The Deity and Miracles of Christ

By Rev. Joseph Sill

This book is intended to show Jesus's deity through the signs and dialogue in the book of John. John has recorded eight signs or miracles in his Gospel. He begins with the marriage at Cana and progresses through his Gospel to the resurrection, the greatest of all the signs. These miracles in the book of John, and all the Bible for that matter, are not arbitrary but were chosen by the Holy Spirit to show that Jesus is who he says he is. John himself tells us his purpose in writing his Gospel in John 20:21: "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." This book is intended for you to look at the miracle and sayings of Jesus in John and show how they point to Jesus being the promised Messiah, the Son of God, deity incarnate. John showed who Jesus was when he said, "I am the bread of life," and proceeded to feed the five thousand with the loaves and fish. John records that he said, "I am the light of the world," and then Jesus proceeded to heal a man born blind from birth. He told Mary at the death of Lazarus, "I am the resurrection and the life," and proceeded to raise the dead. Finally, he told his disciples, "I lay my life down, and I will take it up again." Then he went to the cross, died, and was buried to rise again on the third day. And just in case there is any doubt as to his resurrection, he appears to Thomas in the upper room and to the disciples by the sea of Tiberius. It is my prayer that this book may prove who Jesus is to the minds of all who read it. That they may come to believe that Jesus is who he said he is""the Messiah, the Son of God, who died for our sins""and is raised to make it just as if we never sinned (Romans 4:25).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781640799929

Book preview

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The Deity and Miracles of

Christ

Rev. Joseph Sill

ISBN 978-1-64079-991-2 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64079-992-9 (digital)

Copyright © 2018 by Rev. Joseph Sill

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Introduction

I

n our world, there are

many who are asking the question: who is Jesus? Is he God, is he man, or is he simply a man who thought he was God? If he is not God, is he a god like the gods of ancient and modern mythology? This book is written to examine these questions and answer the question: is Jesus God? These questions are pertinent in our secular and increasingly pluralistic society where the modern pantheon is growing every day. There are more religions, mystics, cults, and fallacies being circulated every day to keep people from the truth. It seems like every day there is a new idea or religion or twist on an old religion to challenge the very idea of deity, let alone the idea of Jesus, a man, being deity.

The book of John is uniquely qualified to deal with and answer these questions. The book of John was written by Apostle John to show who Jesus truly was and to offer proof of Jesus’s deity. The book of John portrays Jesus Christ as God in the flesh. In his book, John uses signs/miracles to illustrate Christ’s deity. It is for this reason it has been called the Gospel of God’s divine Son. Billy Graham in an article, answering the question, who is Jesus? writes:

Jesus Christ has no stronger portrait than the one in the Bible. It is a picture of the Man who is God. The claim that Jesus Christ is deity is the focal point for all belief. It is the foundation of Christianity. Since the quickest way to destroy any edifice is to tear out or weaken its base, people have always tried to disprove, ignore or scoff at the claims of Christ. However, our hope of redemption from sin is dependent upon the deity of Christ.¹

This doctrine of Christ’s deity is one of the most important in the Bible, and John argues strongly for it.

John’s Gospel begins with the thought that Jesus Christ is deity in human flesh. This is a miracle because God, who is infinite, had to traverse that infinity to become human. Therefore, miracles are part and parcel of the truth that Jesus Christ is God.

In the very first chapter, John sets the deity of Christ up as the thesis for the entire book of John. The first chapter, in the very first verse, John writes of the logos (which we translate as word) and says the logos was with God, and the logos was God. The Greek word logos is a hard concept for us to grasp because it has the double idea in it of reason and expression.² This Greek word, logos, illustrates the close relationship between God and the Son.

One of the closest relationships we know of is between a word and what it represents, and that is the relationship John is showing between God and Jesus from the very first verse of his Gospel. Let me illustrate this relationship with an example: if I say apple, what comes to mind? An apple, of course. If I say fish, what comes to mind immediately? A fish. This is the relationship that John has in mind when he uses the term logos, translated word, in the first chapter of his book.

John then goes a step further and flatly puts a name to the logos when he asserts in verse 14 that Jesus is the logos of God. These first few verses of John have probably created more prejudice against the book of John than anything else because of who John said Jesus is. Those who say Jesus is not the logos are denying the plain teaching of the first chapter of John.

The rest of his book sets out to prove the statements of the first chapter. The signs in John appear to be not unrelated to this thesis concerning Jesus’s deity. This is evident because near the end of his book, John says,

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:30–31, KJV)

It appears that John’s first chapter is his thesis statement for the Gospel, and this statement in chapter 20 is part of his conclusion. In the body of the book, John has selected sayings and miracles or signs that lead to the conclusion of John 20:30–31. That conclusion is indeed that Jesus is the Son of God, who was God and who was with God in the beginning.

John’s argument is that God sent his Son, Jesus, as the logos (the reason and expression of God) incarnate to reveal himself in a new and dynamic way so that humanity would see and believe. F.F. Bruce said:

What he is concerned to emphasize here is that God, who had revealed or expressed himself—sent his word—in a variety of ways from the beginning, made himself known at last in a real historical human person.³

Since John’s Gospel attempts to use specially chosen miracles done by Christ to show beyond any reasonable doubt that Jesus Christ is deity, miracles then are an essential part of John’s argument, and therefore they are attacked by critics to discredit John and the rest of the Bible.

Mr. Graham was quoted earlier as saying, To destroy any edifice, it is easiest to tear it down from its base. Since John uses miracles so extensively in his argument, it will be helpful to have a working knowledge of miracles and how they are being attacked today.

Miracles have been and are used to show that God is real and that he is working in the world. John’s Gospel contains seven signs or miracles of Christ that have been written by an eyewitness to prove that Jesus is God and not a mere man.⁴ What is a sign or miracle? Miracles have been defined by theologians in various ways throughout the centuries. Most twentieth-century theologians have tended to define miracles in terms of variations in the natural laws of the universe.

L. Berkhof’s systematic theology says,

A miracle is something done without recourse to ordinary means of production, a result called forth directly by the first cause without the mediation, at least in the usual way of second causes.⁵

In other words, a miracle is something that cannot be explained by natural means and therefore must come from a first cause, which is God. It should also be noted that the miracles of the Bible and John in particular are intelligent acts and not exotic or erotic occurrences⁶ done on a whim or fancy of God.

Merrill Unger in his Bible dictionary, defines a miracle in this way:

In general terms miracles may be defined as supernatural manifestations of divine power in the external world, in themselves special revelations of the presence and power of God; and in connection with other special revelations to which they are subservient, as aiding in their attestation, establishment, and preservation.⁷

According to this definition, a miracle is much more than a mere display of supernatural power for the sake of inspiring awe in man. Miracles have a revelatory purpose and are used so in the book of John.

James Buswell has an excellent threefold definition of miracles that seems to be more inclusive of all these ideas than most. He defines a miracle as:

An extraordinary event, inexplicable in terms of ordinary natural forces, (2) an event which causes the observers to postulate a super-human personal cause, and (3) an event which constitutes evidence (a sign) of implications much wider than the event itself.⁸

Miracles are an intrinsic part of the Christian faith because they help reveal God’s message and purpose to the world. They are necessary. Through the character and nature of miracles, we can see the power and nature of deity. These are extraordinary events that cannot be explained by natural means. These events cause the observers to believe it is a divine act that has supernatural implications much wider that the actual event itself.

The question arises: why does God go against the natural laws he has established to perform a miracle? Millard Erikson, in his systematic theology, states there are at least three reasons why God would to do this.

The most important is to glorify God. The beneficiaries and observers of the biblical miracles generally responded by glorifying God. This means that when miracles occur today we should credit God, who is the source of the miracle, not the human agent who is the channel. In biblical times, a second purpose of miracles accompanied them. That the Greek word σημεῖον frequently occurs in the New Testament as a term for miracles underscores this dimension…Finally, miracles occur to meet human needs. Our Lord frequently is pictured as moved with compassion for the needy, hurting people who came to him.⁹

Often miracles are being called a fraud because people are applying a materialistic view (the scientific method) on something that goes beyond science and cannot be repeated.

The scientific method works this way: first, there is an awareness and definition of the problem. This is necessary because without a clearly defined problem, there is no way of knowing what particular facts to collect.¹⁰

The second step is the observation and collection of data. This is the most familiar step of the method. It relies on direct or indirect sense perceptions and precise observation of what is investigated. This is a repetitive process, and a miracle by definition is not repetitive; it is a unique singularity.

The third step is the classification of data. The data gained by the first two steps must be organized into conceptual boxes that give it its meaning in relation to the experiment.

The fourth step is the formulation of the hypothesis. This is the formulation of tentative statements by the scientist about the relationship between the object or problem studied and the results and actions on the world around it. These are generally suggested and tested on a trial-and-error basis. They serve to frame the data in such a way that a presumed relationship is set up and a possible explanation is suggested.

This leads to the fifth step, which is deduction from the hypothesis and leads directly to the sixth step, the testing and verification of hypothesis. The hypothesis is tested by actual observation and experimentation. The facts are recorded, and it is repeated until it has passed the test of experience and it is determined that if we do this that will happen.¹¹

Through the systematic organization and verification of observations, people are able to accumulate a growing body of knowledge that has a very high probability of being true. The scientific method does not claim to be a method by which one can arrive at any changeless or ultimate knowledge or history.

Here lies the problem—miracles cannot be put into a test tube and repeated over and over again until they are understood and proven by experience. A miracle by definition is an exceptional suspension of what normally would happen for the benefit of a person or persons. If it could be repeated at will, then it would not be a miracle. It would be natural occurrence and not supernatural.

Many of the conclusions reached by the modern scientific method alone are being overshadowed by the philosophy of scientist, which excludes any possibility of knowledge being obtained from any other source other than scientific method.

When this is the case, we can now understand that by definition a miracle is philosophically opposed to the scientific method. This is not to say that a good scientist cannot believe in miracles. He certainly can. In fact, the honest scientist acknowledges that there are events outside the scope of scientific method. Herbert Lockyer defines a miracle as a work wrought by a divine power for a divine purpose by means beyond the reach of man.¹² And because it is beyond the reach of man, the scientific rationalists have sought to reject them as