In
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...
scholarship, the Book of Signs is a name commonly given to the first main section of the
Gospel of John
The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...
, from 1:19 to the end of Chapter 12. It follows the
Hymn to the Word and precedes the Book of Glory. It is named for seven notable events, often called "signs" or "
miracles
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...
", that it records.
Location in text
There is a widespread scholarly view that the Gospel of John can be broken into four parts: a ''
prologue
A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...
'', (John 1:-1:18), the ''Book of Signs'' (1:19 to 12:50), the ''
Book of Glory'' (or ''Exaltation'') (13:1 to 20:31) and an ''
epilogue
An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the ...
'' (chapter 21).
It is this indication by the author of the gospel that the signs are selected, which leads to the examination of them as a sequence of seven.
Seven Signs
The seven signs are:
#
Changing water into wine at Cana in
John 2:1–11 – "the first of the signs"
#
Healing the royal official's son in
Capernaum
Capernaum ( ; he, כְּפַר נַחוּם, Kfar Naḥum, Nahum's village; ar, كفر ناحوم, Kafr Nāḥūm) was a fishing village established during the time of the Hasmoneans, located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It ...
in
John 4:46–54
#
Healing the paralytic at Bethesda in
John 5:1–15
#
Feeding the 5000 in
John 6:5–14
#
Jesus walking on water
Jesus walking on the water, or on the sea, is depicted as one of the miracles of Jesus recounted in the New Testament. There are accounts of this event in three Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and John—but it is not included in the Gospel of Luke. This ...
in
John 6:16–24
#
Healing the man blind from birth in
John 9:1–7
#The
raising of Lazarus in
John 11:1–45
The seven signs are seen by some scholars and theologians as evidence of
new creation theology in the Gospel of John, the
resurrection of Jesus
The resurrection of Jesus ( grc-x-biblical, ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lo ...
being the implied eighth sign, indicating a week of creation and then a new creation beginning with the resurrection.
Other lists of seven signs
Some disagree with this list of seven signs. John Marsh and
Stephen Smalley, amongst others, have suggested six initial signs (seeing the walking on the water as part of feeding the 5000, rather than a separate sign in itself), and that the seventh sign is the
crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and consider ...
and the resurrection appearance to Thomas (20:26–29).
Anthony T. Selvaggio replaces walking on water with the
cleansing of the Temple
The cleansing of the Temple narrative tells of Jesus expelling the merchants and the money changers from the Temple, and is recounted in all four canonical gospels of the New Testament. The scene is a common motif in Christian art.
In this ac ...
because John 2:18 includes the word "sign".
Eighth sign
Others, such as
John Hutchinson[John Hutchison, ''Our Lord's Signs in St. John's Gospel: Discussions Chiefly Exegetical and Doctrinal on the Eight Miracles in the Fourth Gospel'' (printed Edinburgh, 1892)] and
E. W. Bullinger, have emphasized a sequence of eight signs, concluding with the
miraculous catch of fish in
John 21:1–14.
[Bullinger Companion Bible ''Eight Signs in the Gospel of John''](_blank)
/ref>
References
{{Gospel of John
Gospel of John