All Signs Point to Jesus
John’s gospel provides a depth of theological knowledge compared to Matthew, Mark, and Luke. N.T. Wright and Michael Bird in their book, The New Testament in Its World concur:
“We could spend a day, a night, or a lifetime plumbing the theological insights, historical details, and spiritual depth of John’s gospel. …The gospel of John is the big book of faith. It is about believing…because one accepts the verdict of the witnesses: God sent Jesus, Jesus is God’s son, the son has returned to the father, and the father sends the spirit of his son…One cannot ignore the clear Christological core of the gospel of John. This is not a book about generalized spirituality or religious outlook on life. It is about Jesus himself from first to last.” (pp.678-79)
And John’s purpose statement in 20:30-31 describes the evangelistic edge to that theology:
“Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe[a] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (NIV, 2011)
Notice that John, as an eyewitness, emphasizes the signs Jesus did during his earthly ministry. Signs (Gk. semeion) point to the supernatural (healings, events, miracles, etc.) that are given to encourage faith and provide assurance that God is working in our world. They are never the object of faith; they point to the object.
In John’s case, signs point to Jesus. They confirm his identity and his message that God’s kingdom had broken into the world. Signs were never given to be an end in themselves. They point to something or Someone greater.
I remember a backpack trip in the Teton Wilderness of NW Wyoming many years ago. We had spent the night camping near the Enos Lake patrol cabin the night before exiting the Wilderness to where our vehicle was parked. On our way out, we came to a confusing trail junction. Both trails seemed to go in the direction we needed. Fortunately, my friend, Joe, mountain man extraordinaire, saw a trail sign in the bushes that pointed us to the correct trail. Biblical signs can do that. They are not the reality themselves but direct us to that Reality.
Depending on who’s counting, the first eleven chapters of John contain seven signs. Some go outside John 1-11 and include Jesus’ crucifixion as one of those signs. Others leave out Jesus’ walking on water in 6:16-21. John himself quits counting at sign #2 in 4:46-54 where the official’s son is healed in Capernaum.
But John 20:30 says that there were many other signs Jesus did that he, John, didn’t write about. John 21:25 further says that John’s gospel doesn’t begin to contain all that could be written down what Jesus did.
But the signs that were recorded are meant to elicit faith.
Scholars are divided about John’s meaning here in 20:30-31. Are the written down signs meant to assure believers about their faith? Are they to encourage first-time faith? Both?
I think a searching 1st century Jew (like the early disciples in John 1:35-51) could exclaim after reading John’s gospel as Philip did to Nathanael after meeting Jesus, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (1:45 ESV). And of whom Nathanael would later proclaim, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (1:49 ESV).
Jesus is the end of the long search for God’s promised Messiah. And the signs provide proof for a Jew reading John’s gospel.
But Jesus is also the Son of God, and also God the Son. Repeatedly in John, Jesus affirms his deity (cf. 5:18, 10:30-31). He uses the Greek phrase, ego eimi, (I AM, see 6:35, 8:12,58) to link his identity to Jehovah God who revealed himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14. In John 1:1, John asserts that the logos (Gk. for ‘word’) was God and later in 1:14 asserts that this logos became a flesh and bones human being.
I could see a searching 1st century pagan (or a 21st century one for that matter) reading John’s gospel and finding for the first time the meaning and purpose of the universe now wrapped up in a Person, Jesus.
The impersonal Logos of Greek philosophy which attempted to give meaning and purpose to life is now found in the Logos made flesh, Jesus Christ (John 1:14).
I remember hearing of a campus ministry forming groups of seekers around an investigation of Jesus from John’s gospel. Searching questions were asked about ultimate things in the hope that the Holy Spirit through the written word would draw people to Jesus.
The purpose and power of John’s written account of Jesus remains today.
But whoever is searching, the promise of faith is life. John concludes in 20:31 that zoe life (cf. John 17:3), the life only the one true God can give in its quality and duration, is the gift for those who believe.
Yes, all the signs in John’s gospel point to Jesus. To ignore them, we will remain lost in our search for God. To read and follow them, leads us to our final destination, Jesus himself.