THE EIGHT SIGNS OF JOHN'S GOSPEL
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`There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have
believed Me: for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?' (John
5:45-47).
The Pharisees confess in chapter 9:29 :
`We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence He is'.
Had Israel really believed Moses, they would have known when Christ presented Himself `whence He is', and
their thirty-eight years of wilderness wandering would have ended, and the Sabbath of blessing, the kingdom of
heaven which `is at hand', would have dawned. As it was, blindness total and complete is found in the parallel sign.
Thus all these signs testify. `No wine' is echoed by the absolute `caught nothing' (chap. 21). `The point of death' is
echoed by `dead and buried' (chap. 11). The thirty-eight years of infirmity are exchanged for blindness from birth
(chap. 9).
A prophetic meaning attaches to the words of Christ when He found the man in the temple, `Behold, thou art
made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee' (John 5:14). There will be some who will sin even
during the Millennium, and a worse punishment than wandering and dying in the wilderness will befall them. The
Millennium must not be confounded with the New Creation. The seventh day is the last day of the week, not the
first. The New Creation follows the age of the Kingdom, and in that new day sin and sorrow shall be found no
more.
The first set of signs indicates what might have been had Israel repented. The second set indicates what did and
will take place, for Israel has now entered into blindness and death, from which nothing can save them but the
personal advent of their long-rejected Messiah.
(5)
Feeding of Five Thousand, and Jesus Walking on the Sea
The Central Signs (John 6)
The signs already considered have been indicative of Israel's condition, and prophetic of the nation's restoration.
The fourth sign (feeding of five thousand) reveals the way in which this restoration will be accomplished, and leads
on to a crisis. It is the last of the series.
The feast of the Jews which is mentioned in the sign is suggestive (`The passover, a feast of the Jews, was
nigh'), for here we shall read of the blood of Christ without which no man shall have life. Both of these central
signs take place after the Lord had ascended into a mountain. Israel's restoration is connected with the Mount of
Olives both in the prophets (Zech. 14:4), the Lord's own prophecy (Matt. 24:3), and the angel's announcement (Acts
1:12).
The Lord to test Philip asked him, `Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat'. He replies that `Two
hundred pennyworth would not be sufficient to provide every one with a little'. Andrew remarks `There is a lad
here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes', but adds, `what are they among so many'? Clearly
`buying' or `sharing' will not go far, for there are over 5,000 hungry people to feed. The Lord now says, `Make the
men sit down', and then begins, after giving thanks, to distribute the loaves to the disciples. When all had eaten `as
much as they would' twelve baskets were filled with the fragments that remained `over and above'. The apostles
were thereby also provided with a full supply of food. The effect of this sign upon the multitude was to make them
say, `This is of a truth that prophet which should come into the world', and they contemplated taking Christ by force
and making Him King. `When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by force, to make Him
a King, He departed again into a mountain Himself alone'.
Here we reach a point of great dispensational importance. Nothing is clearer than the testimony of Scripture that
Christ came to be King of Israel, yet when the multitude contemplated making Him King, the Lord withdrew
Himself. The reason is to be found in their motive which is exposed in the sequel. The fourth and fifth signs are so
linked together that we cannot proceed to that sequel without dealing with the parallel sign. The night drew on, and
the disciples entered a boat and `went over the sea toward Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus was not come to