Matthew 11:4-5

Jesus answered [the disciples of John the Baptizer], "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them."

This is an incident important enough both Matthew and Luke [7.18-35] record it for their Communities, who were very different - Matthew's largely Jewish and Luke's largely Gentile.

What is so important?

If we focus on the individual incidents mentioned, we miss the point. These happenings are signs, pointing to something else - the authority claimed by Jesus. This is not just any authority, as there were lots of "miracle workers" in Israel at the time [as there are now], but the authority of the Messiah, as detailed in Isaiah 29, 35, and 61. Jesus is telling John the Baptizer who he is. Jesus is appealing to John to believe because of the evidence God's purposes were being realized.

As we walk to Jerusalem, Jesus is making the same appeal to us.