Jesus: Signs and Miracles

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Throughout the book of John, Jesus did many signs and miracles. Through these signs, Jesus attempted to show both the multitudes as well as his disciples one small truth about Him—His is God. In this gospel, Jesus goes toe-to-toe with many of the Jewish spiritual leaders (i.e., Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, etc.) in order to show the people who He truly is. Scholars disagree with how many Messianic signs Jesus performed, but one thing remains—every single sign pointed back to the fact that Jesus was who He claimed to be. The signs performed by Jesus show both the Israelites of old, as well as the people of today, that He is, indeed, God.
Jesus performed eight signs to display his deity. The first sign that Jesus performed was turning water into wine (John 2:1–11). This miracle was performed during a wedding where Jesus most likely had some relation to one of the parties who was going to be married. At weddings, wine was always served. “In Jewish though, wine is a symbol of joy and celebration…” Therefore, wine at all times was a must. A simple problem arose during the wedding—the wine ran out. Jesus, in his first public display of his ministry, changed water into wine. Now, a question rises: “How is changing water into wine a sign of Jesus’ deity?” This miracle certainly showed that Jesus had power, but how does this miracle show that Jesus is God? The miracle demonstrates Christ’s deity in a couple ways. First, because it shows that Jesus is over all of creation. God created the whole world; no man can create anything. However, Jesus created wine from water. A second way this miracle shows Christ’s deity is that this miracle is a representation of Jesus’ power to transform the life of an individual from nothing into something us...

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... other times to them, but on the third appearance, they realize that He truly is who He said He was—God.
Throughout the book of John, Jesus points people back to the fact that He is God. Jesus primarily did this through signs. However, many people never saw the signs for what Jesus used them for. Rather, they simply saw them as miracles. People today still get stuck on the fact that Jesus simply did miracles and fail to recognize Him as the one true God.

Works Cited

Calvin, John and William Pringle. Commentary on the Gospel According to John, vol. 1.
Bellingham: Logos Bible Software, 2010.

Köstenberger, Andreas J. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.

Morris, Leon. Jesus is the Christ. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1989.

Towns, Elmer. The Gospel of John: Believe and Life. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2002.

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