The Sign Miracles

Recorded In The Gospel Of John

        Many signs and miracles performed by Jesus are recorded in the four gospels; however, here, only the Gospel of John will be addressed. John’s primary focus was on the deity of Jesus and His role as High Priest, Messiah and King. Of the “Sign Miracles” recorded in his gospel, each is shown to support Jesus’ deity and John does not leave room for doubt as to whether He was God.

        The first sign miracle recorded by John is found in chapter two; here Jesus turns water into wine. Jesus and His disciples are guests at a wedding in Cana. The wine runs out and Mary, Jesus’ mother, goes to Him with the problem. Jesus instructs the servants to fill six water pots, large containers, with water; they do so and miraculously the water becomes wine. This is not just wine, this is exceptionally good wine (John 2:9-10, NKJV). According to Elmer Towns, by turning the water into wine, “Jesus demonstrates His creative power.”[1] Towns also suggest, “Symbolically, John may here point out the imperfection of Judaism, especially when contrasted with the perfection of Christ.”[2] In Matthew Henry’s Commentary, He states, “As Moses, the servant of the Lord, when God bade him, went to the rock, to draw water; so these servants, when Christ bade them, went to the water, to fetch wine.”[3] He goes on to say, “He did not say, draw out now, and let me taste it, questioning whether the thing were done as he willed it or no; but with the greatest assurance imaginable, though it was his first miracle, he recommends it to the master of the feast first.” [4] Jesus had no doubts as to His authority over His creation. Everything, including water, was at His disposal to do with as He pleased; yet everything He did was ultimately to the honor of His Father.

        In chapter four, John writes about a nobleman, or royal official, who had a son that was dying. He heard about Jesus and came to see if Jesus would heal his son. John writes, “Jesus saith unto him, ‘Go thy way; thy son liveth.’ And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way” (John 4:50, NKJV). Here, Jesus shows that He has power, not only over sickness but even over distance. Albert Barnes writes, “From this miracle we may learn, 1^st that Jesus has an intimate knowledge of all things. He knew the case of this son - the extent of his disease - where he was-and thus had power to heal him. 2^nd That Jesus has almighty power. Nothing else could have healed this child.”[5] He continues, “Everything in the case bears the mark of being the simple energy of God - put forth with equal ease to heal, whether far or near. Thus he can save a sinner.”[6] 

To attempt to defraud with this miracle would be impossible. Jesus was in an area which was a couple of days journey away from where the boy was. The nobleman was with Jesus; his servants were with the boy. Both witnessed this miracle, simultaneously, from a great distance.

        Next, John tells of a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years. He had come to the sheep-gate pool in hopes of being healed. The belief was, that periodically, an angel would stir the water and the first person to get down into the water would be healed (John 5:2-7, NKJV). Jesus asks the man if he wants to be healed and then tells him, “Rise, take up thy bed and walk” (John:5:8, NKJV). In regards to why Jesus told him to take up his bed and walk, Henry states, “First, to make it to appear that it was a perfect cure, and purely miraculous; for he did not recover strength by degrees, but from the extremity of weakness and impotency he suddenly stepped into the highest degree of bodily strength; so that he was able to carry as great a load as any porter that had been as long used to it as he had been disused.”[7] Henry also states that by carrying his bed, on the Sabbath, it would surely be noticed, even attacked by the religious leaders, thereby becoming a public affair and thus bringing glory to God.[8] 

        The fourth sign miracle John presents is Jesus’ feeding of five-thousand (John 6:1-13, NKJV). John explains that Jesus took five barley loaves and two small fish, blessed them and then distributed to five-thousand men. Morris explains that while this occurrence is referenced in all four gospels, John adds some facts, unique to his gospel. Morris writes, “John has a few details peculiar to himself, such as Philip’s calculation to show the impossibility of feeding the people.”[9] He also compares Jesus miracle to the manna from heaven in the Old Testament (Ex. 16:13-36). He discusses how the Jews overlooked what Jesus had done and demanded a sign. They expected the Messiah to produce manna, just as was done in Exodus but as Morris says, “But Jesus did not go along with this view, and he proceeds to explain that ‘the bread of God is he who (or that which) comes down from heaven and gives life to the world’” (6:33).[10] The Jews completely overlooked the marvelous thing Jesus had done and let their presuppositions keep them from seeing the beauty in what their Messiah was doing before their very eyes.

        In verses sixteen through twenty-one of chapter six, John tells of Jesus walking on the water. After feeding the five-thousand, Jesus sent His disciples across the sea while He went alone to pray. While crossing the sea, a great storm came up and in the midst of the storm Jesus approached the ship walking on the water. Concerning this event, Henry says, “See here the power Christ has over the laws and customs of nature, to control and dispense with them at his pleasure. It is natural for heavy bodies to sink in water, but Christ walked upon the water as upon dry land, which was more than Moses’s dividing the water and walking through the water.”[11]  Mark records the disciple’s response, “And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, ‘Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!’” (Mark 4:41, NKJV).

        John tells of Jesus healing a man who was born blind in chapter nine. In this instance, Jesus spit on the ground, made clay and rubbed it on the man’s eyes. Then He told the man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam (John 9:1-41). According to verse thirty-two, “Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind” (John 9:32, NKJV). Elmer Towns notes, “Although Jesus healed many blind people during His public ministry, this miracle is unique in that this person was the only individual afflicted from birth.”[12] He continues, “This may be why the early Christian writers often referred to this miracle as an illustration of conversion. When individuals become Christians, they do not recover what they had formerly lost but rather receive a completely new ability to see and understand the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14-15).”[13]

        The final sign miracle recorded in the Gospel of John is the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44, NKJV). Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, were close, personal friends of Jesus. Messengers were sent to inform Jesus that he was sick but Jesus did not leave immediately. He did not arrive until the fourth day after Lazarus had died. Jesus went straight to the tomb and called Lazarus out of the tomb and he came out, alive. According to Towns, some Jews believed that the soul did not leave immediately but hovered around the body for three days, departing on the fourth.[14] He states, “From that perspective, Lazarus was beyond even a miraculous resurrection, and opening the tomb would only serve to release an offensive odor.”[15] Jesus waited to arrive so as to remove all doubt that He had power unequaled by any mere man. This miracle clearly proves that Jesus has authority even over death.

        Jesus performed miracles unlike any other. He had authority unlike any other. No man, before or after, has displayed the power of Jesus. He demonstrated His power over physical maladies, nature and even death. Whatever miracles were performed in the Old Testament, Jesus outdid them while He walked among us in human flesh. John captures the humanity, while showing the full deity of Jesus, the Messiah.     

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        [1]. Elmer Towns, The Gospel of John: Believe and Live. Twenty-First Century Biblical Commentary Series, (Chattanooga: AMG, 2002), 17. 

        [2]. Ibid., 21.

        [3]. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry Commentary, vol. 5, (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company), 873.

        [4]. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry Commentary, vol. 5, (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company), 873. 

        [5]. Albert Barnes, Barnes on the New Testament: Luke and John. Ed. Robert Frew (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House), 224. 

        [6]. Ibid., 224

        [7]. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry Commentary, vol. 5, (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company), 873. 

        [8]. Ibid., 922

        [9]. Leon Morris, Jesus Is The Christ: Studies in the Theology of John (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), 30.

        [10]. Leon Morris, Jesus Is The Christ: Studies in the Theology of John (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), 30.

        [11]. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry Commentary, vol. 5, (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company), 942.

        [12]. Elmer Towns, The Gospel of John: Believe and Live. Twenty-First Century Biblical Commentary Series, (Chattanooga: AMG, 2002), 90.

        [13]. Ibid., 90.

        [14]. Ibid., 111.

        [15]. Ibid., 111 

Bibliography

Barnes, Albert. Barnes on the New Testament: Luke and John. Ed. Robert Frew. Grand   Rapids: Baker Book House, 1977. (would not let me space this line)

  

Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry Commentary, vol. 5. Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1977. (would not let me space this line)

Morris, Leon. Jesus Is The Christ: Studies in the Theology of John. Grand Rapids:  William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989. (would not let me space this line)

Towns, Elmer. The Gospel of John: Believe and Live. Twenty-First Century Biblical Commentary Series. Nashville: AMG, 2002.