Eight Manifestations of Power!

Eight Manifestations of Power

Introduction

What are miracles?  Today’s world is fascinated with the idea of miracles.  People drive all around the United States to investigate signs of some unexplained event that has hit the newspapers.  Many false teachers in our day have made a name for themselves by being able to perform these so called miracles.  One false teacher even claims he can anoint your wallet so that owner can never spend the money out of it.  With miracles like these no wonder why there are many misconceptions of what defines a miracles.  The concept of miracles derives from the New Testament.  Jesus performed many miracles during his earthly ministry and his apostles would also do miracles to help build the foundation of the church.  To get a good definition of a miracle a person needs to be using the Bible as their paradigm.  Elmer Towns in his book defines a miracle as:
“John employs the word semeion some seventeen times to point out the spiritual significance of eight miracles in the gospel.  These signs were one way Jesus ‘manifested His glory’ (2:11).  This word is used in the Septuagint to convey the idea of a heavenly symbol (Gen. 1:14), a protective mark (Gen. 4:15) a pledge (Gen 17:11), a miracle (Ex 7:3, 9), a memorial (Ex. 13:9), a sample of divine power (Is. 7:11), and a signal (Jer. 6:1).” 

Now this definition shows quite a distinction to today’s view of a miracle which is something that does not show the Glory of Christ but shows the glory of man through a fascination with the occult.  The point of this paper is not to show the difference between the miracles of the world and the miracles done by Christ.  This paper is not trying to show why miracles have ended in this day and age.  Also, this paper is not trying to teach against false prophets or the occult.  This paper: in an effort to help the reader to understand more about the miracles done by Jesus during His earthly ministry; will list the eight miracles giving a description of the events that were taking place during that miracle, and to show how that miracle reveals the deity of Christ.

EIGHT MIRACLES OF CHIRST

           The first miracle that Christ performs occurs in John 2:1-5.  This is the second chapter in John and shows the beginning of his earthly ministry.  In this miracle Christ turns water into wine at a marriage festival in Cana.  This miracle shows his power in creation.  Jesus arrived at this wedding a few days after it had begun with six disciples who were most likely Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathaniel, John, and James.  His late arrival helps give credibility to the fact that the wine is getting low.  Elmer Towns states, “The wedding festival had probably been in process for some time when Jesus and His disciples arrived, which would account for the wine running out.”  Mary the mother of Jesus seems to be the one who has the responsibility of the kitchen because she seems to know that the wine has run out before the wedding party knows.  She informs Jesus that they are running out of wine.  There are several reasons why she might have done this but the author of this paper believes that she did this just to inform Jesus of the problem because she hoped that he could do something.  Ironsides states, “She did not actually request Him to do something about it.”  Towns states, “More conceivable, however, is that Mary was simply informing Jesus of the need, not ordering or commanding Him.” 
         The next part of the story seems to present a problem to some people in today’s culture.  Jesus calls Mary “woman.”  However during this time it was not a term of disrespect but rather respect.  Towns states, “Actually, woman was a term of respect and affection frequently used when any adult addressed a women.”  Godet adds, “In the language in which Jesus spoke, as well as in the Greek language, this term involves nothing contrary to respect and affection.”  During this part Jesus was telling his mother that she could no longer tell him what to due as a parent.  Morris states, “But Jesus in His public ministry was not only or primarily the son of Mary, but ‘the Son of man’ who was to bring the realities of Heaven to man (1:51).”  He tells her that his time has not yet come which probably means that He did his miracles not at the desire of his own will but in submission to the will of His Father.  Towns states, “His miracles at His appointed time and for the purpose that people might believe that He is the Son of God and might have life through His name.”  Mary then instructed the servants to do what ever Jesus commanded of them. 
         Jesus tells the servants to take the six water pots of stone that were used in Jewish ceremonial washings.  These six pots have believed to have a special numerical significance.  Many people believe that they represented imperfection and man, and that these pots showed the inadequacy of the whole Jewish religious system.  This was unlike seven which was the number of perfection. For example, Towns states, “There were six waterpots, the number of imperfection and man.  Symbolically, John may here point out the imperfection of Judaism, especially when contrasted with the perfection of Christ.”  Ironside adds, “They were all empty, like the forms and ceremonies of the law.”  After they fill the pots with water Jesus turns the water into wine and tells the servants to take the wine to the head of ceremonies.  When the head of ceremonies tasted the wine he was shocked that the groom would leave the best wine for last when traditionally people would drink the best wine first, and serve the lesser wine when the palate was numb.  Morris states, “the ruler of the feast did no t know the origin of the wine he was tasting, but he recognized its quality.  He summoned the bridegroom (who was responsible for the feast), and commented on his departure form the common custom.”  Towns states:
“When this man tasted the wine, he was surprised that it was of such fine quality yet reserved until the end of the feast.  It was customary to serve the finest foods and wines first, then after the senses of the guests had been dulled with overindulgence, to serve inferior foods and wines.”

This miracle shows the Deity of Christ by showing that he is the creator.  Ironsides states, “He comes before us as the Creator of all things.”  No man could have sat over those six pots and made the water into wine.  Depending on what point somebody takes on whether the wine was alcoholic one could show that it takes time for something to ferment.  Yeast germs consume the sugar of the grape expelling alcohol in its stead.  Yet Jesus does this miracle instantly and not only is it done fast it is good to the taste.  The longer wine settles the better the taste and this wine tasted better than the other wine found at the feast and this had only set long enough to carry it to the head of ceremonies. 
         The next miracle happens after Jesus left the city of the Samaritans on his way back through Cana of Galilee.  Morris states, “In Galilee Jesus made His way once more to Cana.”  The people of Cana seem to welcome him but not in a positive sense.  They had welcomed him back because he had done miracles before their eyes.  Godet states, “The Galileans who had seen Him at work on the grand theatre of the capital, made no difficulty now in welcoming Him.”  Towns adds, “Although the Galileans received Christ, they did so for the wrong reasons.”  As he is traveling a nobleman comes to him pleading for Jesus to come to his home and heal his son.  Morris in reference to the nobleman’s title states, “He would have been an official attached to the king’s officers.”  Jesus replies in a harsh sense commenting on the people’s unbelief using this man as an example.  Towns states, “This fickle attitude of the Galileans is particularly contrasted with the faith of a Gentile leader, as John records His second of eight miracles.”  He does heal the nobleman’s son but from a distance which shows that he was not going to give the man a sign just his word.  As the nobleman was traveling home his servants came to him and told him his son had been healed and that he had been healed at the same time that Jesus commanded him to be healed.  At first it shows that the man believed his word and then later that he believe that Jesus was God.  Then it goes on to discuss how his whole family came to believe also.  Godet states, “At this moment the faith of this man rises, at last, to a higher degree that of personal experience.”  Also for note, people tend to get confused about this miracle and a separate miracle mentioned in Matthew.  There are several differences in the miracle of Matthew including: Jesus was in Capernaum not Galilee; He offers to come to the man’s home to heal the son; He asks for Jesus just to speak the words; Jesus comments on his great faith; and lastly, this was later in his ministry while the miracle in Cana of Galilee was early in his ministry. 
         This miracle shows Jesus power to heal and to show his power over distance.  Morris states, “It has some interesting features, notably that it is a case of healing at a distance.”  This miracle shows the deity of Christ in two different ways.  First, it shows his deity because he can heal with his words.  Today the medical field is extremely vast and can do marvelous things to help heal the body.  Today a doctor goes to school for at least eight years and needs many different mechanical tools to be effective.  Jesus had never been to school or trained as a doctor yet he healed a boy that could not have been healed today with all of medical science and its advancements.  The next part shows that he has the power to heal no matter the distance.  Even if a person can be helped with today’s medical procedures it does not help one bit if there is no doctor to perform them.  Yet, Jesus healed from a distance of around thirty miles.  No man can do this and nothing like this happens naturally in the world today.  Jesus is God. 
         The next miracle Jesus performs is healing a lame man.  The setting of this miracle takes place during the Passover at the Pool of Bethesda.  The Pool of Bethesda was a rectangular pool used in the cleaning of animals for temple sacrifice.  Towns states, “The pool of Bethesda was a long rectangular pool used to clean animals about to be taken to the temple for sacrifice.”  It would have been quite dirty due to it usage and there was a drop of about twenty feet to the actual water.  Even though its water was filthy it had rumored healing powers during certain times.  Morris states, “The first to enter the pool at such a time, they through, would be healed.”  Many sick people would gather around this pool and would wait for this specific time and try to get into the water first so that they would be healed.  Towns states, “Normally there would be less than three hundred by the pool; however, during the feast seasons, two or three thousand sick surrounded the pool.” 
One of the men that were there had been there for a very long time and had nobody to lower him into the pool.  Jesus used his omniscience to find the man that had been there for a very long time and went to him.  Morris states, “He may wish us to understand it as another example of Jesus’ supernatural knowledge.”  Then he simply asks the man if he wants to be healed.  The man after giving some excuses shows his willingness to be healed.  Jesus tells the man to get up and to take his bed.  The healing is instantaneous and the man goes on his way.  Godet states, “The imperfect he walked dramatically paints the joy in the recovered power.”  Later they come to the man and ask him who has healed him and he give Jesus has the benefactor of his gift and they seek vengeance against Jesus because he as broken the Sabbath.  Morris states, “The man was not of the stuff of which heroes are made.  He put the whole blame on the shoulder s of Him who had healed him.”
         This miracle shows the deity of the Lord in three ways.  First, it shows that Jesus is omniscient.  Towns states, “Again John emphasizes the special knowledge of Christ, as he does in every chapter in this gospel (2:24).”  He had knowledge of this man that was not give to him but that he already had.  Secondly, Jesus is God because he healed this man who had been lame for up to thirty eight years.  If it could have been done before it probably would have been.  Plus, he had been at this pool for so long and yet it did not heal him.  Morris states, “The supposedly healing water in all those years had effected no cure.”  Lastly, it shows he is deity because he knew His own Law better than the Jews because it was his word.
         The fourth miracle is one of the most familiar miracles in all of scripture.  It is the feeding of the 5,000 found in John 6:1-14.  Jesus and his disciples at this time are ministering in Galilee and have built up quite a large following.  Towns states, “The verb ekolouthei is in the imperfect tense, suggesting the crowed followed Him not only on this occasion but were generally following Him.”  Jesus is with his disciples when he notices the crowd of people and that they are restless and hungry.  He asks Philip where he could buy and Philip being analytical had a fit because he could not see how they could ever afford to feed this many people.  Morris states, “John also records Philip’s perplexity as to the feeding of the great crowd, and his little piece of mental arithmetic which showed so clearly the impossibility of a solution out of the disciple own resources.”  They would have to have two-hundred denarii’s which would just be enough to give people a taste.  Godet states, “The denarius’s was a Roman coin worth about fifteen cents; two hundred denarii were, therefore, equivalent to about thirty dollar of our money; a large sum, which, however, was still far below the necessity of the case!”  Andrew brought a little boy to Jesus who might have been a slave and told Jesus that the boy had a small meal, but that this small meal would like nothing to all of the people present.  Godet states, “Andrew, thus, falls into the trap laid for his fellow-disciple, and it is, no doubt, with a sort of malicious humor that the evangelist is please to report…”  Several interesting things happen in this miracle such as: Jesus commands that the crowd be seated; Jesus gives thanks before he breaks the bread; The disciples were the ones that gave out the food even though Jesus made it; He used a boy’s meal when he could have just created food; and He wanted everything to be collected so that nothing would go to waste.  It is not known exactly how this miracle happened but as the disciples pulled food out of the basket (since they were to be giving liberally) the basket never emptied.  Ironside states, “There was plenty for all.”  After the people had been satisfied of their hunger they tried to forcefully take Jesus as their king because who could do such great things?  He could be their king and overthrow the Roman government.  Towns states, “The language of verse 15 points a vivid picture of the beginning of a revolution.”  They did still not believe in his deity they were thinking with their stomachs not their hearts. 
         This miracle shows Christ’s deity by showing that he could manipulate food.  He could create the very thing that nourishes the human body.  Again, food takes time to prepare and yet Jesus created it instantly.  It is interesting to think of how much man power it would have took to prepare a feast for five thousand people.  It would take much time in the areas of preparation and coordination.  Jesus used the weak things of the earth to confound the mighty.
           The next miracle takes place in the same chapter.  It probably took place later on after they had feed the five thousand.  Towns states, “A second miracle recorded in this chapter occurred later that same evening.”  The disciples decided to leave after Jesus had not come back.  Godet states, “They even hesitate, as we see from vv. 16, 17, to execute this command; they wait for this until the last light of the day.”  It takes about six or seven miles to make a journey across the Sea of Galilee which could be quite a dangerous undertaken in that area.  Towns states, “The mountains around this body of water are such that a storm can rise quickly and almost instantaneously turn the calm and peaceful lake into a raging torrent.”  Ironside adds, “There is a kind of bay, and they are just crossing the bay when suddenly a storm came up.”  During their trip the seas started to come to life and a great storm started to create havoc for the disciples.  Morris states, “Rowing under these circumstances was very hard work, but they made fairly good progress.”  At this point in time the disciples probably feared their life and were desperately calling out for God to save them.  It was at this time that they saw Jesus walking on the water of the sea.  He called out to him telling them that it was him.  Morris states why he called out, “The sight of Jesus walking on the sea and nearing their boat filled them with fear.  Again we must supplement this narrative by that of the Synoptists to find the reason – they thought it was a phantom.”  He used the statement, “I AM” which is not just a delineation of who he was but it was the name of God that was given to Moses.  Towns states, “He said, ‘It is I’ (ego eimi, 6:20), which is the Old Testament identification of Jehovah, ‘I Am.’”  Even though the disciples had left Jesus he had not let them.  When they realized who he was they were back at the shore and the storm had stopped.
         This miracle proves the deity of Christ in three ways.  First, Christ walked on water.  Now no man alive could do such a great feat.  Not only was he walking on water but he was not be tossed around by the storm like the disciples and their ship.  The second reason this proves the deity of Christ is because of his own testimony.  In the midst he calls out to them saying he is God.  Towns states, “Jesus calmed the fears of His disciples by revealing to them his true identity in the midst of the storm.”  The last reason this miracles shows the deity of Christ is because the storm calmed and they arrived at their desired location. 
         The sixth miracle occurs as Jesus is removing himself from an angry crowd of the Jews that sought to pick up stones and kill him.  He had just given a discourse on how he was the light of the world.  They had then attacked him claiming that he had no witnesses to prove his statement.  As he left them he came across a man who had been born blind.  Towns states, “That Jesus should even notice, let alone heal a blind beggar under such circumstances, may be thought by some as the real miracle in this chapter.”  Ironside adds, “We have a blind man, and the light shined through his darkened lids and enlightened his natural eyes, as well as the eyes of his soul.”  His disciples asked him who had sinned to make this man blind.  Morris states, “It was widely held that suffering, and especially such a disaster as blindness, was due to sin.”  They were expecting that it was his parents or maybe even his own sin in the womb.  Jesus told his disciples that neither his sin nor his parent’s sin caused this blindness, but that his blindness was to show the work of God. 
He went to the blind man and spit into the ground and made clay with his spittle.  He then put the clay on the eyes of the blind mind and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam.  Morris states, “Pool’ denotes quite a large pool, one big enough to swim in…  This pool is mentioned here only in the New Testament.”  When the man had done this he came away seeing.  Jesus could have chosen to heal the man with just his touch or voice command but he chose to use this method instead.  Morris states, “But in any case Jesus performed His miracles with sovereign hand and He cannot be limited by rules of procedure.  He cured how He willed.”  After the man received his sight he went and told his friends about what this man had done for him.  At some point he also shared this glorious news with his family.  Towns states, “While the Bible does not specifically mention this man’s witness to his family, John strongly implies that his parents were aware of their son’s healing but refused to endorse it for fear of the Jews.” 
His friends took him to see the Pharisees at the temple and instead of rejoicing that this man had been healed they asked him questions to find out who had done this.  After several questionings they talked with his family who confirmed his testimony, but were afraid of what the leaders would do to them if they had ties with Jesus.  They questioned the man one last time and he returns with a question for them.  Godet states, “The blind man, seeing that there is a wish to argue with him, becomes more and more bold, and set himself also to the work of arguing.”  Morris adds, “The man did not really expect that these men who were so plainly opposed to Jesus were changing their minds.”  This question infuriated them so much they cast him out with scorn and ridicule.  Morris states, “They stop arguing and abused the man.”  Towns states, “From the beginning of this second interview, these Pharisees place themselves as this mans foes, and doubt the veracity of his testimony.”  They told him that he should be honest with God.  Towns states, “The word eloidoresan, here translated ‘reviled’ (9:28), means ‘To reproach or scold in a loud and abusive manner.”  After this they cast him from their presence.  It had given them one more reason to hate Jesus unto death.  Returning from his questioning the man is found by Jesus and makes a confession of faith towards Jesus.  Towns states, “When he know who Jesus was, he worshiped him (9:38).” 
This particular miracle shows the deity of Christ in three ways.  First, it shows the deity of Christ because he was able to heal a man who was blind.  He did not only heal a man who was made blind or who became blind he healed a man who had been blind from birth.  Today some blindness can be cured by medical means, but nobody can usually be helped if they are born blind.  Towns states, “While skeptics and their lives are forgotten, the man who was healed from darkness is a living example of the power of Christ – the Light of the World.”  The next reason is as stated during a previous miracle his understanding and control of the Sabbath day.  The last thing that shows the deity of Christ in this miracle is the fact that he would later meet with the man and give him spiritual sight.  Morris states, “The man sees that Jesus is the one object of a right faith and accordingly puts his trust in Him.”
The second to last miracle shows Jesus’ power of death itself.  In this miracle Christ raises Lazarus from the dead.  Towns states, “This chapter records one of the most touching accounts in the life of Christ, the raising of Lazarus from the dead.”  The beginning of John 11 shows that there was a man named Lazarus who was the brother of Martha and Mary and that he had fallen sick.  His sisters had sent a message to Jesus to let him know that Lazarus was sick.  Ironside states, “And so the sisters when they saw their brother dropping and dying, sent a message to the Lord Jesus, who was some distance away.”  Lazarus home was located in Bethany which was a day’s journey away which probably means that he was already dead before Jesus had received the message.  Godet states, “Bethany, at the present day, El-Azirieh (form El-Azir, the Arabian name of Lazarus) is a poor village situated on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, three-quitters of a league from Jerusalem, which is in habited in our day by about forty Mussulman families.” 
The normal burial took place the same day as when the deceased had passed and the mourning lasted a very long time.  Towns states, “The mourning began immediately and lasted a month but was divided into three periods.  The first three days were the most intense in mourning and often involved hiring professional mourners.”  After delaying He told the disciples that he wanted to return but they were fearful of getting stoned or attacked by the Jewish leaders.  Morris states, “The disciples have not forgotten the Jews’ attempt to stone Jesus (10:31).”  Jesus told them that he wanted to return because of his friend Lazarus because he was asleep.  This was strange to the disciples because they were probably thinking that they should not risk their lives to see him.  He then clarified that Lazarus was indeed dead. 
Now there were two different reactions to his death.  First, Martha being upset made herself busy to keep her mind from the past events.  In fact she would tell Jesus that if he had been there her brother would not be dead.  Godet states, “She simply expresses her regret that Jesus had not been there at the tie of the sickness, and this regret serves only to prepare the way for the request which she had to make.”  During her conversation with Jesus she shows her erroneous views of Jesus asking him to pray and thinking of a resurrection that is in the future not that Jesus was going to resurrect Lazarus.  The second is that of Mary’s reaction which was in hiding from the world in her sorrow.  Godet compares the two by stating, “Martha, no doubt occupied with her household affairs, was the first to receive the new of the Lord’s arrival, and, in her eagerness, she ran to meet Him, without the though of telling her sister, whose grief was keeping her in the inner apartment.”  She did not come out to meet Jesus but stayed in the house alone.  When she did meet him she dropped to his feet weeping.  It was at this point that scripture indicates that Jesus wept. 
Christ went to the tomb and commanded that the stone door be removed which made Martha anxious because of the fear of the tombs smell.  He then called out Lazarus and he arose.  Two things happened to conclude this miracle.  First, many Jews had believed on him.  Secondly, this angered the Jewish leaders even more and they recommended that he be put to death.
This miracle proves the deity of Christ because he had the power to command the dead to be given life again.  When a person dies their body starts to instantly decompose.  Lazarus had not just died that day but had been dead.  In fact Martha was nervous that there would be a smell when they rolled the stone away.  Jesus not only gave life to him he was regenerated in the sense that the deterioration of his body stopped and things were made a new.  He came late so that there would be no doubt that Lazarus was dead and that Jesus gave him life.  Towns states, “Someone has suggested that Jesus called Lazarus by name (11:43), because if He had not, every dead person would have been revived.”
The last miracle is as simple as catching fish.  This miracle is found in the very last chapter in the book of John.  Towns states, “This final chapter appears to be an afterthoughts or a postscript, because if comes after the natural conclusion to the book.”  Peter and some of the other disciples had gone out to go fishing.  Many believe they had backslidden back into their previous occupation.  Morris states, “It is possible that the thoughts of the fishermen were beginning to turn to their former occupation, now that they had lost the presence of Jesus.”  That the night the disciples were not able to catch one single fish and while the day started to come in Jesus shouted to them from the shore.  Towns states, “Some see the fact that the disciples did not recognize Jesus as a further evidence of their lack of spiritual perception.”  He told them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat.  When they obeyed they caught so many fish that they could not even pull in the net.  Peter got so excited that he walked off the boat to see the man on shore.  Godet states, “How characteristic of the tow apostles are the features which appear in these two simple incidents!  John contemplates and divines; Peter acts and springs forward.”  When they got to Jesus he was already eating a breakfast.  He asked them to come join him and then tested Peter with a test to see if Peter had matured.
This miracle shows the deity of Christ by teaching that he had power to do more than one miracle at a time.  In this portion of scripture John is not focusing on one miracle he puts a lot of miracles together.  First Jesus either creates fish or has them move to the spot of the boat.  Also, he apparently allowed the fish not to get close to the boat before he arrived.  Next he allows the nets to get so full that nobody can pull it up yet Peter does it himself.  Lastly, the fact that he is even their shows that he is God because he arose from the dead.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion these eight miracles have been written to help the unbelieving to belief.  They have help Christians thought out the years to have trust that their Lord is able to save them to the uttermost.  People always want to see miracles just like the unbelieving Jews during the time of Jesus.  Christians do not need miracles today because they enjoy fellowship with the one whom the miracles flow and that is Jesus Christ.  This paper listed the eight miracles of Christ giving each of them a description.  This was done to help the reader to have an idea of the events surrounding the miracle so that they could better understand the miracle itself.  Lastly, this paper gave a practical look at why each one of the miracles proved the deity of Christ.         
         
         BIBLIOGRAPHY



Godet, Frank Louis. Commentary on the Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1970.

Ironside, H.A. Addresses on the Gospel of John. Neptune: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., 1974.

Morris, Leon. The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdman’s Publishing Co., 1971.

Towns, Elmer. The Gospel of John: Believe and Live. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2002.