The Seven Pre-Resurrection

Signs of Christ

The Gospel of John is unique in many ways; one of which concerns the miracles. John only mentions seven miracles, (prior to the crucifixion): which is the fewest of the four Gospels. Yet, five of those miracles are only mentioned in John. For example: the water turned into wine, the healing of the nobleman’s son, the man at the pool of Bethesda, the man born blind, and, the raising of Lazarus.

There is also another discovery associated with the miracles of John’s Gospel: The miracles recorded in John are all translated "signs." Most of the miracles recorded in the Gospels put the emphasis on the act of power. The Greek word that is often used for miracle is "dunamis," which means, "act of power." However, in John’s Gospel, the word miracle is translated "semeion," (Greek 4592) which means "sign." In other words, there is more to be read into the miracle than just the supernatural act. Perhaps, that act was conveying a message to Israel. Perhaps, the miracle was conveying a message to the church, or perhaps a sign of things to be. Perhaps there was a spiritual significance or perhaps a present tense message to the saints in any generation. Actually, those signs could incorporate any or all of the above. May we proceed to look at these seven signs with an open heart to what the Lord might speak to us.

John 2:1-3: "And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. Moreover, when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine…" The entire narrative covers verses 1-11. The main import of this account is that Jesus not only commands the situation by turning water into wine, but as the governor of the feast exclaims: "Thou hast saved the good wine for last!" This sign/miracle was the first recorded miracle and thus, very special. One of the truths that we learn from the study of Bible hermeneutics, is that the end is often concealed in the beginning.

As we consider this first miracle, we shall observe that it took place on the third day. The third day often speaks of the millennium. There are two days given to the church age – a day symbolic of one thousand years (2 Pet 3:8). We can also see this in the tabernacle type: the dominant measure of the outer court is 1500 – the age of the law. The dominant measure of the holy place is 2000 – the age of the church. The dominant measure of the holy of holies is 1000 – the millennial age. Israel was cut off as a nation for two days (2000 years). Consider what the prophet Hosea said: "Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight" (Hos 6:1-2). On the third day there was a marriage in Cana.

This marriage on the third day can symbolize the marriage of Christ and His church. The mother of Jesus is there, and His disciples are there. That is a good incentive to be a disciple – they will be a part of the marriage. There is also the thought of Israel being restored – as if being married (according to Isaiah): "Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee" (Isa 62:4-5). The land of Israel shall be married to the Lord on the "third day."

Another important analogy in this sign/miracle is that the best wine was reserved for the end. We can never look back and say, "The old wine was better." The Lord always excels Himself; the Lord always has something better than what has been. Throughout eternity there is to be an unfolding of the marvellous grace of God. The Apostle Paul said that in Ephesians 2:7: "That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Throughout eternity, the wine of joy shall become more excellent. Lastly, (for content sake) the revival that God has reserved for the end of the age shall be greater than the revival that began the (church) age. The Feast of Tabernacles is greater than the feast of Pentecost. The glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former!

John 4:46-47: "So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death." The full account of this second sign/miracle is detailed in verses 46-54. In the narrative, Jesus responds to the nobleman’s request by saying: "Go thy way; thy son liveth." This is a fulfilment of Psalm 107:20: "He sent his word, and healed them." The scripture says that the man believed in that spoken Word, and as he journeyed back to Capernaum, he was met by his servant who tells him: "Thy son liveth." The end of the story is that his whole house believed in Christ.

Realizing that this miracle was a sign, it gives us hope for many a man’s son who is dying (spiritually) in Capernaum. The nobleman represents many in today’s affluent society. Capernaum was renowned for their good economy and wealth (Matt 11:23). The dying son, also pictures many young people that have grown up in a society where everything is at their fingertips: They have not had to work for the things they enjoy. They have a nice car, all the gadgets that young people like; the tuition has been paid at the university, etc. The tragedy is that many of our young people, who have grown up in an atmosphere of ease and comfort, are dying (spiritually).

The life of ease and comfort (void of responsibility) rarely produces dedicated Christian youth. In fact, Ezekiel's description of Sodom somewhat summarizes the dying son at Capernaum: "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good" (Ezk 16:49-50). This describes the snare of the affluent society: fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness. This is hardly the atmosphere that causes young men to seek God. It is the kind of environment that encourages licentiousness, and sloth; or, perhaps addictions of one kind or another.

Thus, we have a picture of many a nobleman’s son. Young people that have been taken in the net, and delusion of Capernaum. Dying spiritually, unless… "Sir, come down ere my child die." The Lord responds: "Go thy way; thy son liveth!" May we all take comfort that our Lord can still speak a word concerning the prodigal son or daughter – "Thy child lives!"

John 5:2-6: "Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?" The full account of this narrative runs from verse 1-16, and actually sets the stage for the following discourse, which finishes out chapter five.

Yes, the man was healed, and in this particular case, the man was a paralytic because of sin. Jesus’ finally exhortation to this man was, "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (verse 14). Much could be said concerning this third sign/miracle. However, the spiritual implication that seems to dominate the miracle relates to the place and circumstance of the miracle. Bethesda means "The House of Mercy." In addition to the name of the place, the fact that this paralytic man was singled out of a multitude of impotent folk is conveying a solemn truth. The truth of election is an awesome revelation. The Lord said to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy…" The Lord does not show mercy to everyone because He knows what he will do with mercy. For example, the man who was forgiven the astronomical debt in Matthew 18 used his freedom by enslaving his debtor.

In the bigger picture, this sign/miracle portrays the future of Israel as a nation. They had come to the place of spiritual impotence, and they were going to reject their promised deliverer. Yet, the Lord still singled out those (of Israel) according to His election of grace. The Apostle Paul brings this out clearly in Romans 11:5: "Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace." Although Israel was going to forfeit the anointing and blessing to the church, the Lord still included a remnant that He knew would receive redemption. The rest continued in their blindness, and spiritual paralysis. It is like Israel in the wilderness, after their thirty-eight year sentence, a few of the old generation entered into the promise.

John 6:5-11: "When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would."

The whole account of this sign/miracle runs from verses 1-14. It is also worthy of note, that this particular miracle is recorded in all four gospels. For this reason there is a universal truth – or, if I could say a more elementary truth being conveyed here. The number 5000, is the surface measure of the outer court (Moses’ tabernacle). Mark’s Gospel, records the incident by telling us that the multitude was to sit in ranks: "And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties" (Mark 6:40). That was the measure of the outer court, 50 x 100 = 5000. We shall also note, that at the end of this miracle, many wanted to take Jesus and make Him King. This gives us a picture of many within the kingdom that would follow Jesus for the bread and fishes, or for the miracles. We could say that they desire to know Jesus as the provider, as the One who meets their needs, and yet their sphere of knowing Him is strictly in the outer court.

I am not trying to minimize the miracle in any wise. Christ has the power to provide for all of the creation that He co-created. The psalmist said, "The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God" (Psa 104:21). Not only do the lions seek their meat from God, but also as the psalm continues, all of creation waits upon the Lord for their meat (food). The Lord Himself said: "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? (Matt 6:26). Our Master also taught us to pray: "Give us this day our daily bread." The Lord is encouraging us to look to Him for all of our need – natural and spiritual. There are many other beautiful truths in this portion; but let us not overlook the fact that Jesus gave thanks before He issued the bread.

John 6:16-19: "And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid." The full account of this miracle is covered in verses 15-21. This particular miracle is also recorded in Matthew and Mark. Compared with the other accounts in Scripture; Jesus had commissioned His disciples to go to the other side of the lake, and as they were following out the assignment they encountered some very contrary winds. In fact, Mark tells us that the disciples were toiling in rowing. In other words, they were putting forth a lot of effort to accomplish the mission.

John gives us the distance that they had rowed (25-30 furlongs), which tells us that they were in the midst of the lake when Jesus came walking to them on the water. Again, there was quite a phenomenal miracle being performed here. After all, walking on the water defies certain laws of nature. Once more, Jesus was proving who He was. He was the Co-Creator, He was in command of nature – the elements had to cooperate with Him. Yet, the fact that this was a sign tells us that we must read more into it than the super-naturalness of it. Jesus was in command of the situation; Jesus walked above the turbulence.

As one of the prophets declared: "The LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm." The psalm writers also picture Christ, riding upon the flood: "The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever" (Psa 29:10). Another psalmist said this: "The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea" (Psa 93:3-4). Back, during the Second World War era, General Eisenhower often used the phrase: "stepping above the fray" – it is a phrase that Allen Greenspan used to quote frequently. However, the setting in which the General used this was in reference to rising above the situation – to observe the troops, and the enemy, and to get a fresh perspective on things. This is one of truths that the Lord wants to impart to us from this miracle; He wants us to rule in the midst of our enemies. He wants us (by the anointing) to take command and rise above the turbulence. Is this not what the apostle did during the storm (Acts 27:21-44)? When the Lord finally stepped on board the ship, they were immediately at land!

John 9:1-2: "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" This sixth sign/miracle of Christ incorporates the whole ninth chapter of John (41 verses). The healing of the blind man created quite a stir amongst the Pharisees because the Master healed this man on the Sabbath. The Pharisees seemed quite blind to the fact that a man who had never seen in his entire life could now see. As the man later said: "Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind?" Once again, the Lord proved whom He was as He took clay and spit, and re-created seeing eyes in the blind man. The book of Job refers to man being made of clay at least three times. Job 33:6: "…I also am formed out of the clay."

Aside from the natural miracle that Jesus had performed, and aside from the fact that only God can opened blind eyes, there was another message in this miracle. The man that was born blind depicts the plight of Adam’s entire race. Man is born blind to his need for redemption, and unless God opens man’s spiritual eyes, he shall ever remain blind. When the Jews tried to say that the man who opened his eyes was a sinner, he responded, "Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." How often are these verses used to preach the salvation message!

Another unique message being conveyed was to the Jewish nation. The Jews were given the opportunity to witness miracles that man had never seen before, yet living in denial to the fact. It is stated in John 12:37: "But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him." What made their denial so permanent was the fact that they said: "We see!" When a person sees so clearly the hand of God and then denies, their fate is sealed! Jesus said unto them, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." Whereas, the man born blind (which could easily speak of the gentile nations), as soon as he saw the Lord, believed. Consider what Jesus said to the man: "Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him."

John 11:43-44: "And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go." The full account of the resurrection of Lazarus is covered in verses 1-44. In this narrative, Jesus purposely delayed His coming until the fourth day after Lazarus had died. This was to absolve the Jewish superstition, which claimed that the spirit lingered with the corpse until the third day. By the fourth day, the body was beginning to decompose. This last miracle convinced many to believe in Jesus as the Christ.

There are a number of spiritual truths connected to this sign/miracle. For example, there is a message to the church: Only Christ can raise the dead (spiritually) – those who are dead in sins and trespass (Eph 2:5-6). Yet, it is up to the church to remove the graveclothes of the old life. It is up to the church to "loose him" and to (jointly) break the yokes (Isa 58:6). There is also a truth concerning the place where Jesus resurrected Lazarus – Bethany. Bethany means, the house of unripe figs. The fig tree conveys a message of the three groups within the kingdom: The fig leaves speak of the outer court (the fig leaves were for a covering). The regular figs came after the leaves; they speak of the holy place. The first-ripe figs were the most desirable; they actually came before the leaves – they speak of the holiest place (Jer 24:2). Therefore, Lazarus speaks of the "man-child" or the first-ripe fig – he was resurrected before the other fruit was ripe. Lazarus is pictured in chapter twelve, sitting at the supper with Jesus.

Although, we could never exhaust the spiritual truths connected to the seven miracles of John, our faith has been greatly enriched. Not only to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but to believe Him for our every need. If our Master can provide meat and bread for 5000 at one time, why not for my daily needs? If our Master can find His disciples in the midst of the turbulent sea in the middle of the night; why can not He find us in the (far less) tumultuous affairs that we face in life? Our Lord has not changed His position towards His people. He watches over us, to do us good. He still sends His Word, heals us, and delivers us from all our fears! Not only this, but the best is yet to come. This life is only qualifying us for eternal life, whereby He may unfold the riches of His grace throughout eternity. Amen!