Fall 1982
The Meaning of the Signs

The miracles of Jesus are recorded in all four gospels, but John mentions only eight, while each of the others records almost three times that many. There is a particular significance in each miracle related by John; in fact, John uses a special word for “miracles,” which is better translated as “sign.” As these signs are studied, there appears to be a progressive sequence which illumines the steps of the believer in his walk with the Lord.

The first sign, in chapter 2, was that of Jesus changing water into wine at a marriage feast in Cana. When we receive Jesus into our life, we become joined (betrothed) to Him and He pours our His Spirit (wine) upon us. The first miracle is symbolic of our new life in Him.

The basic ingredient in our walk with the Lord is faith. The second miracle, recorded in chapter 4, tells of the faith of a certain nobleman who had a sick son and approached Jesus for his healing. Jesus did not return to the boy, but simply told the father, “Go thy way; thy son liveth, and the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken” (John 4:50). Upon return to his home he found that his son was healed that same hour. Faith is the basic foundation principle for the Christian life.

Though we are now walking with the Lord with various degrees of faith, we still find our lives far from whole. We are impotent, blind, halting and withered—searching for wholeness as were the people at the pool of Bethesda (chapter 5). We are impotent and greatly lack in fruit and power as we begin to travel our spiritual path. We still have so little of HIM in our lives. He comes and touches us and commands, “Take up thy bed and walk” (John 5:8). We are not only to walk, but to follow after Him and be led by His indwelling Spirit toward wholeness.

The first months of our “marriage” with the Lord is so sweet and precious to us that we sometimes feel that no one else is involved; that it is just the two of us. Then suddenly we realize we are not alone with Him, but that there is a vast multitude who calls upon His name. We see our Savior full of love and compassion for all—anyone who will come to Him. He not only gives and provides, but in abundance (12 baskets left over). This is well illustrated in the fourth miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes in the feeding of the 5,000 as found in chapter 6.

Many of those who sat on the hillside and saw the multiplication of the bread and fish followed after Him for what they had seen. However, in the succeeding days, Jesus continued to give them an increase of “strong meat” until verse 66 was recorded, “From that time many of his disciples walked with Him no more.” The result of the fourth miracle is that relatively few were willing to step into the narrow path of the Lord’s way. The Lord sifts and proves all believers to find those who will really follow Him for WHO HE IS, not just for what He can do.

The fifth sign took place immediately after Jesus had fed the five thousand. He appeared to His disciples on the water in a storm and said to them, “Be not afraid, it is I” (John 6:30) and immediately they invited Him into their boat. Amid the storms of our own lives, we must be able to recognize Him in them and to invite Him in. Jesus speaks to multitudes, but He calls to the individual on a personal basis and it is here that we are truly tested. We can be fed and blessed with the multitude, but the Lord watches us individually to see how we will respond to Him and how willing we are to accept His leading and guidance. We are tested in many ways and our faith in Him is tried, that we might willingly stand before Him with our whole heart open to Him.

When our Lord sees that we are really anxious to go on with Him, He anoints our eyes to perceive Him more clearly. So clearly, that we are able to withstand all persecution that comes against us. In the sixth sign, Jesus did not just touch the man born blind (chapter 9), but He took some earth and spat upon the clay and anointed His eyes with substance. The reality of the experience and of who Jesus was became so real to this man that he willingly witnessed several times before the Pharisees. The final time, he still stood firm before them, telling the religious leaders that they knew nothing of the true God and that they failed to recognize Him.

Few of us have ever had to lay our lives on the line for our Lord, but such a day may soon come. May we be of such a willing heart and so fully anointed with the life and power of Christ that we could obey His voice in whatever He calls us to do! It takes the full anointing of our eyes to really see Him, that we may become a witness; a living expression of the Lord Himself.

The seventh sign is the resurrection of Lazarus (chapter 11). Jesus specifically states that this resurrection is solely for the purpose of manifesting the glory of God on the earth.

We are resurrected into eternal life when we are saved and we have many deaths and resurrections in our walk, but there should come a time when we will take on enough of the image of the Lord Jesus that we will literally exude the glory of God from our beings. It is then that we will be fully walking in resurrection life and will fully manifest God’s glory. Like Paul, we press on to this place in Christ Jesus.

Eight represents the “new day” in the Lord and the eighth miracle recorded by John is the filling of the disciples’ nets with many fish (chapter 21). A new day will dawn on the earth when we can fully manifest His resurrected life to the world and our nets will draw in a multitude of fish, without breaking.

After this mighty act of supernatural power, the risen Christ challenges His disciples about their love for Him. When He ascertains the depth of their love, He exhorts them to feed His sheep. He not only wants them brought in, but He wants them fed His life so that they might fully inherit His kingdom.

One of the last words of our Lord before His ascension was the power-packed, love-filled “Follow Me.” Those two words sum up our entire walk with our Lord. If we follow Him, all else will follow!