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Sermon Outline

Themes in the Gospel of John

Signs of Divinity

Lesson #2 for October 12, 2024

Scriptures:John 6:1-15,26-36; 9:1-41; 11:1-57; Isaiah 53:4-6; 1 Corinthians 1:26-29; 5:7.

  1. Do you believe that Jesus was divine? Do you believe He was fully God and yet fully human?

[From the Bible study guide=BSG:] The Bible is clear that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son, one with the Father, underived and uncreated. Jesus is the One who created all that was made (John 1:1–3). Thus, Jesus has always existed; there never was a time when He didn’t exist. Though Jesus came to this world and took upon Himself our humanity, He always kept His divinity. And at specific times, Jesus said and did things that revealed this divinity.―Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Sabbath Afternoon, October 5.†‡§

John 1:1-3: 1In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2From the very beginning the Word was with God. 3Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him.—American Bible Society. (1992). The Holy Bible: The Good News Translation* (2nd ed.,John 1:1-3). New York: American Bible Society [abbreviated as Good News Bible].‡

  1. What are the most convincing evidences to you that Jesus was divine while He was here on this earth? This has been a very challenging issue for Christians almost from the times of the disciples. We will talk about three of Jesus’s miracles: (1) Feeding the 5000; (2) The healing of the man born blind (as we did last week); and (3) The resurrection of Lazarus.

[BSG:] This … lesson looks at three of the greatest signs of Jesus’ divinity. What is striking is that, in every case, some people did not believe the miracle or perceive its significance. For some, it was a time of turning away from Jesus; for others, a time for deepening blindness; and for others, a time to plot Jesus’ death. And for others—a time to believe that Jesus was the Messiah.―Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Sabbath Afternoon, October 5.†‡

  1. The first of three main miracles that we will consider is recorded inJohn 6:1-15, the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 men, not counting the women and children.

John 6:4-5: 4The time for the Passover Festival was near. 5Jesus looked round and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, so he asked Philip, “Where can we buy enough food to feed all these people?”—Good News Bible.*

  1. What were the consequences of this miraculous feeding?

John 6:14-15,26-36: 14 Seeing this miracle [of the feeding of 5000] that Jesus had performed, the people there said, “Surely this is the Prophet who was to come into the world!” 15Jesus knew that they were about to come and seize him in order to make him king by force; so he went off again to the hills by himself [sending the people and His disciples away]….

26 Jesus answered, “I am telling you the truth: you are looking for me because you ate the bread and had all you wanted, not because you understood my miracles. 27Do not work for food that goes bad; instead, work for the food that lasts for eternal life. This is the food which the Son of Man will give you, because God, the Father, has put his mark of approval on him.”

28 So they asked him, “What can we do in order to do what God wants us to do?” [Essentially, Moses fed our ancestors for 40 years. What can You do?]

29 Jesus answered, “What God wants you to do is to believe in the one he sent.”

30 They replied, “What miracle will you perform so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, just as the scripture says, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

32 “I am telling you the truth,” Jesus said. “What Moses gave you was not the bread from heaven; it is my Father who gives you the real bread from heaven. 33For the bread that God gives is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” [Was there anything special about that food?]

34 “Sir,” they asked him, “give us this bread always.”

35 “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “Those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty. 36Now, I told you that you have seen me but will not believe.”—Good News Bible.*†‡

  1. What do you think the people understood Jesus to be saying inJohn 6:35? Reading again:

John 6:35: “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “Those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty.”—Good News Bible.*

  1. Jesus needed to make very specific, pointed comments about why He came and what He intended to accomplish. When understood correctly, the seven “I am” statements in John, including in John 6, are clear evidence of that. However, the people who were determined to take Jesus by force to make Him their political ruler missed all of this!

[BSG:] It is reasonable to think of Moses as a type of Jesus. Moses and Jesus are similar in their mission of delivering people from bondage, for example. Of all biblical characters, Moses comes closest to Jesus in His ministry of intercession. After Israel in the wilderness rebelled against God in worshiping the golden calf, Moses offered to die in their place, to be their substitute. InExodus 32:32, we read the moving account of Moses’ pleading with God to spare the lives of His rebellious people. Moses speaks to God, saying: “ ‘Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written’ ” (NKJV).―Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* 27.‡§ [What was Moses thinking?]‡

  1. Moses was indeed a self-sacrificing leader.

[BSG:] Moses’ self-sacrificing devotedness to his wayward people and his plea to die in the place of others is admirable. But such a gracious offer cannot forgive sin and commute its penalty, death, for only the sacrifice of the divine “Prophet” Jesus can accomplish such an impossible feat. Jesus alone is the One who possesses the requisite righteousness and life to exchange for our sin and death.―Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* 27.‡

  1. How does the life and death of Jesus “forgive sin and commute its penalty, death”? Was His death a payment to the Father to assuage the Father’s wrath?
  2. Look at the parallels between the life of Moses and the life of Jesus. Did these events in Jesus’s life remind the people of Israel about the deliverance of their ancestors from Egypt?

[BSG:] Numerous details of this story place Jesus in parallel to Moses in the Exodus. The time of the Passover (John 6:4) points to the great deliverance from Egypt. Jesus goes up on a mountain (John 6:3) as Moses went up Sinai. Jesus tests Philip (John 6:5, 6) as the Israelites were tested in the wilderness. The multiplication of the loaves (John 6:11) is reminiscent of the manna. The gathering of the leftover food (John 6:12) harks back to the Israelites’ gathering the manna. Twelve baskets of leftovers are picked up (John 6:13), the same number as the twelve tribes of Israel. And the people comment that Jesus is the prophet coming into the world (John 6:14), parallel to the “prophet like Moses” predicted inDeuteronomy 18:15. All of this points to Jesus as the new Moses—come to deliver His people.―Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Sunday, October 6.‡§

  1. The Jewish people had been waiting for more than 400 years for a prophet to come, a prophet who would be like Moses.

[From the writings of Ellen G. White=EGW:] But the people did not choose to receive this statement of divine truth. Jesus had done the very work which prophecy had foretold that the Messiah would do; but they had not witnessed what their selfish hopes had pictured as His work. Christ had indeed once fed the multitude with barley loaves; but in the days of Moses Israel had been fed with manna forty years, and far greater blessings were expected from the Messiah. Their dissatisfied hearts queried why, if Jesus could perform so many wondrous works as they had witnessed, could He not give health, strength, and riches to all His people, free them from their oppressors, and exalt them to power and honor? The fact that He claimed to be the Sent of God, and yet refused to be Israel’s king, was a mystery which they could not fathom. His refusal was misinterpreted. Many concluded that He dared not assert His claims because He Himself doubted as to the divine character of His mission. Thus they opened their hearts to unbelief, and the seed which Satan had sown bore fruit of its kind, in misunderstanding and defection.—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages* 385.3.†‡

[https://egwwritings.org/read?panels=p130.1846&index=0]‡

  1. We should not fault the Jewish people too much because it is very clear that if Jesus had chosen to become an earthly king, He would have been the most fantastic general to conquer the Romans because of His ability not only to feed the troops but also to heal anyone who was injured. The people were beginning to recognize that, and they were determined to force Him, if necessary, to become their king. However, Jesus came with a very different mission.
  2. There are a number of parallels between the Passover and the details of this miracle. They both occurred at Passover time. Passover was a commemoration of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Jesus Himself was the true Passover Lamb. The lamb died in place of the firstborn. Jesus died to teach us the truth about sin and its results. Thus, He died the death that we should have to die as a result of our sins. (Romans 6:23)
  3. How many of the Jewish people including the Jewish leaders saw the miracles of Christ and recognized that they were a fulfillment of prophecies from the Old Testament? Any?
  4. It is so much easier to hope for material blessings to add to one’s life instead of thinking that a complete change needs to be made in one’s paradigm! How long did it take Saul/Paul?
  5. Let us turn to the healing of the man born blind. We read and discussed the story around this miracle last week. Reading again from John 9:

John 9:1-16: 1As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been born blind. 2His disciples asked him, “Teacher, whose sin caused him to be born blind? Was it his own or his parents’ sin?”

3 Jesus answered, “His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents’ sins. He is blind so that God’s power might be seen at work in him. 4As long as it is day, we must keep on doing the work of him who sent me; night is coming when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light for the world.”

6 After he said this, Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud with the spittle; he rubbed the mud on the man’s eyes 7and said, “Go and wash your face in the Pool of Siloam.” (This name means “Sent”. [sic]) So the man went, washed his face, and came back seeing.

8 His neighbours [sic-Br], then, and the people who had seen him begging before this, asked, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”

9Some said, “He is the one,” but others said, “No he isn’t; he just looks like him.”

So the man himself said, “I am the man.”

10 “How is it that you can now see?” they asked him.

11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made some mud, rubbed it on my eyes, and told me to go to Siloam and wash my face. So I went, and as soon as I washed, I could see.”

12 “Where is he?” they asked.

“I don’t know,” he answered.

13 Then they took to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14The day that Jesus made the mud and cured him of his blindness was a Sabbath. 15The Pharisees, then, asked the man again how he had received his sight. He told them, “He put some mud on my eyes; I washed my face, and now I can see.”

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “The man who did this cannot be from God, for he does not obey the [the Pharisees’] Sabbath law.” [Jesus broke many of their man-made rules.]

Others, however, said, “How could a man who is a sinner perform such miracles as these?” And there was a division among them.—Good News Bible.*†‡

  1. The Jewish people, in general, had the idea, partially based on experiences told in the Old Testament, that disease is a direct result of a person’s own or his parents’ sins. (SeeExodus 20:5; 2 Kings 5:15-17; 15:5; and2 Chronicles 26:16-21.) The complete story of Job should have clarified these issues for them; however, it apparently did not.
  2. In the case of the man born blind, is it possible that God caused him to be born blind so Jesus could perform this miracle? How are we to understand the comments by Jesus?
  3. ReadJohn 9:1-41, much of which we just read.
  4. We notice that the details of what happened are discussed briefly inJohn 9:1-12 while the investigation by the Pharisees with the issues it raised between the Pharisees and Jesus take up the whole rest of the chapter. Was it okay for Jesus to heal someone on the Sabbath?

[BSG:] In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, miracle stories follow a common pattern: an expression of the problem, the bringing of the individual to Jesus, the cure, and recognition of the cure with praise to God.

In the story in John 9, this sequence is completed inJohn 9:7. But typical of John, the significance of the miracle becomes the much wider point of discussion, leading to a long interaction between the healed man and the religious leaders. This striking discussion revolves around two intertwined contrasting pairs of concepts—sin/works of God and blindness/sight.―Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Tuesday, October 8.‡

  1. Since this miracle occurred on the Sabbath, was what Jesus did on this occasion a violation of Scripture in the Old Testament against work on the Sabbath? Absolutely not! However, Jesus actions were in contradiction to their traditions. And they were very happy to call Him a Sabbath-breaker! Many believed that proved that He was not from God.
  2. This “Sabbath-breaking,” however, caused a big problem among the Pharisees themselves because while some wanted to follow the teachings of their traditions, others realized that Someone who could heal a man born blind certainly could not be a sinner!
  3. Why is it so much harder to give up old established beliefs than it is to accept new beliefs which disagree with our current paradigm?

[BSG:] A curious reversal occurs. The blind man comes to see more and more, not just physically but spiritually, as he is growing in his appreciation for Jesus and believing more strongly in Him. The Pharisees, in contrast, become more and more blind in their understanding, first being divided over Jesus (John 9:16) and then not knowing where He came from (John 9:29).

Meanwhile, his recounting of this miracle gives John the opportunity to tell us who Jesus is. The theme of signs in John 9 intersects with several other themes in the Gospel. John reaffirms that Jesus is the Light of the world (John 9:5; compare withJohn 8:12). The story also deals with Jesus’ mysterious origin. Who is He, where is He from, what is His mission (John 9:12, 29; compare withJohn 1:14)? The figure of Moses, who is referenced in previous miracle accounts, also appears in this chapter (John 9:28, 29; compare withJohn 5:45, 46 andJohn 6:32). Finally, there is the theme of the response of the crowd. Some love darkness rather than light, while others respond in faith (John 9:16–18, 35–41; compare withJohn 1:9–16,John 3:16–21, andJohn 6:60–71).―Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Wednesday, October 9.‡§

[BSG:] Moreover, adding insult to injury, this poor blind man not only suffered physically, but he also suffered spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. The public perception was that those who were sick in society were suffering because of their own sins or the sins of their parents. The blind man was made to believe that not only others looked upon him as guilty but God also looked upon him with disfavor.

This misconception was also in the disciples’ minds, hence their question, “ ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ” (John 9:2, NKJV). In their desire to assign blame, they were akin to many well-meaning but mistaken Christians of today. In a similar fashion, Job’s misguided friends attempted to place the blame on him for his terrible tragedy and sickness. Let us learn from their mistakes. Why not, instead, follow the example of Jesus in focusing on the solution and not the problem? He came to this world not to condemn but to save. (SeeJohn 3:17.)….

How telling and ironic that the religious leaders, with their physical sight intact, stubbornly refused to see the light that Christ shone all around them. Thus, they willfully shrouded themselves deeper and deeper in spiritual darkness until their blindness to the true light was irreversible. By contrast, the blind man’s openness to Christ’s light not only enabled him to see physically with his eyes but also enabled him to have the enlightened spiritual insight needed to recognize Jesus as the Son of God, who alone is worthy of worship.—Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* 27-28.†‡§

  1. Why don’t we see these kinds of healings in our day? What methods does God want us to use in our day?

[EGW:] In the Saviour’s [sic-Br] manner of healing there were lessons for His disciples. On one occasion He anointed the eyes of a blind man with clay, and bade him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.... He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.”John 9:7. The cure could be wrought only by the power of the Great Healer, yet Christ made use of the simple agencies of nature. While He did not give countenance to drug medication, He sanctioned the use of simple and natural remedies.—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages* 824.1.†‡

[https://egwwritings.org/read?panels=p130.4055&index=0]‡

[EGW:] …. He [Jesus] is just as willing to heal the sick now as when He was personally on earth. Christ’s servants are His representatives, the channels for His working. He desires through them to exercise His healing power.—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages* 823.4-824.0.‡

[https://egwwritings.org/read?panels=p130.4052&index=0]‡

  1. It is very interesting to notice that Jesus turned the tables on the Pharisees. The one whom they claimed to be their leader, Moses, would accuse them for their misunderstanding of what really happened in Moses’s day. Jesus criticized them in light of the fact that this man suddenly saw the light and followed Jesus while the religious leaders were burying themselves further and further in darkness. Compare that with what we read inJohn 3:16-21. We judge ourselves by our response to the light and the truth.

[BSG:] So scary here is the spiritual blindness of the religious leaders. A once-blind beggar can declare, “ ‘Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing’ ” (John 9:32, 33, NKJV). And yet the religious leaders, the spiritual guides of the nation, the ones who should have been the first to recognize Jesus and accept Him as the Messiah—they, despite all the powerful evidence, cannot see it, or they don’t really want to see it. What a powerful warning about how our hearts can deceive us!―Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Wednesday, October 9.†‡§

  1. Why do you think the Jewish religious leaders were so opposed to Jesus? Think about the challenges for the disciples of Jesus. They had been brought up to believe that those religious teachers had the truth. But, now, they were forced to watch Jesus in an all-out conflict with those religious leaders. What do we know about the background of the disciples that might help us to understand their situation?

[EGW:] Jesus chose unlearned fishermen because they had not been schooled in the traditions and erroneous customs of their time. They were men of native ability, and they were humble and teachable,—men whom He could educate for His work. In the common walks of life there is many a man patiently treading the round of daily toil, unconscious that he possesses powers which, if called into action, would raise him to an equality with the world’s most honored men. The touch of a skillful hand is needed to arouse those dormant faculties. It was such men that Jesus called to be His colaborers; and He gave them the advantage of association with Himself. Never had the world’s great men such a teacher. When the disciples came forth from the Saviour’s [sic-Br] training [after the resurrection], they were no longer ignorant and uncultured. They had become like Him in mind and character, and men took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages* 250.1.†‡ [SeeActs 4:13.]‡

[https://egwwritings.org/read?panels=p130.1146&index=0]‡

  1. Let us now discuss the story of the resurrection of Lazarus. Try to imagine yourself in the role of Mary or Martha. They knew perfectly well that when Lazarus became sick, Jesus was perfectly capable of healing whatever was wrong with him. They regarded Jesus as their very best Friend, and they knew how much He loved Lazarus. So, they could not understand why Jesus did not rush to their aid when Lazarus was sick.
  2. Before we get into the story in detail, it is important to recognize that the main group that had opposed Jesus to that point in His life were the Pharisees. The Sadducees, whose lives were pretty much concentrated around events in the temple in Jerusalem, had relatively little interaction with Jesus up to that time. While the Pharisees recognized that resurrection back to life was possible, the Sadducees absolutely denied that possibility. So, Jesus knew when He traveled to Bethany, a short distance from Jerusalem, to “visit” the family of Mary, Martha, and their uncle, Simon, the former leper who was also a Pharisee, that He was about to enter a “hornets’ nest.” He knew that when He raised Lazarus from the dead, suddenly, every one of the Sadducees would want Him dead.
  3. Many of the Jews believed that the “spirit” of a dead person hovered around the body for three days just in case there was some sort of resuscitation. This, of course, was a pagan belief. By waiting four days, Jesus made sure that no one could claim that Lazarus had not been dead. And Martha’s remark that there would be a terrible smell was confirmation of the fact that Lazarus was indeed dead.
  4. ReadJohn 11:17-27.

[BSG:] John 11 is filled with sadness—the sad news of a dear friend’s illness (John 11:1–3); the weeping over his death (John 11:19, 31, 33); the sisters’ lament that Lazarus would not have died if Jesus had been present (John 11:21, 32); and Jesus’ own tears (John 11:35).―Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Thursday, October 10.‡§

  1. Those of us who believe as Seventh-day Adventists do that death is just a “sleep" which is what Jesus taught in John 11, recognize that when someone dies, the next s/he knows is the coming of Jesus. In the story of Lazarus, we have clear evidence that Christ has the ability to resurrect people from the dead.

[EGW:] Still seeking to give a true direction to her [Mary’s] faith, Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived. “He that hath the Son hath life.”1 John 5:12. The divinity of Christ is the believer’s assurance of eternal life. “He that believeth in Me,” said Jesus, “though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?” Christ here looks forward to the time of His second coming. Then the righteous dead shall be raised incorruptible, and the living righteous shall be translated to heaven without seeing death. The miracle which Christ was about to perform, in raising Lazarus from the dead, would represent the resurrection of all the righteous dead. By His word and His works He declared Himself the Author of the resurrection. He who Himself was soon to die upon the cross stood with the keys of death, a conqueror of the grave, and asserted His right and power to give eternal life.—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages* 530.3.†‡

[https://egwwritings.org/read?panels=p130.2593&index=0]‡

[BSG:] And, as God, as the One who created life to begin with—Jesus had power over death. Thus, Jesus uses this opportunity, that of Lazarus’s death, to reveal a crucial truth about Himself. “ ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die’ ” (John 11:25, 26, ESV).

ReadJohn 11:38–44. What did Jesus do that supported His claim?―Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Thursday, October 10.†‡§

John 11:38-44: 38 Deeply moved once more, Jesus went to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone placed at the entrance. 39 “Take the stone away!” Jesus ordered.

Martha, the dead man’s sister, answered, “There will be a bad smell, Lord. He has been buried four days!” [How many people were watching?]

40 Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believed?” 41They took the stone away. Jesus looked up and said, “I thank you, Father, that you listen to me. 42I know that you always listen to me, but I say this for the sake of the people here, so that they will believe that you sent me.” 43After he had said this, he called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44He came out, his hands and feet wrapped in grave clothes, and with a cloth round his face. “Untie him,” Jesus told them, “and let him go.”—Good News Bible.*†‡

  1. The raising of Lazarus was the crowning act of Jesus’s ministry. So many people who were relatives and friends, including Pharisees and Sadducees from Jerusalem, were present for the burial and the mourning for Lazarus that when Jesus performed this miracle, the news of what happened filled Jerusalem almost immediately. What stronger evidence could Jesus possibly provide that He was, in fact, the “resurrection and the life.”
  2. Unfortunately, this did not produce the results for which we might have wished. Notice the challenge for all who were in attendance at the resurrection.

John 11:45-54: 45 Many of the people who had come to visit Mary saw what Jesus did, and they believed in him. 46But some of them returned to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47So the Pharisees and the chief priests met with the Council and said, “What shall we do? Look at all the miracles this man is performing! 48If we let him go on in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Roman authorities will take action and destroy our Temple and our nation!”

49 One of them, named Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, “What fools you are! 50Don’t you realize that it is better for you to let one man die for the people, instead of having the whole nation destroyed?” 51Actually, he did not say this of his own accord; rather, as he was High Priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish people, 52and not only for them, but also to bring together into one body all the scattered people of God. [Did God inspire Caiaphas to say that?]

53 From that day on the Jewish authorities made plans to kill Jesus. 54So Jesus did not travel openly in Judea, but left and went to a place near the desert, to a town named Ephraim, where he stayed with the disciples.—Good News Bible.*†‡

[BSG:] However, by the time we get to the end of this incredible story (John 11:45–54), in which many who saw believed (John 11:45), a powerful but sad irony unfolds. Jesus shows that He can bring the dead back to life, and yet, these men think that they can stop Him by killing Him? What an example of the foibles of humanity in contrast to the wisdom and power of God!―Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Thursday, October 10.†‡§

[EGW:] The life of Christ that gives life to the world is in His word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons; by His word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God, as He had spoken through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ, and the Saviour [sic-Br] desired to fix the faith of His followers on the word. When His visible presence should be withdrawn, the word must be their source of power. Like their Master, they were to live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”Matthew 4:4.

As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual life is sustained by the word of God. And every soul is to receive life from God’s word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves in order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the word for ourselves. We are not to obtain it merely through the medium of another’s mind. [Preacher? Teacher?] We should carefully study the Bible, asking God for the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand His word. We should take one verse, and concentrate the mind on the task of ascertaining the thought which God has put in that verse for us. We should dwell upon the thought until it becomes our own, and we know “what saith the Lord.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages* 390.3-4.†‡

[https://egwwritings.org/read?panels=p130.1878&index=0]‡

  1. While we have many modern medical “miracles” and we know about CPR which has preserved the lives of many people, how would we respond if we heard a story of someone who, in fact, had been dead for three or four days and then was raised back to life? Would we have doubts? What beliefs do we have that might make it hard for us to accept a modern resurrection from the dead?
  2. How long do you think it took the disciples to begin even to consider the fact that Jesus might be God in human flesh? Three of the disciples on the mount of transfiguration saw strong evidence that Jesus was divine.

Matthew 17:2: As they looked on, a change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white.—Good News Bible.*

  1. After the feeding of the 5000, the people were ready to take Jesus by force and make Him king. However, they did not do that after the healing of the blind man or with the raising of Lazarus, even though each of those miracles in its own way was convincing evidence of Christ’s divinity.
  2. When Jesus fed the 5000 men, it was obviously a fulfillment of prophecy given to Moses.

Deuteronomy 18:15: [Moses said:] Instead, he will send you a prophet like me from among your own people, and you are to obey him.—Good News Bible.*‡

  1. Jesus claimed to be the light of the world, and He demonstrated that by giving the blind man his sight. He also claimed to be the Resurrection and the Life, and He proved that by raising Lazarus from the dead.
  2. For you, which of these three main miracles that Jesus performed in this lesson would be the most powerful evidence of His divinity? Feeding the 5000 men plus women and children from one small boy’s lunch was pretty amazing! Healing the eyes a man born blind is far beyond our understanding. However, raising back to life someone who had been dead four days would certainly be the most impressive miracle that Jesus performed!

©2024, Kenneth Hart, MD, MA, MPH. Permission is hereby granted for any noncommercial use of these materials. Free distribution of all or of a portion of this material such as to a Bible study class is encouraged. *Electronic version. †Bold type is added. ‡Brackets and content in brackets are added. §Italic type is in the source. [sic-Br]=This is correct as quoted; it is the British spelling.

Last Modified: September 8, 2024                                                                                     Email: Info@theox.org