Why Jesus Performed Signs, Not Just Miracles — John's Gospel Explained

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, we're going to get right down to business in this half hour, and I'm going to have you turn here in the studio first to Hebrews chapter 2, verse 4, and then we're going to go back and take a brief look at the Gospel of John. It's not going to be exhaustive, it's not going to be verse by verse. We're going to look at the eight signs that Jesus gave to the nation of Israel, which I'm afraid a lot of people just have never gotten the full picture of. They've always heard about the miracles and so forth. But we're going to take a brief look at that aspect of John's Gospel. Again we'd like to welcome our television audience, and we appreciate the fact that you're part and parcel of our classroom right here. We trust, and I know a lot of them do, that you'll follow these references and study with us. I've always maintained that the true mark of a good teacher is if he can motivate his students to study. If I can do that, then I've accomplished my purpose, because I don't want you to just leave here and say, well that's what Les said. I want you to be able to study the Word. It's so thrilling. It's got television, except for 30 minutes, it's got television beat hollow. Take a Bible and get a good reference Bible, I don't get picky and name any particular one, but learn to study. This is the point I try to make as I teach, how intricately this whole Book fits together. It isn't just slapped together by men, but everything fits just like a fine tuned watch. So anyway, as we come now into the Gospel of John, there are some points I want to make before we actually begin it verse by verse. Number one, John as I've put over here, is the fourth of the Gospels, even in chronological order of their being written. Matthew was written first, and he depicts Christ as the King. Now I'm sure most of you are aware of these titles. In the Book of Mark, He is depicted as the Servant. In the Book of Luke, as the Son of Man. And so those three Gospels are normally called the Synoptic Gospels, and even though those roles are played out by the Messiah, the Son of God, yet it's predominantly His humanity that is in force. But when you get to the Gospel of John, which is set apart even from the three, now we're dealing with Christ as God. Now I'll give you a little tidbit. For example, in the three Synoptic Gospels, the language is correct, He prays to the Father. And that's the Word, He prays. But you see, in John's Gospel, even contrary to the King James, which I still feel is far the best, even in John the translators have used the word, He prayed to the Father. And that's not the Greek. As God, He didn't have to pray to God, but what do you suppose He could do? He simply spoke to Him, and He said. Now what a difference that makes. But in the three Synoptics, it is correct to say that He prayed to the Father. That's one difference. Another difference is that in the three Synoptic Gospels, they all three record His temptations, because that was dealing primarily with His humanity as the Son of God, of course. John doesn't deal with the temptations, and never mentions them. Another difference is His agony in the Garden, and how He sweat drops of blood. All three of the Synoptic Gospels record it, but John doesn't. Now why? Well, you see, it's because these three are dealing primarily from his human side. John is looking only from the fact that he's God, and don't lose sight of that. Let me show you how, even though I'm emphatic on Paul's writings as being the most appropriate and the most revealing for us, yet you can't just separate Paul and say he doesn't have anything else for the rest of Scripture. It all fits. Now let me show you, for example, how that Paul, now I'm throwing my little wife a curve again. I'm not going to start with Hebrews, I'm going to start with 1 Timothy, honey. 1 Timothy, chapter 1, I think it was chapter 1, it better be, if I get in 1 Timothy I'll see it. Yeah, 1 Timothy, chapter 1, drop down to verse 17, 1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 17, got it? I always like to wait until you've all got it, because I know that on television there are people doing the same thing, and I don't want to leave them in the dust either. All right, verse 17, "...now unto the," what's the next word, King, capitalize, "...now unto the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever." Who is Paul talking about? Christ! Back in verse 16, "...let me first Jesus Christ." And so Christ is the theme of everything that Paul writes. But here he refers to Him as the King. Now I'm going to make a point. I've done this more than once in my classes. I don't think I have on television that I remember. Always be careful that you never refer to Christ as your King, as a member of the Body of Christ. He's not our King. He is the Head of the Body. He is the King, like Paul says, eternal. He is going to be King and King, and Lord of Lords. But it's not scripturally correct to refer to Him as our King. He is our Savior, He's our Lord, He's the Head of the Body, but He's not the King of the Church. Paul never calls Him the King of the Church. And here's the point I would like to make. If indeed He was the King of the Church, then we would not be per se, joint heirs with Christ. Then we would be His subjects. We'd just merely be subjects under the King, which of course the whole world will one day be. But we're not. We are members of the Body, and that's a far, far closer relationship than to be the subject of a King. So you check me out. You just study Paul's letters. Does he ever imply that Christ is King of the Church? Never. But He's always the Savior, the Lord, the Head of the Body. But he does recognize the fact that Christ indeed is the King. He's one and the same. Now the next one, the servant. Come back to the left a few pages, the little book of Philippians. And so how everything Paul writes fits hand in glove with the Gospels, with the Old Testament. He's not going to refute or contradict. He merely brings to fruition. Now I gave an illustration to the class last night, and I told the class I'd thought of it while I was mowing hay yesterday afternoon. That's a good time to think, you know, when you're riding that tractor and no disruptions and nothing to deter your thinking. And I've been trying to think of a good illustration of how I can describe the revelations that come forth in Paul's letters. And so I practiced on the class last night, and I said, I'd like to use the analogy of a flower. I'd use a rose, but they've got those stickers on them, and they're kind of dangerous. I get stuck every time I cut one. But I like to use the tulip because of the simplicity. And so you put that bulb in the ground. Out of that bulb at the appropriate time will come that new life. Here comes the stem. But you don't have a flower on it, just the stem. And then pretty soon what? The leaves. More stem, more leaves, more stem, more leaves. And then one day you walk out in your garden, and not the flower yet, but what comes first? The bud. First the bud, and then all of a sudden it opens up into full bloom in all of its glory. Now let me make my analogy. Genesis is the bulb. Genesis is where everything began. Out of that bulb then came the stem. And here we come now through the Old Testament. Everything is growing, it's leafing out, it's growing and leafing out. It's a constant revelation of things that had never been revealed before. It's a progressive revelation. And then one day Christ came in His first advent, the bud, ready to come into full bloom. We covered all this when we studied Matthew. When He said, I did not come to destroy, I came to fulfill. Well what was He going to fulfill? All those Old Testament covenant promises. But before the bud had a chance to flower, what did Israel do? In so many words, they cut it off. In fact the Scripture speaks of it as Messiah being cut off in Daniel. And so for all practical purposes Israel clipped the bud, and seemingly all fell apart. But God in His sovereignty put it back on, if I may use that illustration. He puts the bud back on, and we come on into His post resurrection, and on into the book of Acts, and still Israel will not let that bud come into full flower, will they? They keep rejecting it. But instead of clipping it off, God now does something totally different. He raises up this other apostle, and through the revelations given then to the apostle Paul, we now see that full flower. Now it isn't Paul, but it's His revelations. Christ is the flower, but it's in such a revelation that nowhere else in Scripture can you pick it up. It's all been building to it, and there it is. And that's why I say you have to go to Paul's epistles to get the full picture. You don't kick the rest of it out. It's all necessary. You have to have the root, you have to have the stem, you have to have the leaves before you can enjoy the bloom. But sad to say, what are many theologians and preachers doing with even that beautiful bloom of Paul's revelations? They're clipping it off. And they say, we don't need Paul. So they spend all their time in the Gospels, and they have clipped off the very part that shows the very beauty of God's overall program for salvation and so forth. But always remember that, that if you want to see God's plan in its fruition, aside of course from Revelation end time, but so far as salvation and the power of salvation, the full flower is here in Paul's letters. Now Philippians chapter 2, how he's going to agree with Mark that he was indeed the son of man, or the servant of man. Philippians chapter 2, we'll begin with verse 5. Philippians 2. Philippians 2. in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon himself the form of a servant, a perfect description of what Mark is trying to show in his Gospel. How that he became flesh, and became a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man. Now I could use that verse to substantiate Luke's approach. How does Luke see him in his humanity as the son of man? But I'm not going to stop with this verse, I'm going to take you to another one. First Corinthians chapter 15. First Corinthians chapter 15. How that Paul agrees totally with Luke's Gospel, that indeed he was the son of man, but remember he never stopped being God either. First Corinthians chapter 15, and let's come all the way down to verse 45. First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 45. And so it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul, the last Adam, a quickening spirit. Then verse 46, how be it that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, afterward that which is spiritual. That's a law of Scripture that I've emphasized so often in these last many, many months. First the natural, then the spiritual. Now look at verse 47. The first man is of the earth, earthy, that was Adam. The second man is the Lord from heaven. Now there's his humanity. Now then, John of course in his fourth Gospel comes up with his deity. Now along that line I'm going to take you back to Colossians. Let's start in chapter 2, Colossians verse 8 -9. How that Paul has already shown he's the king, he's already shown that he was the servant, he's shown that he became a man. But now look, Colossians chapter 2 beginning with verse 8, Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Now verse 9, for in him, see that's what I had to read verse 8, for in him, in Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. Oh he was verily God, even according to Paul. And in him dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And then because he was God, you can drop down and claim verse 13, And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he hath quickened, made alive, having forgiven you all trespass. Who alone can forgive sin? Only God, and no one else. And so Paul confirms his deity by telling us that he has forgiven us all our trespasses. Well while you're in Colossians, go to chapter 3, and then I want to flip back to the three words I have on the board. But here in Colossians chapter 3, beginning at verse 1 again, Colossians 3, verse 1. If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. And then here's the reason, verse 3. For you are dead, that is to that old life, and your life is hid with Christ, in God. I think we touched on that several programs back. We are hid in Christ, and where is Christ? In God. And you can't get it any tighter than that, and that's our position. That's our position. Well now I'd like to have you come back to the verse I had you turn to when we opened the program, and that would be Hebrews chapter 2, I guess it was, wasn't it? Verse 4. Fortunately for the translators, the Spirit kind of simplified things. And here in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 4, we have all three of these Greek words. Now I've got my board kind of full, but if you can focus above this, these three Greek words are translated throughout our New Testament most of the time as miracles. And it's unfortunate, because this word up here, semaion, is always a sign. Now that's the way I get the pronunciation from a Greek dictionary, semaion. And it should always be translated signs. The next Greek word is dunamis, from which we get dynamo, and it is with regard to power, supernatural power. In other words, when He performed His miracles, how did He do it? Because of the power that He had being God. Then the third word is teros, and it merely meant wonders. Now look at Hebrews chapter 2, verse 4. Hebrews 2. God also bearing them witness, both with signs, semaion, and wonders, which would be teros, and with diverse miracles, which is in the Greek dunamis. All three of them in one verse, and they're all the three separate Greek words. But the translators have mingled all these now, and they call most of the wonders and signs miracles, and it's unfortunate. For example, now let's go back to John's Gospel, and I think we can go right into chapter 2, if I'm not mistaken, and pick up the first of his miracles, which is not a miracle per se, it is a sign. Now I'll explain that in just a moment, and oh, let's see, I think I better bring you back to where I can find the word first. Chapter 4. In chapter 4, and we'll come back to chapter 2 in just a minute, but I want you to see where the translators have not been too accurate for us. In John's Gospel, chapter 4, verse 54, John's Gospel, chapter 4, verse 54. This is again the second miracle, at least that's what the King James uses. Anybody got another translation? What does yours say? All right, that's the way it should be, that's a good translation. This is again the second miracle, but it's the word semion in the Greek, so it should have been translated sign. This is the second sign that Jesus did. All right, now come back up in this same chapter to verse 48, and I'm not going to bog you down with a lot of Greek, but you have to have a little, you've just got to use a little to clarify. Back up in verse 48, then said Jesus unto him, except you see signs and wonders, now there you have the word teros in the Greek, and so it's translated here, but always remember that all miracles are not all signs. All signs are miracles, but not all miracles are signs. Now what's the difference? Well you see a sign, as we saw in the last half hour, was that which God used for what people? The Jew. The Jew required a sign, and so when God was really coming down on the nation of Israel and was trying to show them things, then He would use signs. It was a manifestation of His power, it was a miracle, but it was more than a miracle, it was a sign. It had an intrinsic lesson for the nation of Israel, and I'm afraid as most of us have the Gospel of John preached and taught in Sunday school, they've totally missed this. That these 8 signs in the Gospel of John, and that's all there are, 8 of them, 7 of them take place before His crucifixion. Now what's the number 7 indicative of? Completion, God's number. And so 7 of the first signs are completed before His resurrection, but the 8th one takes place after the resurrection. I don't know how many of you can remember all this, but I've mentioned it before. The number 8 in Scripture always denotes what? New beginnings. I've got one fellow here in my class, he caught that a long time ago, and he just picked up on it and helped me to remember it. The number 8 always indicates new beginnings, in other words, how many people were on Noah's Ark? 8. What was it depicting? New beginnings. And so all the way through Scripture, 7 is God's number of completeness, 8 then speaks of new beginnings. And so you have 8 signs in the Gospel of John, 7 before His crucifixion to complete what He was trying to get across to the nation, and then the 8th one is going to signify that which is still in Israel's future. Now I'm going to bring you back to the marriage at Canaan, chapter 2, which would be the first sign. Oh it's a miracle, absolutely it is, but it's a sign, John's Gospel chapter 2. You all know the account, how that He changed the water into wine, and I'm not going to take the time to go into all the ramifications, I guess I could spend 30-40 minutes on just this one miracle, but you've all heard it before, and I'm not going to take the time to do that, except I'm going to point out just one or two things, and that is that when it was time for the miracle to be performed, what was the situation at the wedding feast? No wine. And wine in Scripture speaks of joy, joyfulness. So the wedding feast had run out of joy, everything was just sort of falling apart. And so Jesus now comes in, and He miraculously performs a sign, and here it is in verse 7. And Jesus said unto them, Fill the pots with water, and they filled them to the brim. Now the sign is given to the nation of Israel, that they had no hope, they had lost their national joy, their religion had done nothing but just bogged them down, they were miserable, they thought they were pharisaical and all that, but they were destitute of joy. And so the Lord shows them that He as their Messiah, is the only One that can bring true joy to the nation. And when He brings joy, it's not going to be half-hearted, it's not going to be 75%, it's going to be what? It's going to be brimful. Now this of course is all still in Israel's future. They never did attain this joy, they never did attain that fullness of all His promises, they kept rejecting it. But the sign to the nation was that He, the Messiah, yes Jesus of Nazareth, was the only One who could fill their pots with joy, if you please. And so it's a sign. Now here again verse 11, "...this beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory, and His disciples believed on Him." Now that backs up what I've said all the way along through our Gospel study, is that first and foremost He came to prove who He was, secondly He comes to prove that Israel needs Him. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick, is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time.