The Purpose of Signs in John's Gospel Pt 2

Jesus is the divine Son of God

N.T. Wright describes the meaning of the Signs as follows; “The whole point of signs is that they are moments when heaven and earth intersect with each other. The point is not that they are stories which couldn’t have happened in real life, but which point away from earth to a heavenly reality”. This heavenly reality that Wright speaks of is manifested proof of John’s incredible assertion in the prologue: that God became man and dwelt among us. The signs, then, serve as the recorded proof that Jesus is the heavenly reality of God with us.

In the first recorded miracle at the wedding feast in Cana (2:1-12)- and with one word- Jesus turns water into wine, displaying powers of creation thus manifesting His eternal glory. Calvin commented that Jesus manifested his glory in that “he gave striking and illustrious proof, by which it was ascertained that he was the Son of God; for all the miracles which he exhibited to the world were so many demonstrations of his divine power.”

Jesus shows that geography is no obstacle or sickness out of the realm of his miraculous work when he heals the nobleman’s son (4:43-54). The life-giving word of Jesus prevails over both. The healing of a man who had suffered paralysis for thirty-eight years (5:1-15) records Jesus’ power over human disease and even over the destructive force of time as a man paralyzed for thirty-eight years would be virtually incurable.

Jesus proves that he is sufficient to meet every human need (both physically and spiritually) in the feeding of the five thousand (6:1-14). He is the bread of life and there is no other. The forces of nature are subdued and proved to be under Jesus’ authority when He walks on the waters of the Galilean sea, allaying the fear of his disciples (6:15-24). Fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah,

Jesus restoressight to a man born blind (9:1-41) and emphatically proves the intention of God: to bring sight to the blind that they may see and believe in the one whom was sent.

Finally, the raising of Lazarus from the dead proved that Jesus ruled over the power of death. Though Lazarus isn’t the only recorded person that Jesus brought back from death (Jairus’ daughter and the widow’s son), that Lazarus was dead for several days proved to be a greater sign than the raising of the others who were dead for much less time. Through all of these signs John records and reveals that Jesus of Nazareth was no mere man but the divine Son of God: Jesus the Christ.