Sign Miracles
Not all miracles are signs; signs are a special type of miracle. "Yet all miracles are not signs, for signs convey some distinct teaching in addition to their display of power," (Anderson, n.d.). As Morris (1989) puts it, a sign is that which "points beyond itself," (p. 2). Moreover, a sign is "not self-contained, not an end in itself," (p. 2). Whereas a miracle may stand alone as an example of Christ's glory, a sign is that which points toward something else -- it "has a meaning that is fulfilled elsewhere than in the miracle," (Morris, 1989, p. 2). Therefore, signs serve a special function in the Bible. They point not only to the power of Christ but also to underlying meanings in the events that give cause for deeper contemplation and analysis. The word in Greek for sign is semeion, which is used 17 times in the Gospel of John and is a completely distinct word from the ones used to describe other types of miraculous events. Sign miracles are unique in that they are meaningful on multiple levels, including the metaphorical level.
In his Gospel, John records at least eight signs of Christ. The first sign is described in Chapter 2, and is the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine. The second sign described by John is Jesus healing the nobleman's son in Chapter Four. In the third healing sign miracle, Jesus heals a man who could not walk. John recounts this event in Chapter Five. The fourth sign miracle described by John is that of the loaves and fishes, in John 6:1-13.
The fifth sign miracle is also in Chapter Six of the Gospel of John. Here, Jesus walks on water. The sixth sign miracle is Jesus healing the blind man in Chapter Nine. The resurrection of Lazarus is a remarkable sign miracle, described in John 11:1-45. Finally, Jesus shows his disciples how to find a multitude of fishes in the eighth sign in John 21:1-14.
John implies that he only selected eight of many other sign miracles that Jesus performed: "John does not intend to record every miracle that Jesus performed, but to select certain ones," (Willis, 1977). Moreover, there may be a distinct reason why...
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