Signs and Discourses from John's Gospel

If Christ is enthroned by man, He can be de-throned by man. In refusing man's coronation, He affirms His kingship emphatically. Jesus has total and complete control of all of nature. The King of the universe is treading under His feet all fear, all confusion, all doubt, and all our enemies. When we accept Christ into all of our circumstances we can totally trust Him to take us to the right destination.

The question of Jesus’ authority is answered by a fourfold witness: 1) John the Baptist, 2) the signs or miracles, 3) the Father, and 4) the Scriptures. All four of these witnesses defend Jesus’ identity. Jesus does not need human confirmation for his claims because His testimony is self-attesting, but He provides the witnesses so that His hearers may be changed. The primary testimony is the Spirit’s. There is nothing more ultimate by which to authenticate God.

Jesus is the new Moses: He liberates from harsh bondage and brings into the promise land.

In this passage we see the equality and unity of the Godhead, and the voluntary submission that exists within the Trinity.

The healing at the pool of Bethesda is a miracle where no evident faith is manifest in the recipient, and no request is made of Jesus for healing — it is purely a sovereign act of kindness and power.

The entire life and ministry of Jesus communicates that living water ministered by the Holy Spirit alone can bring satisfaction to human beings. By offering the woman at the well living water, Jesus creates a new desire that only He can fulfill. He reveals a need in the human heart that can be met only in Himself.

After Jesus had deeply offended the Pharisees by cleansing the temple, Nicodemus came to him, asking a genuine question: "Rabbi, we know that you are from God…" Although Jesus appears to change the subject, he is actually answering the assumption underlying Nicodemus' concern: the faulty Jewish view that he would be a military Messiah. King Jesus would bring liberation and change to His people by individual regeneration from the power of sin, not by political liberation from Roman rule. Jesus is answering the central question of all true seekers: how is Christ's kingship manifested?

In the book of John, Jesus’ teaching focuses on new creation or new birth. The book contains seven ‘signs’ or miracles which are meant to help us understand what our redemption in Christ means for the new creation. The signs that Jesus performed never compel belief, but rather illustrate spiritual realities for believers: for those granted spiritual sight, the signs or miracles of Jesus serve to confirm and establish their faith.