The Scrolls is a weekly Bible study written by pastors and other leaders at Central Bible Church, based on that week’s sermon topic. Use The Scrolls as a personal Bible study tool, for family devotions, and for small group discussions. You can read part of it below. The downloadable PDF also includes discussion questions, more in-depth commentary, end notes, and a kids’ page designed for families to study the topic together. This lesson goes with the sermon "The First Supper."
In his thesis and purpose statement found in John 20:31, the Apostle writes: “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John records seven signs in the body of his Gospel: 1) changing water into wine (2:1-11); 2) healing an official’s son (4:43-54); 3) healing a disabled man at the Bethesda pool (5:1-15); 4) feeding the 5,000 (6:1-14); 5) walking on water (6:16-21); 6) healing the man born blind (9:1-7); and 7) raising Lazarus from the dead (11:1-44).
On the connotation and use of sēmeia, translated “signs,” in the Gospels, one commentator writes: “The New Testament uses several words to denote what we call ‘miracles’. One of the most common, dynameis (‘mighty works’) is not found in John; another, terata (‘wonders’, ‘portents’, ‘miracles’) is found only when linked with sēmeia (‘signs’), as in ‘signs and wonders’; but this combination is found only once in the Fourth Gospel (4:48). John prefers the simple word ‘signs’” (D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, PNTC, 175). And commenting on Jesus’ first sign, another adds: “Rather than using the Synoptic term for miracle [i.e., the term used by Mathew, Mark, and Luke] (Gk. dynamis), John consistently refers to Jesus’ mighty works as ‘signs’ (Gk. semeion). A miracle underscores power and is generally received with awe (cf. Mark 6:2: ‘Many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things? . . . What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles!”’). A sign is revelatory, disclosing something from God, something hidden before. The signs are not merely acts of power and might, they unveil that God is at work in Jesus and indeed is present in him. Thus John remarks that through this sign Jesus reveal his ‘glory.’ This is an essential affirmation for John, and it moves to the center of what he affirms about Jesus. Jesus is not merely a man; he is more, he conveys the presence of God in the world (1:1), and since he radiates the presence of God, he appropriately shows forth God’s glory” (Gary M. Burge, The NIV Application Commentary: John, 92-93, italics added).
The similarity between the first sign, changing water into wine (2:1-11) and the fourth sign, feeding the 5,000, is striking. After each one, people are said to believe in Jesus. After the first, John writes: “What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him” (2:11). And after the fourth, he writes: “After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the Prophet who is coming into the world” (6:14). What’s more, the link between both signs and John’s thesis and purpose statement is quite clear. In both cases, people saw miraculous signs and believed. The time would come, however, when generations of followers who had not seen signs, would nevertheless believe and by faith see something of the glory of the Son. Jesus himself said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (20:29).
Many contemporary Christians hear the gospel and believe in Jesus, having never read John’s Gospel. They know neither that he changed water into wine nor that he fed more than 5,000 people with a lad’s lunch of “five small barley loaves and two small fish” (6:9). But that doesn’t mean that they don’t need to know these things. Disciples are learners and as they learn more about the words and works of Christ, the more they are transformed into his likeness by what they hear.
Central Message of the Text:
Believe in Jesus, the Son of God, who takes what we give him and makes it enough it to meet the needs of others.
Family Talk:
Though my husband isn’t what you would necessarily call a fisherman, we love to recount his “multiplying fish” experience. After all, everyone has a fishing story! He went on a fishing excursion with his work peers and of the dozen people on the boat, no one could catch anything except my husband. He would hit the jackpot and pull one fish after another while the rest of the boat stood and watched. They would move him to another spot to let someone else take a turn. While they wouldn’t catch a thing, his new spot would prove to be another jackpot. The one thing he prayed for was to take fish to our new neighbors, a young couple with limited resources and two toddlers. When he came home, he shared his catch with this sweet young couple, then began sharing with all the houses on our street. Though he gave away more and more fish, the freezer was still full, as if he hadn’t given away anything at all. In fact, it felt like the fish were multiplying and bursting out of the freezer every time we opened it. When we are generous with our resources, something supernatural happens. The returning blessings seem to be greater than the sacrifice. When we share our resources with our kids – time, attention, laughter, praise, love – the blessing far outweighs the “sacrifice.” Our desire is to intimately know, love and appreciate our kids, building a solid relationship that bears the test of time. Watch how this relationship multiplies as you invest your resources in them. What can you give today? We can’t wait to see God at work!