7 Signs

7 Signs

1. Walking on water

   • Signpost
     • Jesus provides safety
       • shows his divinity
     • establishment of new covenant
     • Wishes to be understood as a teacher
   • State
     • Jesus provides safety
     • Symbolic of the establishment of the new covenant
   • Explain
     • Jesus, surrounded by the storm, was safe on calm water
       • shows divinity
       • Shows that he is comfort and good in a world of sin (symbolised by the storm)
     • As in water into wine, water is symbolic of Judaism
       • He stands above it
         • Symbolic of the new covenant and how he is needed for Judaism's completion
   • Relate
     • Jonah [1:4]
       • The Lord sent the great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to beak up.
         • Demonstrates God's anger, like Jesus' frustration with the people
   • Criticise
     • Houdmann
       • Acknowledging who God is and praising him both for who he is and for what he has done. It was in this story that the disciples took the first step and worshiped Jesus as the son of God
     • Russell
       • Both a demonstration of divinity and a message

2. Official's son

   • State
     • Jesus was not a performer he was the messiah
     • He showed his divinity
     • Universalism
   • Explain
     • Showed divinity
       • Was nowhere near the child
         • Jesus was not a performer
           • He healed without making a show
             • So people could see the meaning
       • Power of healing
       • You're son will live
         • Not a prophecy
           • words of power
     • Universalism
       • The officer was a gentile
         • No matter you're belief, if you humble yourself, he will accept you
   • Relate
     • Exodus [15:26]
       • I am the Lord who heals you
         • Only God has the power to heal
           • Jesus is the son of God
     • 1 Kings 17
       • Elijah carries the widows dead son up stairs and out of sight
         • Asks God to return the boys life
           • Returns the boy to his mother
     • 2 kings 5
       • When Naaman went to Elisha in need of healing
         • Expected a performance
           • [5:11]
             • stand and call on the name of the Lord his God
               • wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy
   • Criticise
     • Brown
       • Jesus gives physical and metaphysical life
     • Russell
       • Divinity shown because he 'spectacularly' heals the boy from far away.
   • Signpost
     • The man humbled himself
       • No performance
     • Universalism

3. Sick man at the pool

   • State
     • Jesus can heal
     • Even God works on the Sabbath
     • Usurp
   • Explain
     • The Pharisees enforce the keeping of the Sabbath even with healing
       • But it is lawful to help on the Sabbath
     • The man resembles the Jews that with the addition of Jesus will be fulfilled
   • Relate
     • Jeremiah [17:21]
       • This is what the Lord says: be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem
         • The Jewish authorities had many rules for keeping the Sabbath
           • Jesus usurped this by telling the man to pick up his mat and walk
           • New covenant of love and grace instead of the old of law
     • 2 Chronicles 30
       • Despite the people not being cleansed Hezekiah stilled prayed for their healing, and it was so
   • Criticise
     • Schnackenburg
       • The lame man was 'a symbol of the Jewish people'
         • With Jesus they can walk with him and follow him on the path to Heaven
   • Signpost
     • Shows the usurping of the Pharisees' authority and the establishment of the new covenant
     • The Jews are so close to God ( the pool)
       • But so far as they cannot reach it
         • With Jesus they can

4. Feeding of the 5,000

   • State
     • Bread symbolises Jesus' flesh
       • Jesus' love is for everyone and will never run out
     • Jesus was recognised as a teacher
       • People understood his importance
   • Explain
     • There was enough bread for everyone
       • It filled 12 more baskets than they needed
         • Jesus can fulfil our needs physically and spiritually
         • No one will go hungry
     • When he told the people to sit they did so
       • Just like a teacher stands in front of their pupils
       • They obeyed him
         • A sign of respect and understanding his importance
   • Relate
     • Deuteronomy [18:15]
       • 'The lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.'
         • The people intended to make him king by force
           • This was not what Jesus intended as it was not the will of God
             • He was not a king, but a prophet, not a leader, but a teacher
   • Criticise
     • Marsh
       • Feeding of 5,000 was an actual historical event. Jesus actually fed 5,000 people miraculously.
         • This shows Jesus' divinity and the reality of his relationship with God
           • After giving thanks for the food, God delivered
     • Krostenburger
       • 'it was symbolic of the messianic banquet'
   • Signpost
     • Jesus will bridge the gap between God and the people, and his love will never run out.

5. Water into wine

   • State
     • Establishment of the New Covenant
     • Usurping
   • Explain
     • 6 stone water jars
       • Represent judaism
         • Replacement of the water
           • Jesus is establishing a new covenant
             • Love and grace not law
           • Water is basic
             • Wine is a luxury
       • Used for ceremonial washing
       • 7 is a significant number in judaism
         • shows incompletion of Judaism
           • By adding Jesus it will be complete
             • He will provide a pathway to God
       • Usurping
   • Relate
     • Isiah [35:1]
       • The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom like the crocus.
       • personification
         • thirsty people at the wedding
           • people wanted wine, not water
             • jesus brought the best wine of all
     • Joel [3:18]
       • in that day the mountains will drip with new wine and the hills will flow with milk
         • Wine and milk are God's blessing to the people
           • Jesus (the wine) is God's blessing
   • Criticise
     • Russell
       • 6 pots... inadequacy of Judaism
     • Barrett
       • New wine is better than the old
     • Joel Osteen
       • I believe God gives you the grace to do what you need to do
         • God gave Jesus this opportunity
   • Signpost
     • Shows the beginning of the transition from old covenant to new.

6. Man born blind

   • State
     • Divinity
     • Opened his eyes to Christ, opened his heart to God
   • Explain
     • The dirt represented sin
       • The sin blinded the man
         • And so it needed to be washed away
           • Jesus helps those who live without sin to find the Lord
     • He could not see Jesus, but Jesus saw him
   • Relate
     • Genesis [1:14]
       • Let there be light
         • With out light we could not live
         • Jesus gave this man the ability to see the light
           • The good of the world
     • The good samaritan
       • Luke [10:25-37]
         • A man was beaten and left for dead on the side of a road, people walked by regardless
           • But a Samaritan stopped and saw the an and so helped him and bathed his wounds
             • Like Jesus told the blind man to wash
   • Criticise
     • M. Henry 'This poor man could not see Christ, but Christ saw him.'
       • Christ cares for everyone, even those who are blind to him
   • Signpost
     • It shows how Jesus cares for everyone and banishes sin

7. Raising of Lazarus

   • State
     • He like God is a giver of life
   • Explain
     • The body had been buried for 4 days
       • After which is believed that the soul has left the body
     • Jesus gives life as God gives eternal life
   • Relate
     • Genesis [2:7]
       • The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being
         • Gave the gift of life
   • Criticise
     • Carson
       • Jesus gives life to the world that far outstrips the manna in the desert
         • Goes further than a means of survival instead this is a full resurrection after the soul has supposedly left the body
           • Manna was a gift from God in Exodus [16:31] that kept the people alive
   • signpost
     • Shows the power and humanity of Christ