The Miracles of Jesus E-Book

Vern S. Poythress

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 332

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Christians often view Jesus's miracles simply as proofs of his divinity. However, as prolific author Vern Poythress shows in this new book, they also serve as "signs of redemption," foreshadowing the salvation that Christ accomplished through his cross and resurrection. This means that the stories of Jesus's miracles—like the calming of the storm or the feeding of the 5,000—are relevant for both Christians and non-Christians alike, clearly pointing to the gospel. After setting forth a framework for viewing all of Jesus's miracles through this lens, Poythress then reflects on the meaning and significance of 26 distinct miracles recorded in the Gospel of Matthew—helping modern readers understand and apply them to their own lives today.

Leseprobe

The Miracles of Jesus

How the Savior’s Mighty Acts Serveas Signs of Redemption

Vern S. Poythress

The Miracles of Jesus: How the Savior’s Mighty Acts Serve as Signs of Redemption

Copyright © 2016 by Vern S. Poythress

Published by Crossway1300 Crescent StreetWheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Matt Naylor

First printing 2016

Printed in the United States of America

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-4607-5 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-4610-5 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-4608-2 Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-4609-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Poythress, Vern S.

The miracles of Jesus : how the Savior’s mighty acts serve as signs of redemption / Vern S. Poythress.

      1 online resource.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4335-4607-5 (trade paperback)

ISBN 978-1-4335-4610-5 (e-Pub)

ISBN 978-1-4335-4608-2 (PDF)

ISBN 978-1-4335-4609-9 (mobi)

1. Jesus Christ—Miracles. 2. Bible. New Testament—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title.

BS2545.M5          

232.9'55—dc23                              2015007290

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Since this book is concerned for pastoral ministry and for counseling, it is fitting to dedicate it to my son Justin, gifted in pastoral ministry, to my son Ransom, gifted in counseling, and to my new daughter Lisbeth, gifted in counseling

Contents

Cover PageTitle PageCopyrightDedicationIllustrationsPart IINTRODUCING MIRACLES  1   The Reality of the Miracles of Jesus  2   The Significance of MiraclesPart IIMIRACLES AS SIGNS  3   Illustrative Miracles from the Gospel of John  4   The Pattern of Redemption  5   The Pattern of Application of Redemption  6   Typological Reasoning about Miracles  7   Broader Implications of the Miracles of Jesus  8   Specific ApplicationsPart IIIMIRACLES IN MATTHEW  9   The Virgin Birth (Matt. 1:18–25)10   The Baptism of Jesus (Matt. 3:13–17)11   Many Healings (Matt. 4:23–25)12   Cleansing a Leper (Matt. 8:1–4)13   The Centurion’s Servant (Matt. 8:5–13)14   Peter’s Mother-in-Law (Matt. 8:14–17)15   Calming a Storm (Matt. 8:23–27)16   The Gadarene Demoniacs (Matt. 8:28–34)17   Healing a Paralytic (Matt. 9:1–8)18   Raising Jairus’s Daughter (Matt. 9:18–26)19   Healing Two Blind Men (Matt. 9:27–31)20   Healing a Mute Demoniac (Matt. 9:32–34)21   Many Healings (Matt. 9:35–38)22   Healing a Withered Hand (Matt. 12:9–14)23   Many Healings (Matt.12:15–21)24   A Blind and Mute Man (Matt. 12:22–23)25   Feeding the 5,000 (Matt. 14:13–21)26   Walking on Water (Matt. 14:22–33)27   Healing Many (Matt. 14:34–36)28   The Syrophoenician Woman (Matt. 15:21–28)29   Healing Many (Matt. 15:29–31)30   Feeding 4,000 (Matt. 15:32–39)31   The Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1–8)32   A Boy with a Demon (Matt. 17:14–20)33   The Coin in the Fish’s Mouth (Matt. 17:24–27)34   Many Healings (Matt. 19:2)35   Two Blind Men at Jericho (Matt. 20:29–34)36   Cursing the Fig Tree (Matt. 21:18–22)Part IVTHE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST AND ITS APPLICATION37   The Resurrection of Jesus (Matt. 28:1–10)38   Applications to Particular NeedsConclusionAppendix: Miracles in the Whole BibleBibliographyGeneral IndexScripture Index

Illustrations

2.1Significance of Jesus’s Miracles

3.1Jesus as the Bread of Life (John 6)

3.2Jesus as the Light (John 9)

3.3Jesus as the Resurrection (John 11)

3.4The Resurrection of Jesus

3.5The Miracle of the Resurrection

3.6Miracles Pointing to the Resurrection

5.1Two Steps to Application

5.2Kinds of Application

5.3Kinds of Application to the Church

6.1Clowney’s Triangle

6.2Clowney’s Triangle for Animal Sacrifice

6.3Clowney’s Triangle for Animal Sacrifice, with Application

6.4Clowney’s Triangle for Feeding the 5,000

6.5Clowney’s Triangle for Feeding the 5,000, with Application

6.6Clowney’s Triangle for the Man Blind from Birth

6.7Clowney’s Triangle for the Man Blind from Birth, with Application

7.1Circles of Meaning for the Feeding of the 5,000

7.2Circles of Meaning for the Healing of the Man Born Blind

9.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Virgin Birth

9.2Circles of Meaning for the Virgin Birth

9.3Clowney’s Triangle for the Virgin Birth, with Application

10.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Voice from Heaven

10.2Clowney’s Triangle for the Baptism of Jesus

10.3Circles of Meaning for the Baptism of Jesus

11.1Clowney’s Triangle for Many Healings

12.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Cleansing of a Leper

13.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Healing of the Centurion’s Servant

14.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Healing of Peter’s Mother-in-Law

15.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Calming of the Storm

16.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Deliverance of the Gadarene Demoniacs

17.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Healing of the Paralytic

18.1Clowney’s Triangle for Jairus’s Daughter

18.2Clowney’s Triangle for the Healing of the Woman with the Flow of Blood

19.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Two Believing Blind Men

21.1Clowney’s Triangle for Shepherding and Harvesting

21.2Clowney’s Triangle for the Miracles of the Twelve

22.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Sabbath Healing of the Man with the Withered Hand

23.1Clowney’s Triangle for Justice and Compassionate Healing

24.1Clowney’s Triangle for Christ’s Triumph over Satan

25.1Clowney’s Triangle for Feeding the 5,000, in Matthew

26.1Clowney’s Triangle for Walking on Water

27.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Communal Dimension of the Church

28.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Syrophoenician Woman

29.1Clowney’s Triangle for Wonder at Healings

31.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Transfiguration

32.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Role of Faith in Healing

33.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Coin in the Fish’s Mouth

35.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Two Blind Men at Jericho

36.1Clowney’s Triangle for the Cursing of the Fig Tree

38.1Applications from the Miracle Stories about Jesus

A.1The Centrality of Christ in the Bible

Part I

INTRODUCING MIRACLES

1

The Reality of the Miracles of Jesus

In the Bible, the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—record miracles that Jesus worked when he was on the earth. He healed leprosy, blindness, and many other diseases. He multiplied five loaves and two fish. He cast out demons. He walked on water. He raised the dead.

Questions about Miracles

It is an extraordinary record, but it raises many questions. For many modern people, at the top of the list of questions is whether the miracles really took place. And then, if they did take place, what is their meaning? How did they happen? Why did they happen? Why did the Gospels record them? And what are we supposed to make of them? How are they relevant to us?

We want primarily to address the questions about the meaning and relevance of miracles. But it is also important to address the question of whether the miracles really happened. Miracles confront us with the question of what kind of world we live in. Does the nature of the world allow for miracles, or is the world closed to them? Is the world just a self-sufficient mechanism that allows no deviation from its regularities? Questions about the world quickly lead to questions about God. Does God exist? If he does exist, is he the kind of God who would work miracles? And why would he do so? Who is Jesus, the one through whom the miracles took place?

Did Jesus’s Miracles Really Happen?

People have debated the reality of miracles for centuries. Whole books have been written. Since we are focusing on the meaning of miracles, we will not cover in detail the long-standing debates about the existence of miracles. For a thorough discussion of the debates, I would recommend two recent books, which include references to many earlier books: C. John Collins, The God of Miracles; and Craig Keener, Miracles.1

Rather than have a thorough discussion here, we content ourselves with a brief look at the main issues that arise about the reality of miracles.

The existence of God. The first issue concerns the existence of God. At the foundation of the debate lies the issue of whether God exists, and what kind of God he is. Miracles as the Bible describes them are not merely unusual events or events for which people have not yet found a scientific explanation. They are acts of God, which dramatically indicate his power at work. If God does not exist, clearly miracles also do not exist.

What kind of God. A second issue concerns what kind of God exists. Deism pictures God as a God who created everything but afterward is not involved in the day-to-day operation of the world. He is distant. In general, deists believe that God set up the world so that it is a perfect mechanism and needs no “intervention” from him. A miracle would be like admitting that the mechanism has a defect. Accordingly, most deists maintain that miracles do not occur.

A modern materialistic worldview, influenced by science, believes that the world consists most basically in matter and motion, governed by inviolable mechanistic laws. Most materialists do not believe in the existence of God. But even if he exists, he is irrelevant to the day-to-day functioning of the world. His status is similar to that within deism.

So which is true? We may observe briefly that God, as he is described in the Bible, is a God who acts both to create the world initially and afterward to sustain the world that he has created. The Bible indicates not only that God’s existence is displayed through the things he has made, but that he has made himself known to all human beings through what he has made. All people know God, but they suppress this knowledge and make themselves substitutes for the true God:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Rom. 1:18–23)

Arguments about the existence of God may be useful as a kind of tool for reminding people of what they already know. But the value of such arguments is limited because no one is religiously neutral. Human beings are in flight from God.

According to Scripture, God is continually active in the regularities of the world as well as in any unusual events. His governing word is the real source of what scientists call scientific law.2 He is the King and Lord over both the regularities and the exceptions. The regularities in God’s rule are what make science possible. Far from being in tension with science, God is the foundation for science.

In addition, God is a personal God, not a mechanical system. So he can also bring about exceptions to the regularities when he wishes. Miracles are not only possible but are understandable and natural, given the fact that at times God may have special purposes that lead to special actions. For example, Christ’s resurrection from the dead was exceedingly unusual, but it makes sense when we understand that in this event God the Father vindicated Christ and rewarded him for his obedience. Through Christ he now brings salvation to those who are united with Christ. The resurrection of Christ makes sense within a world governed by God. It does not make sense if the world is governed by impersonal, mechanistic laws.

Credibility of the miracles in the Gospels. Third, we have the question of whether the testimony about miracles found in the Gospels is credible. Once again, whole books have been written on this. The testimony will never be credible to a modern person if he has already decided that God does not exist or that miracles are impossible. But if he believes that God exists and that miracles are possible, the issue still remains as to whether particular miracles actually took place. For example, what about Jesus’s casting out demons (Matt. 8:28–34) or his healing the centurion’s slave (Matt. 8:5–13)? Did these particular events really take place, and did they take place in the manner described in the Gospels?

There are three subquestions involved here. One is whether the human beings who wrote the Gospels intended to claim that the events really happened. Even a naive reading suggests that they did. And this naive impression is confirmed by an explicit statement in Luke 1:1–4 concerning Luke’s historical investigation. He says that he wrote his Gospel in order that “you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught” (v. 4). The Gospel of John indicates that it has recorded “things that Jesus did” (21:25). It provides this record “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (20:31). This purpose presupposes the claim that John is not just providing fiction.3

Second, were the writers of the Gospels actually successful? Are the Gospels historically reliable, at least as reliable as reports from other human historians? It is helpful to look at the book of Acts, which was written by the same human author as the Gospel of Luke (see Acts 1:1). Some of the information in Acts about the Roman Empire can be cross-checked using information about Rome from other sources, and this checking confirms the reliability of Acts. Modern defenses of reliability go into this kind of information.4 Again, because of our focus, we will leave this discussion to other books.

Third, do the Gospels have not merely human authority but also divine authority in what they say? If so, then they are completely true and trustworthy in what they say about miracles. They are not just more or less reliable, as a human historical writing might be, but are thoroughly reliable, because of the trustworthiness of God. Once again, whole books are devoted to the question.5 I believe that the Gospels are indeed God’s words, not merely human words. In my discussion of the Gospels, I accept the divine authority of what they say.

Who is Jesus? What we think about the miracles in the Gospels also depends on what we think about Jesus. If Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, promised by Old Testament prophecies, the miracles make sense as a fitting accompaniment to his work. If, on the other hand, a person does not believe that Jesus is the Messiah, that person may also be skeptical about the reports of miracles. The issue of Jesus’s identity may also have an influence on the earlier questions about God and about the nature of Scripture. If the Bible’s view is correct, Jesus is the way to God (John 14:6), and beliefs about him may radically influence a person’s belief in God. Because Jesus testifies to the divine authority of the Old Testament, a decision about Jesus also affects one’s decision about the character of Scripture.

Searching for Truth

All of these questions about God, miracles, and the identity of Jesus are important. As we have observed, we can find whole books that discuss the issues. But in this book we focus instead on the meaning of the miracles. So we provide only very short answers to all the preliminary questions.

If a person is plagued by questions, I could say that he should consult books such as those that I have cited above in footnotes. But he might also begin simply by reading the four Gospels, again and again. As he reads, he asks who Jesus is. And, since there is always sinful human resistance to accepting who Jesus really is, and his claims on our lives, I recommend asking God to reveal what is the truth and to overcome our own resistance. A person uncertain about whether God exists can ask, “God, if you exist, please reveal the truth as I read.”

Before they begin reading, some people might want to try to find out whether the Gospels are historically reliable, at least on the level of human writings. So they would read some of the books discussing the question of historical reliability. But it would also be possible to start with the Gospels themselves. A person may find, when reading, that Jesus makes claims on his life that he cannot evade. So the theoretical question of historical reliability, which otherwise a person might want to debate in a vacuum, turns out not to be as important as it initially appeared to be. Jesus is unique. There is no one like him, among the founders or leaders of other religions or even among the other persons mentioned in the Bible. What he said and did is unique. It is so striking—and so convicting—that a person may realize that no human being could have invented what is found in the Gospels.

If a person comes to see that Jesus is who he claims to be, many things follow. Our own lives have to change, because Jesus calls us to be his disciples. And when we become his disciples, we accept what he says. What he says about the Old Testament confirms its divine authorship and authority.6 And then that same authority extends to the New Testament, which is an addition to the Old Testament, commissioned by Jesus himself.

The consequence is that the person who encounters Jesus and who travels down the route to becoming his disciple gets his fundamental questions answered. The Bible contains clear answers to his questions. The answers include the following:

God exists. There is only one God.God created the world and continues to rule over it (in “providence”).God can work miracles when he wishes.God does work miracles at times when miracles further his purposes.We know that the Gospels present trustworthy historical accounts, because the Gospels are writings not only with human authors but with God as their divine author. What they say is God’s word.The miracles in the Gospels actually took place in time and space, in the way in which the Gospels describe them.Jesus is who the Gospels say he is. He is both God and man, and he became incarnate (took on human nature) in order to bring salvation and to fulfill the promises made in the Old Testament concerning the coming of the Messiah in the line of David.

The Meaning of Miracles

Granted that the miracles in the Gospels really happened, what do they show? Why were they done? Why did God bring them about? Those are the questions on which we will focus.

1 C. John Collins, The God of Miracles: An Exegetical Examination of God’s Action in the World (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2000); Craig S. Keener, Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2011). See also Vern S. Poythress, In the Beginning Was the Word: Language—A God-Centered Approach (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2009), chapter 29.

2 Vern S. Poythress, Redeeming Science: A God-Centered Approach (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2006), especially chapter 1.

3 See further in Vern S. Poythress, Inerrancy and the Gospels: A God-Centered Approach to the Challenges of Harmonization (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), chapters 5–6.

4 See, for example, F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerd­mans, 2003). We also have defenses that focus on the Gospels rather than on Acts: Craig Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: Inter­Varsity Press, 2007); Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of John’s Gospel: Issues and Commentary (Downers Grove, IL: Inter­Varsity Press, 2002).

5 John M. Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2010); N. B. Stonehouse and Paul Woolley, eds., The Infallible Word: A Symposium by the Members of the Faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1967).

6 John Murray, “The Attestation of Scripture,” in Stonehouse and Woolley, Infallible Word, 20–28.

2

The Significance of Miracles

If some atheists or agnostics were to concede that some of the extraordinary events in the Gospels actually happened, could they just say that “strange things happen”? Are the extraordinary works of Jesus just strange events, weird events that lie outside normal patterns, without any rationale? Or are they works of God that reveal his purposes? And if so, what purposes do they reveal?

The Gospels do not treat the miracles of Jesus as if they were weird or irrational events. They are certainly extraordinary, but they make good sense as indicators of the character of Jesus’s ministry as a whole. The people who saw Jesus’s miracles interpreted what happened. For example, when Jesus raised from the dead a widow’s son in Nain, the people reacted in this way:

Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” (Luke 7:16)

There is some evidence that Nain may have been near to Old Testament Shunem, where Elisha restored to life the Shunammite’s son (2 Kings 4:18–37). Elijah also raised a widow’s dead boy to life, in Zarephath (1 Kings 17:17–24). The people saw that Jesus’s miracle was analogous to those of the two Old Testament prophets. The miracles showed the power of God at work, and they attested to the authenticity of the prophet. So the people saw Jesus’s miracle as a work of God: “God has visited his people!” And they saw Jesus as a prophet of God: “A great prophet has arisen among us!” The people did not yet realize that Jesus was God come in the flesh. But they did realize that God was at work through him.

Modern Relevance

The miracles of Jesus were relevant to the people back then. But what about now? The Gospels record the miracles in order to indicate what happened. But the Gospels also have a religious purpose. Through understanding who Jesus is and what he did, we are invited to place our faith in him. John is the most explicit about this purpose of miracles:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30–31)

The Gospels indicate that Jesus lived on earth long ago, but now continues to live in heaven, having ascended to the right hand of God (Acts 2:33). The same Jesus who acted with power and compassion on earth still acts with power and compassion now. He acts to save people from their sins, restore them to fellowship with God, and give hope for a future resurrection from the dead. At the future time of resurrection, God’s purposes for individuals and for the cosmos as a whole will be fully realized (Rom. 8:18–25).

Each of the miracles of Jesus happened uniquely at one time and at one place. In their detailed configuration they will never be repeated. But they have pertinence for us now, because they are “signs.” The Gospel of John characteristically uses the word sign (Greek semeion) rather than other words like miracle and wonder. It thereby indicates that the miracles have permanent meaning. They signify truths concerning God, concerning Christ, and concerning the salvation he has brought. John—and the other Gospels as well—urges us to listen. By taking to heart the significance of signs, we hear what God himself is saying to us; and by hearing we may be transformed, both now and in the future.

Three Kinds of Significance

The miracles of Jesus have at least three kinds of significance, corresponding roughly to three aspects of who Jesus is. (1) Jesus is God. (2) Jesus is fully human, and as a human being performed miracles in a way analogous to the miracles of Old Testament prophets. (3) Jesus is the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, the one mediator between God and man. (See fig. 2.1.)

Fig. 2.1: Significance of Jesus’s Miracles

Let us begin with the first aspect, namely Jesus’s deity. John 1:1 indicates that Jesus is God. From all eternity he exists as the Word, the second person of the Trinity. The miracles as works of divine power confirm his deity. In the minds of many Christian readers, Jesus’s deity is what stands out in the miracles.

But the people who originally saw Jesus’s miracles did not understand their full significance right away. We already observed that in Luke 7:16 the people identified Jesus as “a great prophet.” He was indeed a prophet; but he was more. He was God come in the flesh (John 1:14).

Consider the miracles in the Old Testament that took place through prophets like Elijah and Elisha. These miracles were works of divine power. God brought them about. Elijah and Elisha did not accomplish them by their own innate power. Should we say exactly the same thing about Jesus? No, because Jesus made claims that went beyond those of Old Testament prophets. He is the unique Son of the Father, and his name is honored alongside the name of the Father and the Spirit as a divine name (Matt. 28:19). When we understand the miracles of Jesus in the context of who he is, we see that they are works that Jesus did by his own divine power, not merely works of God done through a human prophet:

. . . the Son gives life to whom he will. (John 5:21)

For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. (John 10:17–18)

A second kind of significance arises because of Jesus’s full humanity (again, see fig. 2.1). Beginning with the time of his incarnation, Jesus is fully man as well as fully God (Heb. 2:14–18). He is one person with two natures, the divine nature and a human nature. This is a deep mystery. As a man, Jesus performed works similar to those of Old Testament prophets. This is true in addition to the truth that we just observed about Jesus doing works by his own divine power.

A third significance concerns Jesus’s unique role as the Messiah, the great deliverer in the line of David who is prophesied in the Old Testament. For example, Isaiah 9:6–7 and 11:1–9 foretell the coming of the Messiah in the line of David. Isaiah 61:1–2 describes the servant of the Lord as one filled with the Holy Spirit in order to release captives. Jesus quoted from the passage in Isaiah 61 while in the synagogue at Nazareth, and indicated that it was fulfilled in him (Luke 4:18–21). When John the Baptist sent messengers to Jesus, Jesus pointed to his miraculous works as signs of fulfillment (Luke 7:22), against the background of Isaiah 35:5–6:

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped,

then shall the lame man leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

Thus, Jesus’s miracles fulfill Old Testament prophecy.

It is now almost two thousand years since Jesus accomplished his miracles. The people of God have had much time to reflect on his miracles. Much has been written that is profitable. But we may still add to it by noting ways in which each of the miracles functions as a small picture of Christ’s glory and of his mission of salvation. The miracles tell stories that show analogues to the grand story of redemption. God redeems people from sin so that they may enter into the glory of God’s presence. The small stories of redemption point especially to the climax of redemption in Christ’s crucifixion, death, resurrection, ascension, reign, and second coming.1

These stories have pertinence to us because God’s call to salvation still goes out to sinners today:

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:30–31)

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. (Rev. 22:17)

In the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century, the appreciation for analogies among redemptive stories has faded somewhat among scholars, for various reasons. So it is important to explore these analogies. Other books have laid theoretical groundwork to justify the process.2 I have also found one book by Richard Phillips that explains, in a pastoral way, the implications of Jesus’s miracles for today by relying on redemptive analogies.3 In this present book I intend to show the nature of these redemptive analogies. God has built redemptive analogies into history. It is these redemptive analogies, which lie behind Phillips’s book, that enable him to do such a good job in expounding the significance of miracles. Phillips’s book focuses on the miracles in the Gospel of Luke. To complement his work, I will focus primarily on the miracles in John and in Matthew.

1 See the discussion in Vern S. Poythress, In the Beginning Was the Word: Language—A God-Centered Approach (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2009), chapters 24–29

2 In particular, Vern S. Poythress, God-Centered Biblical Interpretation (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1999); Poythress, In the Beginning Was the Word, chapters 24–29; Poythress, Inerrancy and Worldview: Answering Modern Challenges to the Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012); Poythress, Inerrancy and the Gospels: A God-Centered Approach to the Challenges of Harmonization (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012); Poythress, Reading the Word of God in the Presence of God: A Handbook for Biblical Interpretation (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, forthcoming).

3 Richard D. Phillips, Mighty to Save: Discovering God’s Grace in the Miracles of Jesus (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2001).

Part II

MIRACLES AS SIGNS

3

Illustrative Miracles from the Gospel of John

The Gospel of John discusses more explicitly how the miracles of Jesus are signs of redemption. So we may begin with several miracles recorded there.

The Bread of Life

Let us first look at John 6, which records the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 (John 6:1–14). The same miracle is recorded in the three other Gospels (Matt. 14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17), but John alone includes later in the same chapter Jesus’s discourse about the bread of life (John 6:25–59). This discourse took place on the day after the miracle (v. 22).

Jesus began his discussion by mentioning the miracle: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves” (v. 26). He then continued the discussion in a way that makes clear the parallel between the physical food from the loaves and the spiritual food that gives eternal life: “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you” (v. 27). At one point the crowd mentioned the manna from heaven (v. 31). Jesus then picked up on the theme of manna and used it to direct them to the true bread from heaven:

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (vv. 32–33)

He then declared, “I am the bread of life” (v. 35).

Jesus thus indicated that both the manna from the time of Moses and the miracle of feeding the 5,000 have symbolic significance. The manna came in a miraculous way, but even its miraculous character did not make it a source of eternal life; it served only to sustain temporal life. Similarly, the bread that multiplied to feed the 5,000 men sustained physical life (vv. 26–27), but Jesus indicated that both point to something deeper, namely to eternal life. Jesus himself is the one who supplies eternal life. Eternal life belongs to those who “feed on” him: “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (v. 54).

Thus the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 has a symbolic significance beyond the fact that it displays divine power. Its significance goes beyond confirming and testifying to the fact that Jesus is an authentic messenger of God, like one of the Old Testament prophets. The miracle shows in symbolic form what Jesus is doing spiritually through his life, death, and resurrection—he is bringing eternal life, and giving lasting spiritual nourishment to everyone who comes to him in faith. (See fig. 3.1.)

Fig. 3.1: Jesus as the Bread of Life (John 6)

The Light of the World

Consider a second miracle, the healing of the man born blind, recorded in John 9. This miracle shows divine power. But it is also a sign. It signifies what kind of person Jesus is and what he has come to earth to do. Note that it follows chapter 8, where Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Just before healing the blind man, Jesus made a similar declaration, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). By the end of the chapter, Jesus has made it clear that physical healing is symbolic of spiritual healing from spiritual blindness:

Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.” (John 9:39–41)

The fundamental illumination consists in knowing the Father through the Son:

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” (John 14:8–11)

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. (John 1:18)

The physical miracle of healing the blind man went together with a spiritual work in the blind man, so that the man came to believe in the Son of Man (Jesus, the Messiah):

He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. (John 9:38)

The blind man received spiritual sight, by which he believed in Jesus and was saved. Thus the physical miracle illumines the whole purpose of Jesus to redeem people and give them a saving knowledge of God. (See fig. 3.2.)

Fig. 3.2: Jesus as the Light (John 9)

The Resurrection and the Life

The last miracle recorded in John as part of Jesus’s public ministry is the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:1–44). In the middle of the story, Jesus made a declaration about himself:

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25–26)

Jesus here promised that believers will enjoy bodily resurrection: “though he die, yet shall he live.” But bodily resurrection is the fitting accompaniment for the spiritual life that a believer already possesses: “everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” The present possession of eternal life is confirmed elsewhere in the Gospel of John:

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24)

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:54)

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

What is the basis for this eternal life? It clearly comes from being united with Christ, who is the resurrection and the life. (See fig. 3.3.)

Fig. 3.3: Jesus as the Resurrection (John 11)

The Crucifixion and the Resurrection

As we observed, the raising of Lazarus is the last public miracle recorded in the Gospel of John—except for Jesus’s resurrection. In response to the miracle with Lazarus, Caiaphas and the Jewish leaders took counsel together and plotted to kill Jesus, and to kill Lazarus as well (John 11:47–53; 12:10–11). The Gospel of John then continues with an account of Jesus’s last days in Bethany and Jerusalem, culminating in his crucifixion and resurrection.

The whole account in the Gospel of John is leading up to the climax of Jesus’s work in the crucifixion and the resurrection. Jesus himself described the importance of these coming events:

“Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. (John 12:31–33)

The raising of Lazarus has a particularly close tie with Jesus’s resurrection. It is a picture beforehand of his resurrection. But it is not on the same level as Jesus’s resurrection. Lazarus, when brought back to life, was brought back to the same kind of life that he had before he died. He was still subject to meeting with death again in the future. Jesus, by contrast, has eternal life; he is never to die again (Rom. 6:9):

Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Cor. 15:20)

Christ is the “firstfruits.” He is not