Miracles and Signs in the Fourth Gospel

Overview

Recall questions on why the Fourth Gospel calls miracles signs, Cana, the official's son, the pool, the five thousand, Jesus coming across the water, the man born blind and Lazarus, and Brown and Dodd on sign and discourse.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Why does the Fourth Gospel call the miracles signs rather than mighty works?

   Model answer

   Because the word chosen points beyond the event to what it discloses. A sign in this Gospel is not primarily an act of compassion or a demonstration of power but a pointer to Jesus' identity and to the life he gives. This is why each one is followed or framed by teaching, and why the Gospel can be critical of people who are impressed by the deed and never arrive at what it signifies.

2. 2

   Which signs does the Fourth Gospel narrate before the passion?

   Model answer

   The wine provided at the wedding in Cana; the healing at a distance of a royal official's dying son; the restoration of a man who had been ill for many years by the pool in Jerusalem; the feeding of a crowd of five thousand; the crossing of the lake in which Jesus comes to the disciples over the water; the giving of sight to a man blind from birth; and the raising of Lazarus from the tomb.

3. 3

   What does the wedding at Cana signify in this Gospel?

   Model answer

   It is presented as the first sign and as the moment Jesus' glory is disclosed to his disciples, who come to believe. The transformation of water kept for ritual purification into abundant good wine has been read as a statement that what Jesus brings surpasses the existing order of purity observance, and the imagery of abundant wine belongs to prophetic pictures of the age of fulfilment. The Gospel also uses it to introduce the theme of Jesus' hour.

4. 4

   What is distinctive about the healing of the royal official's son?

   Model answer

   It is a healing at a distance, so nothing is seen at the moment it occurs and the father must take Jesus' word and travel home before confirmation arrives. The Gospel underlines the timing of the recovery, and it frames the episode with a comment about people who will not believe without seeing wonders. The sign therefore functions as a study in faith that precedes evidence rather than following it.

5. 5

   Why does the healing at the pool cause conflict?

   Model answer

   Because it takes place on the Sabbath and the man is told to carry his mat, which the authorities treat as forbidden work. The dispute escalates when Jesus defends himself by appealing to his Father's continuing activity, which his opponents hear as making himself equal with God. In this Gospel the sign is therefore the trigger for the first sustained argument about Jesus' authority rather than an isolated act of mercy.

6. 6

   How does the Fourth Gospel interpret the feeding of the five thousand?

   Model answer

   It follows the feeding with an extended discussion in which the crowd asks for a sign like the manna and Jesus redirects them from the bread they ate to himself as the true bread from heaven. The Gospel also notes that the crowd wants to make him king and that he withdraws, which distinguishes the sign's real meaning from the political reading the crowd puts on it.

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