SIGNS OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
Jason Skeens
Signs of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of John: BIBLE 323
April 21, 2012
INTRODUCTION
“Truly Jesus did many other signs in
the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these
are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31, New King James
Version). The Apostle John writes again
at the close of this Gospel: “and there are many other things that Jesus did,
which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself
could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25). John’s purpose is to draw the reader to faith
in the deity of Christ by selectively choosing signs that point to this reality. D.A. Carson noted, “The signs attest who
Jesus is precisely because they point beyond themselves.”[1] If the reader merely believes Jesus is a
miracle worker, then he has missed the entire purpose of the signs, as the
signs have merely become a means to themselves.
Following will be an examination of each sign in an attempt to determine
how Jesus’ deity is displayed in each.
TRANSFORMATION OF WATER TO WINE
The transformation of water to wine
in Cana is the first sign recorded in John and is the first miracle Jesus
performed. Jesus was invited to a
wedding in which the unthinkable happens; they run out of wine. This seems
insignificant to us; we go to a wedding to witness a marriage ceremony, not to drink
wine. This was, however, a terrible
taboo in first century Israel; “Such an embarrassing faux pas could have
stigmatized the couple and their families for the rest of their lives. It could even have left the groom and his
family open to a lawsuit by the bride’s family for failing to meet their
responsibilities.”[2] Regardless,
preventing a faux pas leading to embarrassment and a lawsuit seems
insignificant to raising the dead or healing the blind. However, this sign is not insignificant; otherwise
it would not have been recorded in John.
A reasonable explanation for its
inclusion is that it highlights the “insufficiency of the old Judaic system and
the abundance of Christianity.”[3] Water was poured into six water pots normally
used for the Jewish custom of purification.
When the water was drawn out of the pots, it turned into the best wine
anyone ever tasted. The symbolism points
to the replacement of the Old for the New Covenant. The purification rites of the Old Covenant
pale in comparison to the purifying work Jesus would perform through His death,
burial and resurrection. However, a
simpler explanation is the sign magnifies the creative power of Christ; “This
wine did not come from the normal process of fermentation, from grapes, vines,
the earth and the sun. The Lord brought
it into existence from nothing. Truly
this was evidence that He is the Creator (John 1:1-4)”[4]. The result, it “manifested His glory; and His disciples
believed in Him” (John 2:11). What seems
at first to be an insignificant sign indeed magnifies the deity of Christ for
the purpose of drawing the reader to faith.
HEALING THE NOBLEMAN’S SON
In chapter four, we find ourselves
again in Cana of Galilee. The Galileans
warmly received Jesus because they saw the miracle He performed at the wedding
feast (4:45). They were ready for more
miracles, but not faith. They were like
a wonder-seeking audience watching a magician perform tricks. After the amazement of the first trick, they
shout, “Do it again"! Jesus’ mission
was not entertainment, thus He openly rebukes the Galileans for their fickleness;
“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe (John
4:48).” In spite of the Galileans skewed
perspective on Christ’s purpose, He mercifully heals a royal official’s son, a
gentile, who was at the point of death (John 4:46-54).
This second sign highlights how the power
of Christ is not limited by space. The
official’s son was located in Capernaum sixteen miles North East of Cana. Clearly Christ’s power is omnipresent, an attribute
only God can claim. The sign also
magnifies Christ’s power over sickness and death. His very word contains this power. Leon Morris explains, “Jesus said, ‘Your son
lives’ (4:50), and as the word of power was spoken the boy’s physical life was
restored. The repetition of the
essential expression (4:51.53) gives emphasis to the fact that it was a word of
power and brings out the truth that Jesus is Lord of life, physical as well as
eternal. Death cannot defeat Him.”[5] The boy was healed at the power of Jesus’
word, resulting in the belief of the official and his entire household (John
4:54). The household did not merely see
a miracle; they saw the God whose will and word death holds no sway over.
HEALING THE PARALYTIC MAN
Following the healing of the
nobleman’s son is the miraculous healing of a paralytic man. The paralytic man was part of a gathering of
sick, blind, lame and paralyzed waiting for water to move in the pool of
Bethesda (5:3). There is controversy
over this passage, but the point remains that the crowd was gathered around the
pool because they believed it had curative power. The crowd believed if someone was lowered
into the pool at the right moment and before everyone else, then they would be
healed (5:4).
Jesus chose to heal one of these men
on the Sabbath. Jesus commanded the man
to “take up his bed and walk”. Jesus’
command and the man’s subsequent and miraculous obedience broke a man-made tradition
of the Jews. “Jesus could have easily
chosen another day to heal him. But the
Lord not only wanted to show mercy to this man; He also wanted to call the
nation to repentance by confronting the self-righteous and unbiblical
stipulations that led to their illusion of spiritual life”[6] The
Jews wrongly persecuted Jesus for His infraction against their man-made law
(5:16). Jesus justified Himself by
proclaiming, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working” (John 5:17
New American Standard Bible). Jesus goes
on to explain that God the Father works every day and He’s doing the work of
His Father (John 5:19). The Jews were livid
to the point of desiring to destroy Jesus; He was claiming equality with God as
His authority for performing miracles on the Sabbath. Of course Jesus’ claims are all true and
that’s why the healing of the paralytic man points to the divinity of
Jesus. The miracle points past the obvious
(Jesus can perform the supernatural) to highlight His authority as God’s Son.
FEEDING THE FIVE THOUSAND
The next sign takes place six months
to a year after the healing the paralytic; Christ feeds five thousand with two
small fish and five barley loaves. Christ’s
creative power is on display in this miracle much like when He turned water to
wine. The unfortunate result was that instead of the
crowd seeing the sign point past itself to Christ’s deity, they only saw a
prophet who could provide for their physical needs. The miracle turned the
hungry crowd into a mob that wanted to make Christ king for their selfish
purposes (John 5:14-15).
The reason for feeding the five
thousand was not to institute a Jewish welfare state, but to demonstrate the
truth that Christ is the Bread of Life i.e. God (John 6:22-59). Jesus was and is calling all people to
receive Him as their source of spiritual life because He is the God who gives
life. Those who want life need to eat Him
(John 6:54-58). Eating signifies faith, not
cannibalism. The barrier to accepting Jesus’ words, then and now, is not a lack
of intellectual understanding, but a refusal to believe (John 6:64).
WALKING ON WATER
Jesus retreated by Himself to a
mountain because the mob was seeking to take Him by force. That night, He secretly began to cross the Sea
of Galilee to travel toward Capernaum. He
had already sent His disciples off and they were shocked when He caught up with
them partway. He was walking on the
violent Sea towards their boat! Once He
stepped in the boat, it arrived at land (John 6:21). The implication is He caused them to be
miraculously transported to the shore once He stepped in the boat.
Jesus was clearly demonstrating His
authority over the laws of nature; they are His laws and they serve His
purpose. He sovereignly chose to
temporarily suspend those laws for His glory.
The Living God who created “Heaven and the Earth and the Sea and all
that is in them” (Acts 14:15) was walking on the sea He created!
HEALING THE MAN BORN BLIND
Jesus is “the Light of the World”
(John 6:5) and He demonstrates this in the next sign. Jesus approached a man born blind. He made clay out of dirt and spit, breaking
man-made Sabbath rules again. He rubbed it on the man’s eyes and commanded him
to “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” (John 6:7).
After the man washed his sight was restored. He later professes belief in Christ and
worships Him (John 9:38). Why? Because the man was given spiritual sight as
well as physical and could see whom Jesus truly was; not a miracle working
prophet, but God. God, who said, “Let
there be light” (Genesis 1:3), shone in this man’s heart to “give the Light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
RAISING LAZARUS
The next sign is preceded by the
death of Jesus’ friend Lazarus. Jesus
loved Lazarus and his sisters so much that Jesus allowed Lazarus to die (John
11: 5-6). Jesus’ decision to allow
Lazarus to die was a loving decision because when Jesus cries out to Lazarus’ corpse
“come forth” (John 11:43), Lazarus’ body obeys.
Jesus’ decision to resurrect
Lazarus was a loving decision because it confirmed that He was doing His
Father’s work (John 11:42). Thus, the
love Jesus showed Lazarus and his family was not just shown in bringing Lazarus
back from the grave, but also in strengthening their faith in Him through it
(John 11:27). Moreover, I believe the
greatest love Jesus could give to Lazarus, Mary, Martha, and the whole world is
the revelation that He is the “resurrection and the life” (John 11:25); not
just that He offers resurrection, but that He is the resurrection. Jesus not only has power to prevent death, He
has power to give life. Ultimately, this
sign is an amazing demonstration that Jesus is the God “who gives to all people
life and breath” (Acts 17:25).
ABUNDANT CATCH OF FISH
The final sign recorded in John
takes place after Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. The disciples had gone back to fishing and
were unable to catch anything all night (John 21:3). They did not realize it was Jesus standing on
the beach that said to them “Cast your net on the right-hand side of the boat
and you will find a catch.” This was
somewhat of an understatement because the catch was so large that they couldn’t
pull it into the boat (John 21:6). Peter
immediately knew it was the Lord and hastily jumped in the water, leaving his
friends to deal with the fish.
Christ provided for His disciples
beyond their needs in spite of all their shortcomings. The disciples had run away from Christ the
night prior to His crucifixion (Mark 14:50), but there He was pursuing,
providing for and serving them. This
sign is a powerful demonstration of Christ’s power over creation and His
underserved and inexhaustible provision for His people.
CONCLUSION
There are only a handful of signs
recorded in the Gospel of John, but their message is abundantly clear. Jesus is God in the flesh (John 1:1,14). This is the most glorious and scandalous
message of all time. Those with eyes of
faith see the glory of God in Christ (John 1:14, 2 Corinthians 4:6). Those who are blind see “a stone of stumbling
and a rock of offense”(1 Peter 2:8, Isaiah 8:14). We are for Christ or against Him (Mark
9:40). There is no neutral ground. He is
everything to us, or He is nothing.
Bibliography
Carson, D.A. The Gospel According
to John (Grand Rapids, MI, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company)
Macarthur, John. The Macarthur New
Testament Commentary: John 1-11 (Chicago, IL, Moody Publishers)
Morris, Leon. Jesus is the Christ:
Studies in the Theology of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Cambridge, UK: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
Towns, Elmer. The
Gospel of John Believe and Live, Twenty-First Century Biblical Commentary Series, ed. Mal
Couch and Ed Hindson (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers,
2002)
[1]
D.A. Carson, The Gospel According
to John (Grand Rapids, MI, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company) 359
[2] John Macarthur, The
Macarthur New Testament Commentary: John 1-11 (Chicago, IL, Moody
Publishers), 79
[3]
Elmer Towns, The Gospel of John
Believe and Live, Twenty-First Century Biblical Commentary Series, ed.
Mal Couch and Ed Hindson (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2002), 20
[4] John Macarthur, The
Macarthur New Testament Commentary: John 1-11 (Chicago, IL, Moody
Publishers), 82
[5]
Leon Morris, Jesus is the Christ:
Studies in the Theology of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Cambridge, UK: Wm.
B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.), 190
[6]
John Macarthur, The Macarthur New
Testament Commentary: John 1-11 (Chicago, IL, Moody Publishers), 176
