When the wine ran out, Mary told Jesus of the problem, and though he gave a non-committal response she tells the servants to follow Jesus’ instructions. The encounter is a simple one: a wedding is taking place in Cana that Jesus, an unknown number of his disciples, and Mary, his mother, were invited to. Not only that, but, “no discourse is tightly tied to it to explain its significance.” This makes it easier for hermeneuticians to go off track with their interpretation and find things that simply aren’t in the text. Apparently, the rest of the guests and the master of the feast had no idea that the miracle even took place as Carson notes, “this first sign might better be labeled ‘semi-public’, since apparently only the servants and the disciples gained any knowledge of the source of the wine.” This must play a role in our hermeneutics as the audience present for the miracle often gives us a better understanding of why a miracle was performed. Even more interesting, it occurred prior to the beginning of his public ministry, as the only witnesses of the event were the servants, his disciples, and his mother. While all of the miracles recorded in John reveal the divine authority of Jesus, this miracle in particular stands out as his first. Turning water into wine 2:1-12 Description of Miracle After that, it will be explained how each miracle lends support to John’s overall purpose, as recorded in 20:31. “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” Each of these miracles will, in turn, be described in detail and all of the implications regarding the historical context will be given. These seven miracles are all recorded for a singular purpose, which John states near the end of his Gospel. The Resurrection of Jesus will be treated as an eighth miracle and not examined here since this miracle is the one in which a person puts his faith, and so is different in quality to the seven previous miracles that attest to the eighth. That being said, they are as follows: (1) Turning water into wine, (2) healing an official’s son, (3) healing at the pool of Bethesda (4) feeding of the five-thousand, (5) walking on water, (6) healing of the man born blind, (7) raising Lazarus from the dead. This paper will take the position that the healing of Lazarus, and not the resurrection itself, was the seventh sign. Within the Gospel of John, there are seven or eight – depending on one’s outline – major miracles recorded.

Outline exegesis biblical paper