N.T. Wright On Jesus' Mighty Works

"the bulk of Jesus' might works, could be seen as the restoration to the membership in Israel of those who, through sickness or whatever, had been excluded as ritually unclean. The healings thus function in exact parallel with the welcome of sinners, and this, we may quite sure, was what Jesus himself intended. He never performed mighty works simply to impress. He saw them as part of the inauguration of the sovereign and healing rul of Israel's covenant god." (Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God")