The groups of 7 in John’s Gospel

Who is Jesus? part 65 – John 6:16-21

I like lists. Breaking things down to see how they work has enabled me to be good a problem spotting and solving, useful skills for when I worked in quality control. As a child it also resulted in broken toys as I liked to see how they worked, and could not remember the order I took them apart in order to put them back together. At least it taught me to be meticulous, a term I shall be using later.

In my searching, using Google, Opera and Bing as search engines, the AI results on all three search engines gave a list of seven signs in Johns Gospel, which started with turning water into wine and ended the raising of Lazarus, and included walking on the sea. All three search engines then gave links to other sites where walking on the sea was not among the seven. In fact I could not find any direct links from the AI to walking on the sea being a link. Needless to say I have not used AI in this post except for spell and grammar checking. There are too many contradictions.

¹⁶ When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷ got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸ The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹ When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. ²⁰ But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” ²¹ Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

John 6:16-21 ESVUK

 I am the… sayings and the 7 I am. Sayings –  7 signs. – start with the 7 attributes in Ch 1

These seven titles of Jesus in chapter 1: the Word, Light, Lamb of God, Son of God, Rabbi, Messiah/King of Israel, and Son of Man.

1. Word (v. 1-3, 14): Jesus is God’s divine work and dynamic power.
2. Light (v. 4-9): Jesus brings light into a darkened world.
3. Son of God (v. 18, 34, 49): Jesus was not just a mere man. He was (and is) the Son of God..
4. Christ (v. 19-28, 35-42): Christ connects Jesus to the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. To the hope of Israel. To our own hope.
5. Lamb of God (1:29, 35-36) He died, not just for the sins of one nation, but for all nations.
6. The King of Israel (v. 49): Jesus’ authority and sovereignty.
7. The Son of Man (v. 51): Jesus’ humanity mediator connecting heaven and earth.

Seven “I am the…” Statements.

1. I am the bread of life 6:25-51.
2. I am the light of the world 8:12-30.
3. I am the door 10:1-21.
4. I am the good shepherd 10:1-21.
5. I am the resurrection and the life 11:1-27.
6. I am the way and the truth and the life 14:1-14.
7. I am the true vine and my father is the vinedresser, I am the vine, you are the branches (15:1-17)

Seven more “I am ” statements.

1. I am he John 4:1-26
2. It is I, do not be afraid 6:16-21
3. Unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins 8:24
4. When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he 8:28
5. Even before Abraham was I am 8:58
6. I am telling you this now, that you may believe that I am he13:19
7. They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he18:5

The seven signs, theologians agree that there are 7, it fits in with the there are 9 contenders:

• The changing of water into wine 2:1-11 – The first sign
• Clearing of the temple (reformed) 2;13-22
• Jesus heals the official’s son from a distance 4:43-54 – The second sign.
• The healing at the pool of Bethesda 5:1-15
• Feeding of the five thousand 6:1-15
• Jesus walks on the stormy sea
• Healing of the man born blind 9:1–41
• The raising of Lazarus 11:1–44
• Jesus crucifixion (it is finished)

No numbering here, although I love a numbered list.

This is not the only list where there are alternate views amongst theologians. In the list of names of Jesus some lists have Christ and King as a single item and add Rabbi.

But I’m looking at Jesus walking on the stormy sea, is this one of the seven signs, those miracles that have a special significance in telling who Jesus is. John mentioned turning water into wine was the first sign and the healing of the official’s son was the second. I am therefore taking the clearing of the temple out of the list because John was meticulous in the way he wrote his Gospel and even though there is a mention of a sign here, the Judeans asked him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” I cannot see how this mention of the sign refers to the clearing, the Judeans were asking about a miracle. Also John being so meticulous as to say, “This is the second sign,” about the healing of the official’s son, when it was the third. The listing of the temple clearing as a sign comes from the reformed tradition, and though I think of John Calvin as being one of the greatest theologians and pastors of the reformation period, he was writing medieval answers to medieval problems, which should be taken into account when applying his teaching to the twentyfirst century. Similarly when looking at the Gospels we need to thing about what these teachings of Jesus applied in the first century to work out how to apply them to now. The temple clearing is important in telling us who Jesus is, but it is not among the seven signs.

The list is now down to eight. What most of them have in common is that they have the word sign attached to them and they were performed in public. I’m looking at Jesus walking on the sea now, and it lacks the word sign and is performed in the sight of the disciples only. I therefore do not count it among the seven signs either, though it has great significance for people who follow him today, which is the next blog post in this series.

I am left with six miracles which are called signs:

• The changing of water into wine 2:1-11 – The first sign
• Jesus heals the official’s son from a distance 4:43-54 – The second sign.
• The healing at the pool of Bethesda 5:1-15
• Feeding of the five thousand 6:1-15
• Healing of the man born blind 9:1–41
• The raising of Lazarus 11:1–44

What then is the seventh? (There’s a spoiler above!)

Having said that the temple clearing was not one of the signs, I’m going back there, th when the Judeans asked him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”

Jesus replied, “Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” … But he was speaking about the temple of his body. (2:19, 21). When asked about a sign, Jesus pointed to the crucifixion. John uses symbolism of a coronation in his account of Jesus’ death. His giving of himself for others is also his acclamation as King. This is the seventh and greatest of the signs.

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The various lists of seven take some detective work to find out, as they are woven together into the Gospel; maybe we are not supposed to do it? It certaunly isn’t necessary except for my AuDHD. This gives a background into the way I do things.

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