The signs for John also carry the theme of realised eschatology. John believed that the Kingdom of God had come through Jesus and his miraculous signs giving people access to salvation and eternal life. An example of this is the healing at the Pool where Jesus heals a paralytic sinner warning him to stop sinning or “something worse will happen to you”. Jesus has not simply given the lame man a new physical life in that he can now walk, he has also given the man access to eternal life. Jesus himself states that “he who believes has everlasting life”.
The signs are also important to prove that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God. John clearly states this as being the main purpose of the Gospel in Chapter 20 “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.” Evidence to support this is plentiful in the signs themselves, for example, in the Healing of the Official’s Son Jesus states “unless you people see signs and wonders you will never believe.” Barrett supports this asserting that there are clear indications that he by whom the signs are wrought is the Son of God and equal to God himself.
Motyer gives four more characteristics of signs. Each sign obviously contains a miraculous event, for example changing water to wine without the aid of equipment. There is also generally a command from Jesus, for example in the Healing at the Pool Jesus commands a paralysed man to “pick up your mat and walk” John 6. Motyer’s fourth characteristic of John’s signs is that they are all of pivotal significance in the Gospel. As well as having their own spiritual meaning, they are all linked to a discourse in some way which explains the sign further. One obvious example of this is the Feeding of the Five Thousand which is linked to the Bread of Life discourse. The signs also highlight the importance of faith in Jesus as people are expected to obey Jesus’ commands. This is exemplified in the Healing of the Official’s son where the royal official is expected to trust that his son has been healed when Jesus tells him so. He doesn’t find out for certain until he gets home. The importance of faith is reiterated by Peter Vardy. He regards the signs as starting points of faith which offer the reader a way to travel into a much deeper understanding of the significance of Jesus.
The signs also carry the theme of Replacement Theology as Jesus is regarded as the New Moses. For example in the Healing at the Pool, the fact that Jesus has healed a man who has been crippled for thirty eight years, and who is also barred from the temple is significant. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were wandering through the wilderness for thirty eight years until Moses lead them to the Promised Land. Jesus has metaphorically led the paralytic out from the wilderness to his salvation not just in earthly life but in the afterlife. Judaism rejected the paralytic, but Christianity has saved him. Glasson backs up Jesus being the New Moses by pointing out that Exodus motifs abound in the signs. Miraculous events being signs of God also abound in the Old Testament and in Hebrew are called “oths”. For example in 1 Kings 17 “Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said ‘look your son will live’.” The same phrase “your son will live” is used by Jesus in the Healing of the Official’s Son.
The signs also reveal different aspects of the person of Jesus. For example, the Wedding at Cana reveals highlights “Jesus the Transformer”. The Healing of the Official’s Son shows Jesus as being Life Giver, linking back to John’s prologue “In him was life”. It also reveals his compassion. Jesus as a Judge, having divine authority from God, is revealed in the Healing of the Pool when Jesus breaks the Law of the Sabbath by telling the paralytic to “pick up your mat and walk”, later going on to state “The Father judges no one but has entrusted all judgment to the Son”.
The signs are complex and important events in John’s Gospel laden with symbolism and spiritual meaning and also, according to Peter Vardy, demonstrating Jesus’ love for people.
