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    The Seven Signs Through the Eyes of John
    The Seven Signs Through the Eyes of John
    The Seven Signs Through the Eyes of John
    Ebook138 pages1 hour

    The Seven Signs Through the Eyes of John

    By D. Matthew Wilcox

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    About this ebook

    The Gospel of John is unique in that it contains a plethora of dialogue attributed to Jesus, the Son of God. It is rivaled only by the Gospel of Matthew in this respect. We attribute this fixation on the words of Jesus by John to what we consider to be his unique trait, one that he had in common with the prophet Isaiah: He was eagerly awaiting the Jewish Messiah.

    The seven miracles of Jesus that John chose to include in his Gospel are important, for John wrote the Gospel near the end of his long life, sometime between the years 90 and 100 CE (He is presumed to have died in 100 CE at 94 years of age), almost 70 years after Jesus had walked the earth.

    John witnessed many miracles performed by Jesus, as he was with him throughout his earthly ministry, beginning with his (Jesus') baptism by John the Baptist. John witnessed so many miracles that he saw fit to state in his Gospel,

    "20:30 Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; 20:31 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."

    So why were these seven signs chosen by John, who perhaps knew Jesus better than anyone while He was walking the earth? It is the aim of this book to answer this question.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherD. Matthew Wilcox
    Release dateJan 13, 2013
    ISBN9781301596331
    The Seven Signs Through the Eyes of John
    Author

    D. Matthew Wilcox

    First and foremost, D. Matthew Wilcox, or Matt, as his friends call him, believes in Jesus, with whom he has a personal relationship. He is happily married with two children. He has lived and worked in Portland, Oregon since 2006. He has a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Colorado State University and an MBA from the Universitat de Barcelona, Spain with over 15 years of experience in Accounting, Finance, Treasury, and Information Systems Consulting positions both in the United States and Spain. Matt has been privileged to teach the Bible at Good Samaritan Ministries (GSM) in Beaverton, Oregon, and has experienced firsthand on many occasions the healing that takes place as the Word of God is taught. He is the creator of The Mint, which presents fresh ideas on Economics, Monetary Theory, and Politics. You can read The Mint at http://www.davidmint.com and you may contact him at davidminteconomics@gmail.com.

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      Book preview

      The Seven Signs Through the Eyes of John - D. Matthew Wilcox

      THE SEVEN SIGNS THROUGH THE EYES OF JOHN

      A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF THE SEVEN MIRACLES OF CHRIST PRESENTED IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

      By D. Matthew Wilcox

      Copyright 2013 D. Matthew Wilcox

      Portland, Oregon

      Published by The Wilcox Trading Company

      Smashwords edition: January 2013

      ISBN

      Thank you for downloading this ebook. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to others. If you would like to share this book with another person, please encourage them to download their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for your support.

      Cover design by David Wilcox at WDesign

      Adaptation of oil on canvas painting entitled Jesus walks on water painted in 1888 by Ivan Aivazovsky (b.1817 Feodosiya, Crimea - d.1900 Feodosiya, Crimea)

      The translations of the Biblical text which appear in this book are courtesy of The World English Bible, which is part of the public domain and is freely available at http://ebible.org/

      Table of Contents

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      PROLOGUE - IN JOHN'S WORDS

      INTRODUCTION

      The Timeline

      THE SEVEN SIGNS OF JOHN

      What are the seven signs?

      CHANGING WATER INTO WINE: THE FIRST SIGN

      HEALING OF THE OFFICIAL'S SON: THE SECOND SIGN

      The Journey

      Blind Faith via Shock Therapy

      HEALING OF THE PARALYTIC AT THE POOL OF BETHESDA: THE THIRD SIGN

      The return to Jerusalem

      Which Feast?

      The significance of the Pool of Bethesda

      Jesus at the bathhouse

      Sin or the Sabbath?

      On the Sabbath

      FEEDING THE 5000: THE FOURTH SIGN

      JESUS WALKS ON WATER: THE FIFTH SIGN

      A hard teaching in Capernaum: The Bread of Life

      HEALING OF THE MAN BLIND AT BIRTH: THE SIXTH SIGN

      Sukkot and the days of awe

      The decision to go to Jerusalem

      The Blind man and the Pool of Siloam

      The significance of the Pool of Siloam

      THE RAISING OF LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD: THE SEVENTH SIGN

      Why the animosity towards Jesus?

      The Feast of the Dedication: Hanukkah

      Caiaphas

      The Raising of Lazarus

      DENOUEMENT

      EPILOGUE - What is Truth?

      APPENDIX A - Seven Signs Class Outline

      APPENDIX B - NOTES ON TEACHING

      Open the Bible as if You Have Never Read It Before

      Read Slowly: Let the Word of God Resonate in the Room

      Everybody Has a Voice

      A Brief Note on Healing

      A Brief Note on Preparation

      Setting

      Getting to Know the People of the Bible

      The Decision to take the Assignment

      Avoiding Distractions

      The Inspirational Character

      FINAL THOUGHTS

      About the Author

      ~~~~~~~

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      First and foremost we must acknowledge the Lord, who has made Himself known to us.  For in Him, all things were created and have eternal life.  To Him be all honor and glory and praise forever, amen.

      This study would have been impossible without the constant love and support of my beloved wife, who inspires me daily with her patience, beauty, and commitment. Thank you for exploring with me this incomprehensibly deep love that the Father has for us.  My love for you stopped fitting into mere words years ago and continues to grow each day.

      I also would like to thank my father, for teaching me every day through his quiet, constant example of righteousness, my mother, for loving me when I was quite unlovable, and both of them for showing me what a true teacher is.

      Finally, this book would not exist were it not for Bettie Mitchell and the people at Good Samaritan Ministries (GSM) in Beaverton, Oregon.  GSM is perhaps the closest thing to a Christian synagogue in the world.  For over 30 years Mrs. Mitchell taught an annual Bible class for ten weeks at the beginning of the year.  For the past four years she has passed the baton of teaching these classes to aspiring teachers such as myself and selflessly has passed her wisdom on to us with patience and deep understanding.

      Let us all continue to open the Bible as if we have never read it before, and be shocked daily by the power of forgiveness.

      back to top

      ~~~~~~~

      PROLOGUE

      In John's Words

      "I didn't have many friends…its not that I didn't get along with people, we got along just fine…I just had some unique interests,

      "I followed around that crazy man, John, at least that's what most of my contemporaries called him,

      "But they didn't understand, we were waiting for the Messiah, the one that Isaiah had foreseen, and we were not alone,

      "Then, one day, John baptised Him and saw Him, the next day he announced Him to us as the Lamb of God…we followed Him and did not look back,

      "I saw Him perform many miracles, some would say that I saw more miracles than anyone else…the miracles convinced many that He was indeed the Messiah…but for me, none of them were necessary,

      For I knew, from the moment that John called Him out, that He was the savior of the world…and that He loved me.

      back to top

      ~~~~~~~

      INTRODUCTION

      Who was John? Perhaps Dr. William Milligan (1835 - 1898), summed up both John and his Gospel best:

      To John,--through clearness of insight, not from power of fancy,--every action of his Master was fraught with deep significance; and no one who receives the Lord Jesus as he received him can hesitate to admit in all his words and deeds a fullness of meaning, a perfection of fitness, immeasurably beyond what can be attributed to the highest of human prophets. Our Lord's relation to the whole Jewish economy is never absent from John's thought…"

      As we began our journey deep into the seven miracles of Christ which John chose to include in his Gospel, we wish to share with you two personal revelations that came to us as we began this study.

      The first revelation has to do with with the mechanics of rebirth.  It is written in John 1:12-13 that those who believe in Jesus, the Messiah, are given the right to become children of God.  It is a bold statement, but does this personal miracle occur in the life of the believer?

      The process, which we call the mechanics of spiritual rebirth, was revealed to us as the spirit of God penetrating the believer.  It is a miracle, and there is an element of mystery to it, yet we will attempt to describe the process as it was revealed to us.

      The Spirit of God descends as a mere drop of oil on the believer's head, which then enters the body, as if flesh were not a barrier. This drop grows larger until it fills the entire physical presence of the believer, for it is the very essence of the Lord permeating the flesh of the believer.

      This revelation is confirmed as we read the next line, John 1:14:  The Word BECAME FLESH and dwelt amongst us.  This vision and John’s choice of descriptive language reveal the deep understanding and intimacy that John had with the Father.

      The third witness of this truth appears as John recounts Jesus’ shock in John 3:10 that Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel, would be ignorant of the mechanics of spiritual rebirth.  Nicodemus’ ignorance is striking because He was a Pharisee, one who believed in life after death and the coming of the

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