Ray
Active Member
Signs point to something beyond themselves. They have significance; they signify something. What were the so-called miracles or signs of the New Testament designed to signify? What did they point to?
Obviously, they had important value in what they accomplished. Jesus satisfied the needs of the wedding host when He made wine out of water, and He certainly met the needs of sick people when He healed them and of grieving parents when He raised their children from the dead. But what was the significance of those things?
In order to answer that question, we can look first at Nicodemus. When Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, he said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (John 3:2). Nicodemus was saying that Jesus must have been from God because of the signs He performed. Later, Jesus Himself said, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves” (John 14:11).
To see this idea in its full measure, we can look at a warning in Hebrews:
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:1–4)
The author of Hebrews is saying that God confirms the truth of His Word through miracles. That point is often woefully neglected, but it has important implications. If the Scriptures say we know God’s Word is true because its authors have been authenticated by miracles, how then can one who is not an agent of revelation also perform miracles? If all kinds of people can do these things, their “signs” prove nothing about their authority or whether they have been sent as spokesmen for God. At stake in this issue is the authority of Christ, the authority of the Apostles, and the authority of the Bible itself.
Moses was called by God from a burning bush to stand up to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses staggered at this command and said, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’ ” (Ex. 4:1). So God instructed Moses to throw his staff on the ground. Moses did, and the stick became a serpent. Then God told Moses to place his hand in his shirt, which he did, and Moses’ hand became leprous. God was planning to confirm His Word by miracles; these “signs” would be the means by which Moses would demonstrate that he was God’s spokesman and appointed leader.
R. C. Sproul
Obviously, they had important value in what they accomplished. Jesus satisfied the needs of the wedding host when He made wine out of water, and He certainly met the needs of sick people when He healed them and of grieving parents when He raised their children from the dead. But what was the significance of those things?
In order to answer that question, we can look first at Nicodemus. When Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, he said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (John 3:2). Nicodemus was saying that Jesus must have been from God because of the signs He performed. Later, Jesus Himself said, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves” (John 14:11).
To see this idea in its full measure, we can look at a warning in Hebrews:
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:1–4)
The author of Hebrews is saying that God confirms the truth of His Word through miracles. That point is often woefully neglected, but it has important implications. If the Scriptures say we know God’s Word is true because its authors have been authenticated by miracles, how then can one who is not an agent of revelation also perform miracles? If all kinds of people can do these things, their “signs” prove nothing about their authority or whether they have been sent as spokesmen for God. At stake in this issue is the authority of Christ, the authority of the Apostles, and the authority of the Bible itself.
Moses was called by God from a burning bush to stand up to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses staggered at this command and said, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’ ” (Ex. 4:1). So God instructed Moses to throw his staff on the ground. Moses did, and the stick became a serpent. Then God told Moses to place his hand in his shirt, which he did, and Moses’ hand became leprous. God was planning to confirm His Word by miracles; these “signs” would be the means by which Moses would demonstrate that he was God’s spokesman and appointed leader.
R. C. Sproul
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