Christ Through the Bible- The Gospel of John

Text:  And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. John 20:30-31

John was a prominent Jew in the early church, but he never mentions himself by name in the Gospel. As mentioned before, he only refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Jesus completely transformed John’s life and John shares that within the pages of the text. This makes this Gospel unique regarding Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

The Gospel of John was written to prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. As an eyewitness to the love and power displayed in the miracles and signs of Jesus, John gives us an up-close and personal look at Christ's identity. He shows us that Jesus, though fully God, came in the flesh to distinctly and accurately reveal God, and that Christ is the source of eternal life to all who believe in him.

In our text John has given us the purpose for his writing this gospel:

1.     Jesus performed many signs which are unrecorded in this book.

2.      Those that are recorded are for a definite purpose. 

John gives us a perspective of the life of Jesus that the other gospels do not. In the seven “signs” John records each reveals a specific characteristic of Jesus’ power and person. This morning we will look at the divine nature of Christ through the seven signs He performed during His ministry.

The first is found in chapter 2: 1-11

Jesus and His disciples were invited to a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother was there.  As the wedding celebration took place they soon ran out of wine. Mary the mother of Jesus, tells Him that they have run out of wine.

I don’t know if Mary had been a witness to unrecorded miracles by Christ, but she was confident that He could solve their problem.  Jesus on the other hand asked Mary, “Why are you telling me this? It is not yet time for me to begin my work.” 

Mary ignores what Jesus said and tells the servants, “Do what he tells you.”

There were six large stone water pots there that were used by the Jews in their washing ceremonies. Each one held about 20 or 30 gallons.

Jesus tells the servants, “Fill the water pots with water.” So, they filled them to the top.  Then he said, “Now dip out some water and take it to the man in charge of the feast.”

So, they did what he said.  Then the man in charge tasted it, but the water had become wine. He did not know where the wine had come from, but the servants who brought the water knew. He called the bridegroom and said to him, “People always serve the best wine first. Later, when the guests are drunk, they serve the cheaper wine. But you have saved the best wine until now.”

John records this event as the first miraculous signs Jesus did. He did it in the town of Cana in Galilee. By this he showed his divine greatness, and his followers believed in him.

This “sign” show Jesus as the Master of Quality by effecting instantaneously the change the vine produces over a period of months and the aging of the wine over the period of years to produce the best wine.

The next sign is the healing of the Nobleman’s son. In chapter 4: 46-54 we read the story of the healing Jesus performed.

When he arrived in Galilee, the people there welcomed him. They had been at the Passover festival in Jerusalem and had seen everything he did there.

 Jesus went to visit Cana in Galilee again. Cana is where he had changed the water into wine. One of the king’s important officials lived in the city of Capernaum. This man’s son was sick.  The man heard that Jesus had come from Judea and was now in Galilee. So, he went to Jesus and begged him to come to Capernaum and heal his son, who was almost dead. Jesus said to him, “You people must see miraculous signs and wonders before you will believe in me.”

The man was insistent that Jesus go to Capernaum to heal his son before he died.  Jesus tells him to go home that his son is healed.  The man believed Jesus and headed home.  On the way home, a servant meets him and tells him that his son is well.  The man wanted to know what time the fever left him?  The servants said about 1:00 yesterday.

The father knew that one o’clock was the same time that Jesus had said, “Your son will live.” So, the man and everyone in his house believed in Jesus.

That was the second miraculous sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.

By healing the Nobleman’s son Jesus is revealed as the Master of Distance.  It was about twenty-miles away from where the man met Jesus and his home in Capernaum. 

The next sign is the healing of the impotent man found in chapter 5:1-9.

Jesus went to Jerusalem for a special Jewish festival. In Jerusalem there is a pool with five covered porches. In Hebrew it is called Bethesda. This pool is near the Sheep Gate.  Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some of them were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed.  One of the men lying there had been sick for 38 years.  Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been sick for a very long time. So, he asked him, “Do you want to be well?”

The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the water when it starts moving. I try to be the first one into the water. But when I try, someone else always goes in before I can.”

 Then Jesus said, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Immediately the man was well. He picked up his mat and started walking.

We will not get into the problems the man had after being healed because our purpose is to show the character of Jesus in the signs he performed.  Over thirty-eight years this man’s ability to walk was gone!  Yet in an instant, his muscles regain strength to stand and walk.  Time did not matter to Jesus.

I believe most of us know that the longer a disease afflicts a person the more difficult it is to cure.  Jesus in healing this man instantly of his illness of thirty-eight years became the Master of Time.

The next sign performed by Jesus was witnessed by over five thousand people.  This story is found in chapter 6:1-14.

Jesus went across Lake Galilee, but a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he did in healing the sick. Jesus went up on the side of the hill and sat there with his followers.

 Jesus looked up and saw a crowd of people coming toward him. He said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough bread for all these people to eat?” He asked Philip this question to test him. Jesus already knew what he planned to do.

Philip says, “We would all have to work a month to buy enough bread for each person here to have only a little piece!”  Then Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, says, “Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish. But that is not enough for so many people.”

Jesus said, “Tell everyone to sit down.” Jesus took the loaves of bread and gave thanks for them. Then he gave them to the people who were waiting to eat. He did the same with the fish. He gave them as much as they wanted.

They all had plenty to eat. When they finished, Jesus said to his followers, “Gather the pieces of fish and bread that were not eaten. Don’t waste anything.” So they gathered up the pieces that were left. The people had started eating with only five loaves of barley bread. But the followers filled twelve large baskets with the pieces of food that were left.  The people saw this miraculous sign that Jesus did and said, “He must be the Prophet[a] who is coming into the world.

By taking the five loaves of bread and two small fishes five thousand men are fed no counting the women and children making Jesus the Master of Quantity.

The next sign is given to His disciples after the feeding of the five thousand.  This story is found in chapter 6:16-21.

That evening Jesus’ followers went down to the lake.  It was dark now, and Jesus had not yet come back to them. They got into a boat and started going across the lake to Capernaum.  The wind was blowing very hard. The waves on the lake were becoming bigger.  They rowed the boat about three or four miles. Then they saw Jesus. He was walking on the water, coming to the boat. They were afraid.  But he said to them, “Don’t be afraid. It’s me.” When he said this, they were glad to take him into the boat. And then the boat reached the shore at the place they wanted to go.

When Jesus walked on the water He became the Master of Natural Laws.  He showed the disciples He could defy the Laws of Physics.

The next sign is the healing of the blind man.  The story is found in chapter 9:1-12.

Jesus was out walking when He came upon a man who had been blind since the time he was born. The disciple asked Jesus the question “Teacher, why was this man born blind? Whose sin made it happen? Was it his own sin or that of his parents?”  There were those who believed misfortune only came upon people who had committed sin or their parents were being punished for the sin they had committed.

Jesus explains “It was not any sin of this man or his parents that caused him to be blind. He was born blind so that he could be used to show what great things God can do.

The point of this sign was not the healing but the answering of the question, who sinned?  Jesus healed the man but also explained that the man was afflicted to show the glory of God.  This makes Jesus the Master of Misfortune.

This final sign is found in chapter 11.  This is the story of Lazarus.

Lazarus who was sick. So, Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, “Lord, your dear friend Lazarus is sick.”  When Jesus heard this he said, “The end of this sickness will not be death. No, this sickness is for the glory of God. This has happened to bring glory to the Son of God.”

It was about two days later that Lazarus did die.  Jesus had put off going to the home of Lazarus for a reason.   When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to greet him. But Mary stayed home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you anything you ask.”

Jesus said, “Your brother will rise and be alive again.”

Martha answered, “I know that he will rise to live again at the time of the resurrection on the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection. I am life. Everyone who believes in me will have life, even if they die. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never really die. Martha, do you believe this?”

 Martha answered, “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God. You are the one who was coming to the world.”

As we know Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead.  In this final sign before Christ would die He showed He was the Master of Death.

These seven signs point to those aspects of Jesus ministry in which He demonstrated His control over the factors of life which man is unable to manage.  Quality, distance, time, quantity, natural laws, misfortune and death define man’s struggle against the limitations of life.  John shows us the superiority of Christ over these events in life as proof of the deity of Jesus Christ.  It matters not what the issues are in your life Jesus is the Master of all Circumstances.

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Have you accepted the Master of all Circumstances?  Jesus Christ is willing and ready to change the circumstances of your life if you only accept His offer of salvation.