Jesus... Times Seven— Part IV.

There are seven “miraculous signs” of the power and glory of Jesus the Christ in the Gospel of John.  The Greek term semeion is the most frequently used term in the New Testament to signify God was working in and through the Lord Jesus Christ to reveal the glory of both the Father and the Son.

The first of these is His turning well-water into flawless wine— 2:1-11; this occurred, of course, at the wedding in Cana of Galilee.  The second was the healing of the Royal Official’s son— 4:46-54: he is the man who “took” Jesus “at His Word.”  You may want to give serious consideration to the fact that this is the means to unleashing divine power in your life: to take Jesus at His Word, to rest your faith in the Word of God.  The third was Jesus’ healing of the invalid at the Pool of Bethesda— 5:1-9.  If I had to summarize in a single word what these three miracles signify, I would say: community, compassion, and communion.

[iv] The feeding of the 5,000— 6:1-14; this is the sign which sets the stage for Jesus’ offer of Himself as the “Bread of Life.”  In v. 32 of this same ch. “Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the Truth, it is not Moses who has given you the Bread from Heaven, but it is My Father who gives you [‘who constantly and continually offers you’] the true Bread from Heaven.  For the Bread of God is He who comes down from Heaven and gives Life to the world.’  ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘from now on give us this bread.’  Then Jesus declared, ‘I Am the Bread of Life.  He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and He who believes in Me will never be thirsty,” 6:33-35.

[v] Walking on the surface of the sea— 6:15-21; it represents guidance for the Journey of Life.  After Jesus say’s to the fearful Disciples, “It is I, do not be afraid” {v. 20}, it says, “then they were willing to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading,” v. 21.  When Jesus is welcomed into the boat, when Jesus is welcomed into the life, when Jesus is welcomed into the deepest regions of the human heart, we will always get where He wants us to go.  We always get where God wants us to go.  It won’t necessarily be where we wanted to go, but eventually we come to understand, like everything else we once viewed from a temporal perspective, it’s exactly where we needed to be.

[vi] The blind man given sight— ch. 9; it pictures Jesus as the Light of Life.  In v. 12 of the previous ch. Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I Am the Light of the world.  Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life.”

[vii] The raising of Lazarus— 11:1-44; it represents the ultimate Triumph of Life over death.  Remember what Jesus said to Martha?  “I Am the Resurrection and the Life.  He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies [‘will live’ spiritually and eternally ‘even though he dies’ physically]; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die [‘whoever lives’ temporally and physically ‘and believes in Me will never die’ spiritually].  Do you believe this?,” 11:25-26.

When you boil it all down, when you strip away the scales from our rotten belief-systems and tear down the scaffolding we try to erect to keep Christ the Creator out of our consciousness {‘You’re ruining my god-complex, bruh!’}, to keep Christ the King at a distance from ‘atheism,’ to keep Christ the Savior away from our souls and Christ the Shepherd out of our lives, it all comes down to this simple question.  The Son of the Living God, the Savior of All Mankind, has made His claims in the Scripture.  It’s a fairly simple proposition: “Do you believe this?”  Think long and hard about your answer; search the Gospels for yourself; read the New Testament from cover to cover.  Look at the History of nations who’ve lived in the Light of His shadow versus those who have flailed their way along in the darkness of religion.  Then answer the question upon which your destiny depends: “Do you believe this?”

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously