Miracles and Signs

Miracles and Signs

1. Water into Wine

   • meaning and significance
     • The marriage feast draws parallels with the kingdom of God because in the OT the picture of the kingdom of God as a feast is a prominent image with the abundance of win being a feature
       • Isaiah 25:6 'on this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food'
     • Stone water Jars; Jewish purification rights
       • Jewish requirements for which the jars were used included ritual cleaning but Jesus surpasses this by filling them with wine and illustrates the limitations of the old covenant of the law (the Torah)
     • on the third day
       • representing the resurrection (sign of life and salvation)
       • 'the hour' is referring to his hour of glory on the cross where Jesus drinks bitter wine
         • symbolism for Jesus' Passion and glorious Resurrection
     • 'Women, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not come yet"
     • The sign points to the truth that Jesus abundantly supplies all the need of his people, compared with the ministry of Moses who turned water into blood as a sign of God's judgement
     • He is the God of time by turning water into wine immediately, bypassing agricultural and fermentation processes.
     • Eucharistic connotations - the wine christians drink in their worship represents Jesus himself and is both biter and joyful
   • Person of Jesus
     • he is the creative logos
       • he created wine almost instantaneously after telling the servants to fill up the water jars
         • when he speaks things change an miracles happen
     • The Messiah
       • the wedding feast connects to the messianic banquet
         • symbolic portrayal of the blessing of the age to com win which those chosen by God will share in a rich feast with the messiah thereby having eternal life
           • eschatological
       • suffering Messiah
         • 'hour' - passion and resurrection
     • New Moses
   • The Work of Jesus
     • new law; grace and truth
       • "fill the jars" represents the fullness of God's grace
     • establish the children of God
   • Jewish Background
     • Wine
       • Wisdom is described as wine in OT proverbs 9:5 "Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine i have mixed" Wisdom is equated with the Torah in OT
       • allusion to the Eucharist 'this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many' Mk
       • OT predicted that when the Messiah came there would be an abundance of wine
         • Wine is a symbol of the presence of the Messiah; 'I will bring back my people, Israel; they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble and settle down. They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce' Amos 9:12-15
       • Wine symbolised joy; Judges 9:13 "Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and men"
     • the wedding is the most grand event in a person's life; a symbol of exhilaration and excitement
       • Isaiah 55:1, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and ea. Come buy wine and milk without money"
     • happens on the 'third day' which is when God created plants and fertility in Genesis 1
     • Addressing Mary as 'Woman' links her to Eve as the mother of Christ is the mother to a new perfect creation just as Eve was mother to an old Fallen Creation

2. the Healing of the Official's son

   • Person of Jesus
     • creative logos - healed from a distance
   • Work of Jesus
     • develop people's faith in order so they may believe
       • The noble man believes in Jesus by reputation, seeks further proof, is led to faith in 'word' rather than by sign but has his 'word faith' confirmed by a supplementary miracle
         • Bultmann writes "he believed" represents the first stage of faith. Thus the miracle to which the man has no right, since he may not require the revealer to give proof of his authority is nevertheless on occasions granted in his weakness. For where it is granted it can lead man beyond the faith that is based on miracles
     • to give life
       • 'your son/boy lives' is repeated 3 times
         • the healing of the boy is a sign od the power of Jesus to give life
           • word of life
       • spiritual healing as well as physical
   • meaning and significance

3. The Healing at the Pool

   • Work of Jesus
     • establishing new law
       • throughout the sign there is tension between old law and new law
         • Jesus perform the sign on the Sabbath and therefore surpassing Jewish laws
           • fulfilling the new covenant through doing the will of his father who is above the law
             • the Torah was a gracious gift with Godly advise not binding rules
   • meaning and significance
     • man had been waiting at the pool in Bethesda for 38 years some suggest this is connected to the time the Israelites spent in the desert
     • synoptics; healing of a paralysed man
     • Bultmann suggests that 'Jesus' signs, like his words, are ambiguous in that they can arouse misunderstanding and offence, just as easily as faith'
       • both in the healing of the lame man and blind man the miracle results in a kind of trial from the pharisees and both surpass laws about the Sabbath
     • 5 porticoes is symbolic of the five books of the Torah
       • this view is enhanced by the fact there is a controversy over a violation of the law
     • Christ chose to intervene with one man but why? when they were all sinners, none of them deserved to be healed. Jesus chose the crippled man to glorify God and in a small way advance his plan of salvation for mankind
     • Jesus asks the crippled man "do you want to be made well?" a question that would seem to have an obvious answer
       • However Jesus is testing him spiritually, as some people really do not want to be made well, using their illness as a reason not to make any effort of devotion to God or to overcome personal failings
         • it is an issue of the heart, of sincerity and commitment to God
   • Person of Jesus
     • New Moses
       • Dodd thinks the water represents the Torah which man cannot reach to be healed and Jesus' word which heals instantly and on its own initiative
     • Divine
       • "He called God his own father, making him equal to God' v18.
         • Bultmann writes "The Jews rightly understand that Jesus makes himself equal to God in these words, and so for their eyes it is an insane blasphemy"
           • they mistakenly view equality with God as independence from him whereas for Jesus is meant total dependence on God
             • In OT God makes Moses as 'god' to Pharaoh in Exodus 7:1 but he does not claim to be of equality to God therefore Jesus is showing a greater authority

4. The Feeding of the 5000

   • meaning and significance
     • mirrors old testament ideas and events
       • Jesus crosses the water just as the Israelites crossed the red sea
       • Jesus goes up a mountain with the disciples and in Ot people used to go up mountains to get closer to god
       • the Passover bread had sustained the Israelites during their deliverance from Egypt and now Jesus isa about to become the unleavened bread that will sustain humanity as it is delivered from sin
       • these parallels suggest that in the past God supplied Israel's needs but now they are met by Christ
       • disciples gather up what remains and this is similar to the gathering up of the manna in the wilderness
         • they fill 12 baskets which is a reference to the 12 new tribes of Israel who will make up the new israel
       • Deuteronomy 8; 'man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD'
         • Jesus fulfils this when he claims he is 'the bread' therefore offering spiritual as well as physical healing from God
       • manna symbolised the Torah and if you ate it you would receive God's wisdom
     • the ambiguous nature of the sign
       • the crowd may have followed him because they were only interested in the miraculous signs but on the other hand 'follows' is a technical term for discipleship and so might indicate that the crowd in moving towards Jesus in faith
   • Person of Jesus
     • New Moses
       • not only does Jesus bring the manna but he is the revelation and 'manna' himself
       • fulfils the passage in Deuteronomy where a prophet like Moses is predicted
     • glory
   • Work of Jesus

5. Walking on Water

   • meaning and significance
     • power over nature
     • alludes to several OT passages
       • It is said of God "he alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea" Job 9:8
       • Psalm 107 speaks of those who "went out on the sea ships" and were caught in a great storm. God 'stilled the storm to a whisper and he guided them to their desired haven'
   • person of Jesus
     • divine
     • glory
       • Jesus' giving thanks speaks of the relationship between the son and the father and of the Son's dependency
   • Work of Jesus

6. The purpose of the signs; 20:30-31 'these are recorded so you may believes that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God and that believing this you may have life through his name'

   • origin with God to encourage belief not with human unbelief
   • Jesus is the Messiah
   • Son of God
     • the incarnate logos
     • implies a direct creation of God
     • Glory
   • Life; salvation
     • Ch17 vc 3 "and this is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and the messiah Jesus, whom thou hast sent"
   • He is not a prophet but God incarnate

7. Literacy Characteristics

   • All supernatural events
   • they point to truths beyond themselves; MM Thompson writes 'a sign is properly understood when it is seen as pointing to God's work through the person of Jesus to effect salvation
   • symbolism of the OT

8. History or Theology

   • only water into wine and feeding of the 5000 have direct parallels in the synoptics but there are connections with the healing on the centurions son and the healing of the officials son
     • John includes miracles not found in the synoptics therefore why don't they include such miracles if they were truly part of an early tradition about Jesus
   • the theological discourses attached to the signs and obvious symbolism contained in the signs suggest that they are an account of what happened which has been edited in order to emphasise important theological points
     • e.g. the six stone water pots may well allude to the six days of creation awaiting fulfilment of the seventh day which has arrived in Jesus
   • At The pool of Bethzatha there were several descriptive details given in the gospel that had previously been thought of as symbolic but were actually found to be accurate
     • 5 colonnades

9. The Healing of the Blind Man

   • meaning and significance
     • unique miracle in that it occurs in stages rather than instantaneously
       • his method of healing shows that our spiritual enlightenment is a continuous process. At first we cannot see God's truth clearly. Most of our spiritual blindness remains, but as our faith, obedience, and growth develops, Jesus, increases the clarity of our spiritual vision through the power of his holy Spirit

10. The Raising of Lazarus

    • meaning and significance
      • it foreshadowed his own resurrection
      • illustrated furtherance and accomplishment of the Father's purpose and his glorification, as well as the glorification of Jesus himself
      • Christ is the regenerator of the dead, spiritually and physically. He is able to regenerate the hearts and minds of those who are spiritually dead in their sins and is able to deliver people from their abominable sins