The Miracles of the Messiah (Chapter 5 - Continued)

The Sign for the Forerunner of the Messiah

Before looking at the miracles (signs) in John’s gospel, it is appropriate to pause for a moment and look at the sign from heaven that identified Jesus as the Son of God. Before Jesus started His public ministry, John the Baptist had a remarkable experience. He spoke of it. “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”[1]  Here then is the first sign of deity. At the baptism of the Messiah, the invisible Spirit of God took physical form as a dove and rested upon Him as a sign.

We can better understand the implications of this sign when we consider it in conjunction with another event. The Temple authorities asked Jesus for a sign when He first cleansed the Temple.  Having driven out the mercenary influences from the Temple area, they wanted Jesus to justify His actions, so they asked Him: “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”[2]  He replied: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”[3]  John explained that He was speaking of His body not the Jewish second temple.  Here Jesus is already intimating the sign that will occupy our attention later, that of the prophet Jonah: “for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”[4]  But our immediate concern is the reference to His body as the Temple. 

The Temple of Solomon (as also the Tabernacle) had certain things that signified and authorised it as the place where man could meet with God.  They included:

(i)     the divine presence/the divine glory

(ii)    the instruments of divine guidance, the Urim and Thummim,

(iii)   the anointing oil,

(iv)   the ark with the mercy seat and the cherubim. 

These were lacking in Herod’s Temple.  When the destruction of Solomon’s temple drew near, the divine presence went up from the Propitiatory[5] and never returned.  The ark with the mercy seat and cherubim was lost; as was the recipe for the anointing oil. The oracle by Urim and Thummim was never restored.  The Talmudists said, “Things are not asked or inquired after now (by Urim and Thummim) by the High Priest, because he does not speak by the Holy Spirit, nor does there any divine afflatus breathe on him”.

Its association with the name of Herod further degraded the Temple.  The Jews object: “It is not permitted to anyone to demolish one synagogue, till he has built another”.  Therefore, it was much more heinous to demolish the Temple; but Herod ignored such concerns and demolished the Temple before rebuilding it.

The sign to the Baptist and the statement of the Messiah when taken together, declare that the building, (i) which bore the unholy name of Herod, and (ii) which was governed by a band of thieves, and (iii) was home to those who opposed God’s true Messiah, could not be the true Temple of God. 

On the other hand,

(i)    Jesus the Messiah, was graced with the divine presence as the Bat Kohls[6] testify, and although for the most part the divine glory was veiled there was a night when a mountain top was lit up by a light brighter than the noon-day sun.[7] 

(ii)   Because He had access to the divine presence, He had divine guidance better than that which was available through the use of the Urim and Thummim. 

(iii)   Furthermore, His title Messiah, which means ‘Anointed’, required Him to be anointed to fulfil His office.  This anointing took place on the bank of Jordan when the Spirit of God descended and rested upon Him.[8]  Jesus would also be the One to pour out the Spirit at the Feast of Pentecost after His ascension.[9]

(iv)   Jesus Messiah is also our propitiatory.  ‘’Tw ἱλαστήριον’ (hilastērion) refers to the ‘mercy seat’ in the Sanctuary[10].  A similar word is used of the Messiah.  John the Apostle wrote, “Jesus Christ the righteous … is the propitiation (‘ἱλασμός’ (hilasmos)) for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”[11]  And again, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (‘ἱλασμός’ (hilasmos)).for our sins.”[12]  He is our propitiatory.  Not only so, but the mercy seat was protected by angelic guardians.  So also the Messiah, especially at those times when He was most vulnerable to attacks from the Evil One. [13]

In other words, the real Temple of God, (where God can truly meet with man), which has the Shekinah Glory, the Holy Spirit, the Propitiatory, the oracle of the Urim and Thummin, the protecting cherubim and the anointing oil, is the body of Christ, identified to the Baptist by the Father.

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[1] John 1.32-34

[2] John 2.18

[3] John 2.19

[4] Matt.12.40

[5] Ezek.10.4

[6] Matt.3.17; 17.5,6; Mark 1.11; John 12.28

[7] Matt.17.2

[8] Matt.3.16

[9] Acts 2.33

[10] Heb.9.5

[11] 1 John 2.2

[12] 1 John 4.10

[13] Matt.1.24;2.13;19; 4.11; 26.53; Mark 1.13; Luke 22.43

The Messiah and His Miracles (Chapter 5)

Authenticating Miracles in JOHN’S GOSPEL

Setting the Scene

The Prologue

John wrote his gospel after Matthew, Mark and Luke had completed theirs.  The subject of His book is “Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God”.[1]  He begins with a prologue explaining the person and work of the Messiah, and initially calls Him “the Word”, “o λόγος”:  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”[2].

Because the gospel was written in Greek, some commentators use the Greek philosophical definition of ‘logos’, that it is ‘reason and speech’, modifying it only slightly, to explain John’s use of the word.  Nevertheless, John is no Greek philosopher, yet he did speak Aramaic (the main language in Israel at that time) and knew of the Aramaic paraphrases of the Hebrew Scriptures that were in use in synagogues, before, during, and after, the time of the Messiah.  The synagogues employed these paraphrases, called Targums, because many of the common people could not understand Hebrew.  The normal practice was to read a verse from the Torah in Hebrew, and then the official translator known as the Turgeman (or Meturgeman), would give the Aramaic rendering.  The Aramaic paraphrase would contain more than just the translation – it would sometimes carry a measure of amplification. The popularity of the Aramaic versions is indicated by the Rabbinic imperative to review the weekly Torah section twice from the Biblical text and once from the Targum.[3]

In the Targums, the ‘Memra’ of YHWH is substituted for YHWH

(i)         where YHWH is anthropomorphisised, or

(ii)      where two or more YHWHs seem to be indicated by the text,

(iii)      where the immanent aspect of God is indicated, i.e. to connote the manifestation on earth and among men of several aspects of divine power such as goodness, wisdom, justice.  The Memra is “the intersection between God’s response to Israel and Israel’s to God.”[4]

Examples include: “And Abraham worshipped and prayed in the name of the Memra of YHWH, and said, ‘You are YHWH who does see, but You cannot be seen’”.[5]  Here, two YHWHs are apparent.  Abraham prayed in the name of the Memra of YHWH but is praying to the YHWH who cannot be seen.  

As indicated, the Targums not only paraphrased the Hebrew T’nach but also included some commentary that reflected the views of the Rabbis.  John, familiar with the Targums, was also familiar with their theology of the ‘Memra’.  Therefore, it is feasible that the Greek title ‘Logos’ in John’s gospel is meant to convey the Aramaic ‘Memra’.  The Rabbis said seven things in respect of the Memra of God.

The Memra is the same as God,

reigning supreme upon the Almighty’s throne: “For what people so great, to whom the Lord is so high in the Name of the Memra of the Lord?  … the Memra of the Lord sits upon His throne high and lifted up, and hears our prayers what time we pray before Him and make our petitions.”[6] Again, Genesis 28.20,21: “And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If the Memra of YHWH will be my support, and will keep me in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Memra of YHWH be my God”.  Here, Jacob, Patriarch of Israel, worshipped the Memra as God. Then again, “the Memra of the Lord created man in His likeness, in the likeness of the presence of the Lord He created him, the male and his yoke-fellow He created them.”[7]  John echoed this in his prologue and said, “the Word was God”.[8]   The deity of Jesus is a major theme of his gospel.

The Memra is Distinct from God.  

For example, in Genesis 19.4, the T’nach says, “And YHWH rained brimstone and fire upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, from YHWH, from the heavens”.  In Hebrew, the grammar indicates that one YHWH rains fire from another YHWH, so the Targum Jonathan reads, “And the Memra (Word) of the YHWH caused to descend upon the peoples of Sodom and Gommorah, brimstone and fire from the YHWH in heaven”.  John, while saying Jesus Messiah is the same as God also says He is distinct from God. “The Word was with God”.[9]

The Memra is the Agent of Creation. 

“By the Memra of YHWH were the heavens made; and all the hosts of them by the Spirit of his mouth” (Psalm 33.6) “From the beginning with wisdom the Memra of the Lord created and perfected the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1.1)  It was used in the Aramaic translation of the Old Testament. There is an example in Isaiah 45:12: “I have made the earth, and created man upon it.” In the Aramaic it is, “I, by my word (Memra), have made ….” Then again, Isaiah 48:13: “Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth.” In the Aramaic it reads, “By my word (Memra) I have founded the earth.”   John says of Jesus, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”[10] Again, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.”[11]

The Memra is the agent of revelation. 

Moses wrote, “The Memra of the Lord came to Abram in a vision saying…”[12] On this occasion the Memra declared, “I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”  Abram’s response was to ask for an heir, so he is given further revelation.  “The Memra of the Lord came to him saying ….”[13]  This further revelation was to promise a son through whom would come a great nation.  The New King James Bible translates verse 6, “And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness”, whereas the Targum Onkelos reads,  “And Abraham trusted in the Memra of YHWH, and He counted it to him for righteousness”.[14]   John wrote, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”[15] In John’s writings Jesus (the Memra) is the agent of revelation, described in terms of light and truth. He is, “the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man”.[16]

The Memra is the Agent of Salvation.  

In the section in Exodus where God has come down to deliver, the Jerusalem Targum adds to the aspect of creation by the Memra this aspect of salvation by the Memra.  “And the Memra of YHWH said to Moses, I am He who said unto the world ‘Be!’ and it was: and who in the future shall say to it ‘Be!’ and it shall be. And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘I AM’ has sent me to you.”[17] Note that the Memra is the “I AM” of Exodus, which is of particular significance to John.  Then again, verses in the prophets speak of salvation, for example, “Israel shall be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation”.[18] The Targum Jonathan puts it, “Israel will be redeemed by the Memra of God, an everlasting redemption”. Again, “Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other”,[19] which the Targum puts, “Turn to my Memra all dwellers on earth.  I am the LORD, there is no other”.  In Hosea, “I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Memra of YHWH, their God”.[20]  John says of Jesus, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name”.[21]

The Memra is the means by which God became visible - the Shekinah. 

The Shekinah is the visible manifestation of the presence of God by light, fire or cloud (or a combination of any or all). For example, at the burning bush, “the Memra of YHWH” spoke to Moses. Another example would be, “when the ark came to a stop the cloud surrounded them  ... And Moses stood in prayer and asked mercy from God and said, Do good to us as the Memra of God with your mercy for thy nation of Israel.  And blessed is the Shekinah among them …”[22]  John said, “the Word (Memra) was made flesh, and dwelt (tabernacled) (Shekinah’d) among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth”[23]

The Memra is the Mediator of the covenants of the T’nach.

For example, Noah’s Covenant:  “And YHWH said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between My Memra and all flesh that is on the earth.”[24]  In addition, the Abrahamic Covenant: “I will establish My covenant between My Memra and you and your children after you, throughout their generations, as an eternal covenant to be God to you and to your children after you”[25].  The Rabbis taught that the Memra established the Mosaic covenant.  John says that the covenant of grace is similarly authorised: “For the law was given through Moses, (signed by the Shekinah) but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”.[26]

In summary, those that interpret ‘the Word’, mentioned in the prologue to John’s gospel, in terms of reason and speech, or debate the finer points of ‘logos’ and ‘rhema’ (simply because the gospel was written in the Greek language) miss the fact that Christianity was born in a Jewish context amidst Jewish teaching.   John was finding a way to demonstrate that the Memra, whom the Jewish nation accepted as God, obeyed as God, and worshipped as God, was Jesus of Nazareth, the rejected Messiah. He was, in fact, another and more perfect Shekinah manifestation, who came to inaugurate the promised New Covenant.

Jesus the Logos, the Memra, the Word, is: 1. Distinct from God; 2. The same as God; 3. The agent of creation; 4. The agent of revelation; 5. The agent of salvation; 6. A visible manifestation of God; and 7. Mediator of the New Covenant.

The prologue establishes each of these points:  

“In the beginning was the Word, and

the Word was with God, (that is, (1) distinct from God) and

the Word was God. (that is, (2) the same as God)

He was in the beginning with God.  (that is, (1) distinct from God)

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  (that is, (3) the agent of creation)

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. … That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  (that is, (4) the agent of revelation)

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, (that is, (3) the agent of creation) and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (that is, (5) the agent of salvation)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth… (that is, (6) a visible manifestation of God)

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”[27] (that is, (7) mediator of the New Covenant)

While John began with a prologue explaining the person and work of Jesus, (the Word, the Memra, the Messiah), his final summary statement contains his reasons for selecting the miracles included in his gospel biography.   He wrote, “these miracles (signs) are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”[28] His record of the miracles were designed to illustrate what it was like to have the Memra of God, the divine agent of creation, revelation, and salvation walking among men as Messiah.

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[1] John 20.30,31

[2] John 1.1

[3] b.Ber.8a

[4] Bruce D. Chilton (Intro. To the Isaiah Targum): The Aramaic Bible – The Targums pub. By T & T Clark Ltd. Edinburgh

[5] Genesis 22.14, (Jerusalem Targum)

[6] Deut.4.7

[7] Gen.1.27 (Jerusalem Targum)

[8] John 1.1

[9] John 1.1

[10] John 1.3

[11] John 1.10

[12] Gen.15.1 (Targum Onquelos)

[13] Gen.15.4 (Targum Onqelos)

[14] Cf. Rom.4.3

[15] John 1.18

[16] John 1.9 (NASB)

[17] Exod.3.14 (Jerusalem Targum)

[18] Isaiah 45.17

[19] Isaiah 45.22

[20] Hosea 1.7 (Targum Jonathan)

[21] John 1.12

[22] Numb.10.36 (Targum Jonathan)

[23] John 1.14

[24] Gen.9.17 (Targum Onqelos)

[25] Gen.17.7 (Targum Onqelos)

[26] John 1.17

[27] John 1.1-18

[28] John 20.30,31

The Messiah and His Miracles

Other Attesting Signs (Continued)

Raising the Dead

Besides healing those who were almost dead, Jesus Messiah raised those who had died. The gospel narratives record the raising of the dead in general terms.  When the Messiah gave His disciples power to raise the dead[1], they reported back with the words, “the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them”.[2]

The gospel writers have also included a sample selection of this particular genre of miracle. The three synoptic writers recorded the ‘quickening’ of a young girl, the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus, a synagogue ruler.[3] Luke adds an incident when Jesus stopped a funeral to raise a widow’s son.[4] In addition, John is famous for his narrative of the raising of Lazarus, beloved brother of Mary and Martha, who had been in the tomb four days. 

A comparison of the 3 miracles would show :

1. A daughter.   2.         A son.               3.        A brother.

1. Just died.       2.         Dead a day.       3.         Dead 4 days.

1. In the home.  2.         At the funeral.   3.         At the cemetery.

1. Raised from a bed. 2. Raised from a bier.  3. Raised from the tomb.

1. She ate           2.         He talked           3.         He walked.

Raising the dead was the most startling of all His miracles.  To give sight to the blind was wonderful, to loosen the limbs of the paralysed extraordinary, to cleanse a leper was amazing, to provide hearing for the deaf and speech for the dumb was remarkable, to give clarity of thought to the lunatic was astonishing, but when He raised the dead He did all these things at one time. To give life to a corpse, especially one who had been days in the grave, was astounding.  The cadaver is blind, deaf, dumb, paralysed, numb, unclean and without a thought in its head, all together. In giving them the essence of life he provided sight, speech, feeling, hearing, mobility and best of all a head full of thoughts, imaginations and aspirations – in other words, He caused them to live.

Nevertheless, it was still not the final answer, for each of these three died again, but they were tokens of an ultimate resurrection. Martha said, “I know that he (my brother Lazarus) will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”[5] The resurrection of which Martha spoke, is still future – then the dead will rise no more to die. Confidence in that respect is high, because Jesus raised the dead while incarnate on earth. The second fact that gives confidence is, Jesus also rose from the dead - rose to die no more – He is the firstfruits of those that died.[6] In Jesus we have the answer to the question Ezekiel raised in the giant graveyard, “can these bones live?”  Messiah’s answer is an unequivocal ‘Yes’.

When Jesus died He descended into Hades, and emptied that part where the Old Testament saints were resting, namely, that section of Hades called Abraham’s bosom or Paradise.  As a sign that this was accomplished the Messiah sent into Jerusalem many resurrected saints after His own resurrection.[7] It was the sign of the prophet Jonah multiplied many times.[8]

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[1] Matt.10.9

[2] Matt.11.5

[3] Matt.9.18 ff; Mark 5.21 ff; Luke 8.40 ff.

[4] Luke 7.11 ff

[5] John 11.24

[6] 1 Cor.15.20,23

[7] Matt.27.52

[8] See chapters 12-14