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"I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world."
and ends with the plot against the Lord's life. With the next chapter the first part of
John's gospel concludes, testifying to the blindness of Israel's heart and to the glorious
person Who had been so fully set forth as the Son of God; for when Isaiah beheld the
Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, before whom the Seraphim veiled their
faces as they cried, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Jehovah of hosts", the Scripture declares that
"These things, said Isaiah, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him" (12: 41).
A long interval comes between the seventh and eighth signs. The great High-Priestly
prayer of John 17:, where come the words, "glorify Thy Son", still sustains the theme.
Even the choice of Barabbas emphasizes it, for the name means "son of a father". When
Pilate declared that he found no fault in Christ, the Jews answered him:--
"We have a law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of
God."
Thomas's belated but full confession immediately precedes the final sign--"My Lord
and my God".
Such is the setting of these signs. May every reader experience the joy of faith, as we
behold this wondrous record of the Father, and increasingly seek to honour the Son as we
honour the Father, for He is worthy.
#2.
The Marriage in Cana (2: 1-11).
pp. 33 - 35
We have seen that the signs selected by John have as their common object "that ye
may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life
through His Name". Our task is therefore simplified. Instead of seeking in each sign to
find out its purport, we have only to seek the peculiar part it plays in the illumination of
this double purpose. The first sign is recorded in chapter 2: 1-11, and took place at
Cana of Galilee.
We have already observed that the eight signs are in the form of an introversion, the
first corresponding with the eighth. The Companion Bible points out thirteen items of
correspondence. There is in both a background. In the one Nathaniel's faith and his
declaration, "Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel". In the other
Thomas's confession, "My Lord and my God". (Here The Companion Bible gives us
Thomas's unbelief).