Miracles of Jesus: the Eight Miracles - Essay Example

? THE EIGHT MIRACLES ID Institute’s THE EIGHT MIRACLES The eight signs of miracle performed by Jesus were truly monumental and each of the signs revealed that he was a man of god and had powers so that people start believing him. The signs of miracles that are expressed in the Book of John are as follows 1. The first of the miracles was of turning wine into water. Jesus was at a wedding in Cana with his mother and the wine there ran out. Wine represents wealth, joy and love and therefore was very symbolic of these. He instructed the servants to get six pots of water and when they poured the pots out, it was transformed into a very high quality of wine. So to save the face of the guests there, Jesus turned the water into wine. This showed that he had extraordinary powers and can perform miracles as only God can change one substance into another. The immediate result of this was that the disciples started believing in him. Thus Jesus power over creation in past and future times as deity was manifested to the humans (Guided Bible Studies, King James Bible - John 2:1-25 n.d.). 2. The second sign of miracle performed by Jesus was the healing of the noble man’s son. The son was very ill and was near death when the man went to Jesus to ask him to heal his son. He was a high official and therefore by healing his son the credibility of Jesus as being sent by God enhanced even further. Jesus had spoken the words of healing without even meeting the son and this showed the power of his healing over space (Towns 2002, xiii). This showed that God was not limited by space and so isn’t Jesus as he holds the nature of power (Guided Bible Studies, King James Bible - John 4:1-54 n.d.). 3. The third miracle performed by Jesus was that of the healing of a lame. Man. The person was paralyzed for a lot of years, in fact for 38 years and because Jesus was full of love and compassion he healed the man. The person had laid by the pool at the sheep market for many years and slowly his faith and hope was fading away. Another reason was that the person was losing hope and therefore to renew his hope and trust in God he healed him. This miracle showed the power of Jesus and his deity was restored as he chose the timing for the deliverance of his powers (Guided Bible Studies, King James Bible - John 5:1-47 n.d.). This also exemplified the power given to him by God. The deity was shown by him doing no one else would have done (McFarland 2008). 4. The fourth miracle performed by Jesus was the feeding of 5000 people. Since the power of Jesus’ healing was becoming well known and therefore people now gathered at the place where Jesus was present to speak on the eve of the Passover. Jesus asked from where the bread could be taken and he was given only five loaves of bread and two fish. He asked his servants to serve the bread to the people present there and thanked the god. By miracle all the people ate as much as they could and after everyone left Jesus asked his servants to collect the leftover pieces so that nothing is lost. When his servants collected the leftover pieces 12 baskets were full (Guided Bible Studies, King James Bible - John 6:1-71 n.d.). This miracle showed the power over food. After this incident a lot of people started believing in Jesus as a “prophet” and that he was a wonder to the people. A deeper meaning of this symbol is that food here not only represents the physical thing that is used to feed humans but is also talking about that spiritual food that feeds the soul of the person and that none could remain hungry in the presence of Jesus (Signs and Miracles in John n.d.). 5. The fifth miracle that was performed by Jesus Christ that eventually affected his deity was that he walked on the water in a sea storm. The disciples were going on a ship into sea whereas Jesus had gone over to the mountain but at night they got caught up in a night storm and they saw Jesus coming towards them by walking in the sea. They got fearful but then when Jesus assured them that it was the real him they welcomed him on the boat and that time the ship immediately reached its destination. This miracle shows the power invested by god to Jesus over the natural laws. As the disciples met Jesus they passed over to the safe side and in a deeper meaning this shows the power God has over the life and death of humans (Guided Bible Studies, King James Bible John 6:1-71 n.d.). Through this God’s power over the natural laws was revealed and his closeness with Jesus was revealed. This miracle revealed his deity by implying that even in the storms of life Jesus will always be there with them as he encompasses the rules of the nature. 6. The sixth miracle done by Jesus was that of giving sight to a blind man. Jesus met this man on a journey and found out that the man was blind by birth. People of the area believed that the man was blind either because his parents had sinned or because he had sinned as they were taught this according to the Jewish law (Keener 1993). Jesus assured the people that this was not the case as no one had sinned and he went ahead and mixed his own saliva with clay and asked the blind man to rub the mixture on his eyes. The man did as he was asked and when he cleaned his eyes again with the water from the clean pool of Siloam the blind man could see again clearly. This miracle showed the power over the physical laws and that Jesus had this power given to him by God. And again his deity was revealed by his healing nature (Guided Bible Studies, King James Bible - John 9:1-41 n.d.). 7. One of the very close friends of Jesus, Lazarus had died and Jesus went four days after his burial. He comforted his sister Martha and asked her to remove the stone from the coffin which Martha was reluctant to do. People were also angered that why did Jesus not come when his friend was ill and heal him so that he can be prevented from death but he knew better. Reluctantly Martha removed the stone from the coffin and when she did Jesus prayed to God and thanked him for his blessings. The next thing everyone saw was Lazarus coming out of the grave and he lived again. Jesus reveals his deity showing that he is above death and that he can give life too. The glory of God was revealed through his power to give life and death to whoever he wants and this way the witnesses believed Jesus. 8. The eighth miracle that was performed by Jesus was the miraculous catching of the fish in the sea. This happened on one of the days following the resurrection of Jesus. The disciples had gotten together and had decided to go fishing near the sea. They fished for a long time but couldn’t find any fish. The next morning Jesus shouted from the shore to throw the net on the right side of the boat and as soon as the disciples did that they got so many fish in the net that they couldn’t pull it back in the boat but instead had to take the boat near the shore so a to take the fish. This miracle encompassed all the previous miracles performed as he had risen from the dead and his deity was apparent and he was of the nature of the god. He had in effect conquered death itself (Towns 2002). Concluding this, the deity of Jesus is very apparent in heaven today. There is strong evidence that Jesus roamed this earth with the nature of the man only. He was also tempted by the devil but he resisted and kept the nature of God with him. Therefore his deity was revealed by all these miracles and he was recognized as being very close to God. Works Cited Guided Bible Studies. "King James Bible - John 2:1-25." Becker Bible Studies Christology. n.d. http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/43_002.htm (accessed January 31, 2012). —. "King James Bible - John 4:1-54." Becker Bible Studies Christology\. n.d. http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/43_004.htm (accessed January 31, 2012). —. "King James Bible - John 5:1-47." Becker Bible Studies Christology. n.d. http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/43_005.htm (accessed January 31, 2012). —. "King James Bible - John 6:1-71." Becker Bible Studies Christology. n.d. http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/43_006.htm (accessed January 31, 2012). —. "King James Bible - John 9:1-41." Becker Bible Studies Christology. n.d. http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/43_009.htm (accessed January 31, 2012). —. "King James Bible John 6:1-71." Becker Bible Studies Christology. n.d. http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/43_006.htm (accessed January 31, 2012). Keener, C. S. The IVP Bible background commentary : New Testament. Downers Grove. Illnois: InterVarsity Press, 1993. McFarland, Kathy L. "The Powers of the LORD God Expressed through Jesus Christ in the Book of John." Becker Bible Studies Christology. September 2008. http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/theology/Christology_Signs.html (accessed January 31, 2012). "Signs and Miracles in John." Learn Theology. n.d. http://learntheology.com/signs-and-miracles-in-john.html (accessed January 31, 2012). Towns, Elmer. The gospel of John: believe and live. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 2002. Read More