Page 4 - The Gospel of John - Student textbook

The Eight Signs of Jesus’ Power

TURNING OF WATER INTO WINE (2:1 – 11) POWER OVER CREATION
HEALING OF A NOBLEMAN'S SON (4:46 – 54) POWER OVER SPACE
HEALING OF A LAME MAN (5:1 –9) POWER OVER TIME
FEEDING OF THE 5000 (6:1 – 14) POWER OVER FOOD
JESUS WALKING ON THE WATER (6:15 – 21) POWER OVER NATURAL LAWS
HEALING OF A BLIND MAN (9:1 – 12) POWER OVER PHYSICAL LAWS
RAISING LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD (11:1 – 44) POWER OVER DEATH
MIRACULOUS CATCH OF FISH (21:1 – 11) POWER OVER ALL OF THE ABOVE

Purpose

John is the only one of the gospels that contains a precise statement of the author’s purpose." But these have
been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have
life in his name. (20:31) John's objective was both apologetic (" that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God") and evangelistic (" and that believing you may have life in his name"). Martin Luther marveled over
the dual nature of John's writing, admitting, "Never in my life have I read a book written in simpler words than
this, and yet the words are inexpressible!" In keeping with his evangelistic purpose, John used the verb "to
believe" nearly 100 times-more than twice as much as the Synoptics, emphasizing that those who by faith
believe in Jesus will receive eternal life. John's apologetic purpose, which is inseparable from his evangelistic
purpose, was to convince his readers of Jesus’ true identity: God incarnate.

He presents him as God incarnate, the Messiah, and the Savior of the world.

Before I move on to the exposition of these chapters I thought it would be wise to share with you some thoughts
from RC Sproul’s preface. He says that very early in my tenure with St. Andrews, I determined that I should
adopt an ancient Christian practice of lectio continua, "continuous expositions," in my preaching. This method of
preaching verse – by – verse through books of the Bible (rather than by choosing a new topic each week) has
been attested throughout church history as the one approach that ensures believers hear the full counsel of
God. In my opinion not hearing the full counsel of God is a grave failure of the modern-day church! Another
confession that RC Sproul makes is that he finds himself trying to appeal to both the mind and the heart of his
readers, and not just to the minds of his audience.

Elmer Towns writing in the 21st-century commentary of John believes that the Holy Spirit has given a series of
eight keywords, signs, I am sayings, and eight witnesses to convey his message. The following are suggested in
his commentary.

The Eight Key Words:

Believe
Life
Sign
I Am
Truth
Knowing
Witness
Father

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