Introduction
The purpose of this report is to provide the reader with a brief description of the events surrounding the eight miracles discussed in the Gospel of John. This report will also reveal how these miracles support the deity of Christ.
Turning Water into Wine
Just days after John the Baptist testified that Jesus was the Son of God there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. Jesus, His mother Mary and His disciples were at the wedding. During the wedding the wine had run out and Jesus’ mother came to Him to let Him know that there was no wine left. When Mary came to Jesus He asked her why she was telling Him, and then stated that His time had not yet come. Mary instructed the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do.
Jesus then told the servants to fill the twenty to thirty gallon water jars with water. So the servants followed His instructions and filled the jars up to the very top. Then Jesus told them to draw some out and take it to the head steward. This is when the servants who had drawn the water knew that it had been turned to wine. When the head steward tasted the water that had been turned to wine, he made a comment about how good the wine was. Jesus did this as the first miracle to reveal his glory. This miracle displayed Jesus’ power over creation.
Healing the Royal Official’s Son
In Capernaum there was a royal official who had a sick son. This official begged Jesus to heal his son, who was about to die. Jesus told the man that the only way that his people believed was by seeing signs and wonders. The official continued to beg. Then Jesus told him to return to his home and his son would live. The man believed what Jesus had said and left to go home.
While the official was on his way home his slaves met him and told him that his son was going to live. He asked the slaves what time his son’s condition improved and they told him, it was the same time that Jesus had told him that his son would live, from that moment he and his entire household believed. Jesus did this as his second miracle. This miracle displayed Jesus’ power over space.
Healing a Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda
Jesus was in Jerusalem for a Jewish Festival. In Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool called Bethzatha which has five covered walkways where many sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people had gathered. Jesus saw a man lying on one of the walkways that had been disabled for thirty-eight years and asked him if he wanted to become well. The man told Jesus that he had no one to put him into the pool when the water was stirred up, and that someone else always went down there before him. Jesus told him to stand up, pick up his mat and walk. Immediately the man was healed. He picked up his mat and began to walk. Jesus did this as his third miracle. This miracle displayed Jesus’ power over time.
The Feeding of the Five Thousand
By this time a large crowd was following Jesus because of the miraculous signs He was performing on the sick. Jesus asked Philip if he knew here they could buy bread for the crowd to eat. Jesus said this only to test him because he already knew what he was going to do. Philip told Jesus that they would need two hundred silver coins worth of bread and that still would not be enough for them. Andrew had said that there was a boy who had five barley loaves and two fish, but he didn’t think that would be good enough to feed so many people either.
Jesus told his disciples to have the people sit down. So they sat about five thousand in people. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and then distributed the bread to the seated people. He did the same with the fish. When they were finished eating, Jesus told his disciples to gather up the left over food and waste nothing. So the disciples gathered twelve baskets of leftover food by the crowd of 5,000 which came from the five barley loaves that the boy (mentioned earlier) had.
When the people saw this miracle that Jesus performed they began to believe that He was a prophet. Jesus did this as his fourth miracle. This miracle displayed Jesus’ power over food.
Walking on Water
After Jesus fed the 5,000 people they wanted to make him king. Jesus, knowing that his “hour” had not yet come fled to the mountainside alone. Now evening had come and Jesus had not returned to his disciples so they went down to the lake, got into the boat, and began heading to Capernaum. A strong wind began to blow and the sea was getting rough. After rowing for a few miles they saw Jesus walking on the water in their direction. This had the disciples frightened. Jesus told them not to be afraid, it was only Him. Then they took Him into the boat, and immediately the boat landed where they had been heading. Jesus did this as his fifth miracle. This miracle displayed Jesus’ power over natural laws.
Healing a Man Born Blind
Jesus and his disciples were passing by a man who had been blind from birth. The disciples asked Jesus who sinned to cause the man to be born blind. Jesus told them that the man was born blind so that the acts of God could be revealed. Jesus then proclaimed to be the light of the world and spat on the ground to make some mud with his saliva. Then He smeared the mud on the blind man’s eyes and sent him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. The blind man followed His instructions and washed, and then he came back seeing. Jesus did this as his sixth miracle. This miracle displayed Jesus’ power over physical laws.
The Death of Lazarus
A man named Lazarus, who Jesus loved, was sick. He was the brother of Mary and her sister Martha. When Jesus heard about this sickness he told his disciples that it would not lead to death, but to God’s glory.
When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, he remained where he was for two more days. Then He told His disciples they where going back to Judea again. The disciples reminded Jesus that the Jewish leaders had just attempted to stone Him to death.
Jesus told the disciples that Lazarus has fallen asleep and that He needed to go there to wake him. The disciples did not understand that Jesus had been talking about his death. So He told them that Lazarus had died.
When Jesus arrived Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Jesus first spent some time speaking to Lazarus’ sisters about his death and expressed His compassion.
Later, Jesus came to the tomb and instructed them to take away the stone. But Martha, the sister of Lazarus, told Jesus that the body would have a bad smell since the body was sitting for four days. Jesus told her (again) to believe. So they took away the stone. Jesus thanked the Father having listened to Him. He then in a loud voice shouted for Lazarus to come out. He then came out with his feet and hands tied up and his face wrapped in cloth. Then Jesus told them to unwrap and then release him. Jesus did this as his seventh miracle. This miracle displayed Jesus’ power over death.
Jesus’ Appearance to the Disciples in Galilee
One night Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples went fishing together, but caught nothing. Then very early in the morning, Jesus stood on the beach, but the disciples did not recognize Him. Jesus made a comment to them about not catching any fish and then told them to throw their net on the right side of the boat. The disciples followed His instructions and were not able to pull in the net because there were too many fish in it.
Then one of the disciples recognized that the man was Jesus. When they got out on the beach there was a charcoal fire ready with a fish on it, and bread. Jesus told them to bring the fish that they had just caught. Peter went pulled the net to shore. It was full 153 large fish. Jesus did this as his eighth miracle. This miracle displayed Jesus’ power over creation, space, time, food, natural laws, physical laws, and death.
Conclusion
Now that you have read this report you should have a good understanding of the events surrounding the eight miracles discussed in the Gospel of John, as well as how these miracles support the deity of Christ. John wrote about these miracles to accomplish his goal of leading people to believe that Jesus is Lord. Because of the Gospel of John these miracles are still, to this day leading people to Jesus.
Bibliography
Towns, Elmer. The Gospel of John: Believe and Live (Chattanooga, Tennessee: AMG Publishers, 2002)
_ _ _. New Men’s Devotional Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervan Corporation, 2006. THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
Godet, F. Commentary on the Gospel of John. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1886.
Ironside, Henry Allan. Addresses on the Gospel of John (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1974)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment