Sermon Tone Analysis

Every faith system has a need for apologetics - or defense of the faith.

Some would say that apologetics are geared more to reinforce the faith of those who already believe - rather than providing arguments to convince non-believers of the validity of the faith.

Ultimately, as Christians, we believe that it is God, through the Holy Spirit, who draws people to Him.

Without the work of the Holy Spirit, even the best arguments fall flat.

But with the Holy Spirit, apologetics become tools that can be used to win even the most ardent opponent.

In the last month or so, I’ve had a couple of opportunities to experience the value of apologetics.

The first was while I was in the middle east.

God ordained a series of conversations with some new friends from Muslim backgrounds.

We had very friendly conversations that spanned work, recreation, family, and even faith.

We got to talk at length about some of the distinctives of our faith systems and some of the misconceptions that we each had about the other’s faith.

We did not get into any sort of heated debate and did not get to overcome barriers of belief, but it was a joy to get to walk through some places of commonality and then use that to lead to the gospel - showing the consistency of God’s covenant-keeping plan throughout Scripture.

The other apologetic experience I had was more academic.

Shortly after returning from overseas, I began reading the book Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion by Rebecca McLaughlin.

Throughout the book, Rebecca uses a variety of arguments and lines of reason to address questions or objections that people have raised about Christianity.

I’ve found the book quite informative and educational.

In fact, we have a few copies in the Book Nook if you’d like to pick up one.

If you’re on the fence about belief, this book might address some concerns.

If you’re already firm in your faith, this might give you some helpful responses when then these questions arise in conversation.

I bring all of that up because today, as we start our study in the Gospel of John, we are going to begin with the end in mind.

Near the end of his Gospel, John clearly delineates the purpose or premise of his account of the life of Jesus.

It’s as though here in the penultimate chapter, that he is explaining the why behind the what that he has shared.

In these two brief verses, we are going to make three practical observations which are based on the content of the rest of the book of John.

The first practical observation is that John’s hope is that we will...

Consider the signs

John, like the other gospel writers, assembles a selective collection of miracles, teachings, and experiences of Jesus in order to paint a picture of who Jesus is and why he came.

Matthew seems to show Jesus as the Promised King

Mark shows Jesus as a servant.

Luke demonstrates the humanity of Jesus

John, as he has stated in his purpose, seeks to show that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.

He does this by choosing specific signs or miracles.

Just as we might use signs as a means of helping us navigate on a road trip, John chooses seven specific miracles as signs, navigating us to belief in Jesus.

Let’s briefly consider these signs and how they point us to Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.

For each of these, we will consider the nature of the sign, the people impacted, and the outcome.

1. Changing water into wine John 2:1–11

In His first recorded miracle, Jesus, his mother, and his disciples find themselves at a wedding.

In an unexpected turn of events, the wine runs out.

Mary notifies Jesus of the dilemma, and he initially asks her why she pointed this out to him, and then as though expecting that he would do something, she turns to the servants at the feast and encourages them to do what he says.

There are 6 stone water jars there (each able to hold 20-30 gallons of water).

Jesus calls the servants to fill them up.

We don’t know how many servants, but we can likely assume that it would take more than one to lift a jar.

It’s also likely that they may have used something to fill the jars rather than dunking the whole jars in the water source.

That much water alone would weigh between 166 and 250 (adding to that the weight of the stone jar).

They are then instructed to draw some liquid from the jar and take it to the master of the party who, unaware about the origin or the events affirms that the bridegroom has saved the best for last.

Nature of the sign:

Jesus essentially takes one kind of liquid and causes it to be another kid of liquid - same form, different substance.

wine normally takes months or even years to prepare.

Jesus did all of that in an instant.

People impacted:

While there were a lot of people at the party - a lot of people were blessed by this miracle - after all, that much wine should go a long way, relatively few people really knew what happened: the servants, Mary, and the disciples (maybe 12-25 people in all).

Outcome:

John tells us that the disciples believed in him (John 2:11 “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory.

And his disciples believed in him.” )

The next sign we see is a couple of chapters later with Jesus…

2. Healing the official’s son John 4:46–54

Rather than summarizing the event, let’s look at this briefly:

There is really so much that we could un-pack here, but let’s limit ourselves to our comparative markers.

Nature of the sign:

We don’t know the nature of the boy’s illness - we just know it was severe - the father feared for the boy’s life.

Jesus was roughly 20 miles away from where this boy lay dying - and yet at his word - he healed the boy from a distance.

People impacted:

the official and his household

possibly the disciples

Outcome:

John confirmed that the official believed - along with his household.

In the next chapter we find Jesus…

3. Healing the invalid John 5:1–15

In this passage, Jesus meets a man who had been crippled for 38 years.

He told the man to get up and walk - and immediately his feet and legs were strengthened and he walked away.

Because this healing took place on a sabbath - or the day of rest - it invoked a bit of controversy.

Nature of the sign:

physical change in the man, immediate strengthening

People impacted:

the man

potentially some of his fellow invalids who were in the area

the religious leaders who were threatened by Jesus

Outcome:

John doesn’t give us any direct sign of belief - except that the man believed enough to be healed.

Jesus confronted him about his sin, but that seemed to be it.

We learn in the next chapter that a large crowd had begun to follow Jesus because of some of the signs they had seen him do (John 15:2).

On a negative sign - this started to be a more public presentation of Jesus’ abilities - the religious leaders who followed certain rituals didn’t like it that Jesus was healing people on the sabbath.

4. Feeding the multitude John 6:1-14

In response to his previous sign, a large crowd began to follow.

Jesus asks his disciples how they will feed the the crowd (roughly 5000 people).

Some of the disciples immediately think about the cost of buying the food.

Another brings a boy’s lunch to Jesus.

As a result, Jesus blesses the food and begins to distribute the fish and bread to everyone.

There was no shortage of what people could eat.

In fact, there were 12 baskets of bread leftover (could it be that this number is specifically for the disciples?)

Nature of the sign:

multiplication

People impacted:

the disciples

5000 plus people

Outcome:

John tells us - John 6:14 “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”” - it appears that they were beginning to believe that Jesus was the Messiah - the one promised by Moses and the Prophets.

Right after the miracle of the feeding of the 5000, we get to see Jesus...

5. Walking on the water - John 6:16–21

John doesn’t specifically call this one a sign, but after feeding the 5000, Jesus retreated to a mountain.

The disciples started across the Sea of Galilee to head to the other side.

The sea became stormy and Jesus started walking across the water to them.