John 8 Ch.6 Intro

[HKHaugan]

John 8 Chapter 6

One of the keys for understanding what John presents in this Gospel is how the signs all point to His not only being the promised Messiah but is in fact, God the Son who reveals the One God as the Holy Trinity; Himself, His Father and the Holy Spirit, the perfect unity in whose image each of us has been created.

There are seven signs. Just this number should give us pause to consider we are looking at 7 as God's number, the number of days in Creation. Two signs have been given so far in Ch.2 and 4, The Changing of Water into Wine and The Healing of the Official's Son. In Ch.6 two more will appear, The Feeding of the 5000 and Walking on the Water.

These two signs are also close to the second of three Passovers (Chs.2,6,12) He will have celebrated after His baptism and before His crucifixion. The three Passovers present three themes (3, a number that shouldn't escape us). Before we continue with the signs in Chapter 6 we'll look at the themes. Each succeeding Passover Jesus attends increases the spiritual and personal purposes He came to reveal. Note how each builds on the next from cleansing to feeding to eternal life.

The first Passover theme was His clearing the money changers and cattle out of the Temple. He was identifying that the Temple was a spiritual place housing God. There are four 'temples' in Scripture. The first is a temporary physical place (Jn.2:16), the second, the Body of Christ (Rom.12:5, 1Cor.12:27), the third, our individual bodies (1Cor.6:19), the fourth, the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb, both, the eternal Temple (Rev.21:22) in Heaven. The Lord wants to live first in our individual hearts, then second, in the groups that study and worship Him and third, in the praises of the believers who come together in a special place to gather for worship.

The first three are meant to house God in this world. The fourth houses us in Heaven.

The symbol shows the spiritual cleansing of those first three world temples infiltrated by the devil and his spirits. That process of spiritual healing prepares us for the fourth in Heaven.

The second Passover theme was given prior to the Feast. It was the Feeding of the 5000. Remember that the Passover celebrated the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt and the Crossing of the Red Sea that began their trek to the Promised Land and their dependence on the Lord God in the wilderness. Jesus in this sign makes known He replaces the manna, the bread from Heaven (Ex.16), the personal Messiah who delivers every individual who believes in Him while in their personal wilderness. Once our bodies are freed from sin, the devil and his spirits, we grow in Christ eternally. In this symbol is the guarantee of an eternal feeding for mind, heart and spirit in the presence of God (Mt.26:29).

The third Passover theme is also the 7^th sign, The Raising of Lazarus from the Dead. Here in this final climactic sign we see the spiritual power of the universe centered in Jesus as Lord. Here the revelation of the Holy Spirit as the Lord of life (2Cor.3:17) in chapter 11. Of course His Cross and Resurrection will be the fulfillment of the Passover and the Lord's Supper as their continual reminder. There He left us the means to experience Him as we come together as a spiritual body receiving Him as He promised in the bread and wine. The symbol here is the “Lifegiver.” our ultimate reality. While Lazarus was resuscitated back to life in this world he was to be seen as the guarantee that Jesus alone is Lord over death and the guarantor of eternal life through faith in Him, “I am the Resurrection and the life (Jn.11:25).”

Now back to the signs. Each sign has its own Old Testament backing with places, events and themes that shows Jesus' Messiahship.

One more thing about the seven signs. They are more than just signs. They are a taste of ultimate reality. Each one builds on the other and as each progresses they become more impressively revealing as to His power and ultimate purpose. The teachings in between each progress more intensely in His declaration of who He is and what He came to do. Sign one is a local event and each succeeding one increases in geographic locale, personal depth and spiritual magnitude. Starting with The Changing of Water into Wine and ending with The Raising of Lazarus from the Dead, the seven signs are not only John's proof foundation they are also very much like a stairway to faith. Further, as you see what is behind each sign they get you to want to know more and search the Word for the truth within. There are all kinds of meaningful ideas, concepts and implications throughout Scripture.

In this world everyone wants to have 'the inside track,' be 'in the know,' to be 'an insider.' If you're a financial person you look for people 'in the know' on Wall Street and get their opinions in the Wall Street Journal. If you want to get a good job it's best to know someone on 'the inside' who can interview you. The Lord doesn't play those games. There are no outsiders when you believe in Jesus. He provides His Word, Holy Scripture to give you 'the inside scoop.' By faith you are already an 'insider' who is in 'the loop.' He has given you the Holy Spirit to mine the Scripture and apply your find personally. It also makes you want to be taught, to be part of a study group to help you mine and then to pray for the ore to be refined in your personal experience.

What we need to see in these signs is what lies behind them. Remember, they are visible markers pointing to an invisible truth, a spiritual insight and an awakening. They are significant in more than just the miracle Jesus does at the moment. They are signs of His being not only the hoped for Messiah, but far more. He is God the Son who provides eternal life for each of us personally. He is the 'Adonai' (Heb.=Lord) moving from Genesis through Malachi in the Old Testament before He came as a man. These signs also gateways to Him, to His eternity from which He came and to Him personally who is the gateway through whom the universe was created. Now He is our personal Savior and Redeemer who takes what sin has broken and makes us whole by pardoning sin, repelling the devil and repealing death. He is the completed and perfected human being and the complete and perfect God. It was His perfect faith that perfects us and His complete and perfect life which He gives us through faith.

Everything that Jesus does in us is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. The image of God in us is renewed. So just as Jesus was physically conceived by the Holy Spirit to enter our world through Mary, so we, through belief in Jesus, are spiritually conceived by the Holy Spirit to enter God's Kingdom...while still in this world! The result of this is that by trust in Jesus our heart relationship with God the Father is recovered. Then by faith in Jesus, our spirit is motivated to act and react in the world around us. Again, belief grows our mind, trust opens our heart and faith energizes our spirit.

Maybe this expands our view of the Gospels' purpose, especially John's. The Christmas season is all about Jesus and what He has done to give us its meaning through His Word. He is what it means to be an honest-to-goodness real human being. But most importantly, it is about the gift He has given us in the Holy Spirit Who makes Him present in our hearts. Next we look at events themselves in Chapter 6. Be thinking of the symbols in them and how they show Him to be who He claims.