The Eight Sign Miracles
The Eight Sign Miracles
Jim Ruel
BIBL 323-B07 201140
Professor Ryan Marshall
Liberty University
September 30, 2011
John states the purpose for recording the eight signs in his Gospel clearly in the 20th chapter: John 20:30 Now Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 20:31 But these are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John wrote about eight miracles or signs, these particular signs are ones that the Holy Spirit led him to write in his Gospel, they were the most significant and contained significant meaning to the intended audience. Each has the purpose of revealing Jesus’ deity thereby causing people to believe that Jesus is the Messiah and thus gaining eternal life in heaven.
The first sign takes place in the second chapter. Jesus was invited to a wedding feast where the host ran out of wine. In changing water into wine He manifested His glory. In this act He demonstrated that He was the true host on Israel. John was very specific about the timeline of events during this first week of Jesus’ ministry. This sign takes place on the seventh day of His ministry which was significant to Jews of the day as they regarded periods of seven days as reflecting God’s creative activity which coincided with Jesus creating a ministry in seven days, another sign of His deity.
The second sign occurs in the fourth chapter of John. There was a nobleman whose son was extremely weak and lay dying which is illustrative of the spiritual condition of the nation of Israel. The nobleman trusted in Jesus’ ability to heal just as Mary trusted in Jesus’ ability to spare the family shame at the wedding. Both signs resulted in belief in Him as the Messiah: in the case of the wine, the disciples believed and the nobleman’s family also believed as a result of the boy being healed. Jesus healed the boy who
Jim Ruel
BIBL 323-B07 201140
Professor Ryan Marshall
Liberty University
September 30, 2011
John states the purpose for recording the eight signs in his Gospel clearly in the 20th chapter: John 20:30 Now Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 20:31 But these are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John wrote about eight miracles or signs, these particular signs are ones that the Holy Spirit led him to write in his Gospel, they were the most significant and contained significant meaning to the intended audience. Each has the purpose of revealing Jesus’ deity thereby causing people to believe that Jesus is the Messiah and thus gaining eternal life in heaven.
The first sign takes place in the second chapter. Jesus was invited to a wedding feast where the host ran out of wine. In changing water into wine He manifested His glory. In this act He demonstrated that He was the true host on Israel. John was very specific about the timeline of events during this first week of Jesus’ ministry. This sign takes place on the seventh day of His ministry which was significant to Jews of the day as they regarded periods of seven days as reflecting God’s creative activity which coincided with Jesus creating a ministry in seven days, another sign of His deity.
The second sign occurs in the fourth chapter of John. There was a nobleman whose son was extremely weak and lay dying which is illustrative of the spiritual condition of the nation of Israel. The nobleman trusted in Jesus’ ability to heal just as Mary trusted in Jesus’ ability to spare the family shame at the wedding. Both signs resulted in belief in Him as the Messiah: in the case of the wine, the disciples believed and the nobleman’s family also believed as a result of the boy being healed. Jesus healed the boy who
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