magnitude of validity of the gospel stories. For one, there seems to be a lot of inconsistency in what is portrayed as fact and what is portrayed as parable or literary device. And secondly, I already believe in the saving power and love of Jesus Christ without having to accept these stories of logic-defying occurrences. It’s difficult to believe that a being who is fully human although fully divine, who probably made mistakes and who had to learn of his own identity and who got scared sometimes, would be able to transcend not only our spiritual conceptions but also our physical ones.
There’s another roadblock in this thinking that really throws everything off track for me, and that’s the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. While this account is equally difficult to understand and believe in, we have to accept it in order to fully embrace what Christianity teaches us about Jesus’ purpose on Earth.
And so now I find myself really muddled up about how to sort out what Jesus actually did when he was here.
Luckily, I find comfort in these passages of miracles. Through all the diversity in the gospels, these seem to be the passages where each author is equally convinced of the literal miracles they witnessed.
And between all of these stories, there’s one element that really sticks out to me as most often consciously repeated: faith. Those who believe and trust are healed, and in fact in some accounts those who do not believe are scolded, called out, and made the subject of woes. Peter confesses Christ, the centurion declares Jesus’ authority, and the sick woman believes in Jesus’ full power.
What an encouraging thing, don’t you think? Breaking through all the differences in intention of the human writers of the gospels is the truth of Christ. His message is clear: His supernatural power to heal is authentic, and it’s among us. All we have to do is believe, trust, and have faith.