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, 1st
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.
2nd 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.
[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.
[6].
Ibid., 224
[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.
[12]. Elmer
Towns, The Gospel of John: Believe and Live. Twenty-First Century Biblical
Commentary Series, (Chattanooga:
AMG, 2002), 90.
[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.
