Should the resurrection of Jesus be considered one of the “signs” of the Gospel of John?

Should the resurrection of Jesus be considered one of the “signs” of the Gospel of John?



Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth – Matthew 12:38-40.



Jesus said Himself that his spending three days and nights in the belly of the earth would be a sign to the Jews. Nothing of the resurrection is mentioned specifically here, but the fact that Jesus would spend three days and nights in the belly of the earth does insinuate such.



Sign in the Strong’s Concordance, Greek lexicon is sēmeion and its definition is as follows:



1) a sign, mark, token

a) that by which a person or a thing is distinguished from others and is known

b) a sign, prodigy, portent, i.e. an unusual occurrence, transcending the common course of nature

1) of signs portending remarkable events soon to happen

2) of miracles and wonders by which God authenticates the men sent by him, or by which men prove that the cause they are pleading is God's[1]

I think the most appropriate aspect of the definition, speaking of signs of the Gospel is 1b, which states, “a sign, prodigy, portent, i.e. an unusual occurrence, transcending the common course of nature.”[2]



So a sign is really any event, which can be considered supernatural; however instead of a sign, it is only placed as one of the I AM’s – I AM the resurrection and the life. So why is it not officially one of THE eight signs, which occur in the Book of John?



It seems to be because scholars have divided Book of John into to parts, one being the Book of Signs and the other being the Book of Glory.[3] The Book of Signs, John 1-12, lays heavily on the miracles, which Jesus performed and the signification of them.[4] But the Book of Glory, John 13-20, which discusses the Last Supper and the events leading up to Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, which is His ultimate glory.[5]



The doctrine, of the dichotomy of John, was actually started by a Catholic priest named Raymond Edward Brown.[6] He is the one, which labeled the two divisions, and so if we go by his method of separation, then the resurrection is not a sign, but if we go by the Greek language, which describes a sign as any occurrence, which cannot be described by nature, and if we believe the preaching of Paul, then it is a sign.



Paul preached, “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” – 1 Corinthians 15:12-14. And he preached in Ephesians 1:19-23:



And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.



So, I would say that the resurrection is a sign, according to Scripture, and the definition we have been given in the Greek lexicon. His resurrection is a sign for us to believe in our own resurrection, to believe that He is in power, that He does have power over all principalities and that He is our head, as we are the embodiment of the church. It is the sign of the resurrection, which gives me hope; hope that I will dwell with Him in the final days of His glorious plan!



Even Dr. Towns says that a sign is one way in which Jesus manifests His glory.[7] So if the Book of Glory is actually about His glory being manifested, doesn’t His resurrection fit into the category of a sign?

[1] Strong’s Concordance. http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4592&t=KJV; accessed 11 Oct 2009.

[2] Ibid.

[3] http://livingstonescrc.com/small_groups/revelation/Revelation_1_1to2.pdf; accessed 11 Oct 2009.

[4] Ibid.

[5] http://bible.org/seriespage/exegetical-commentary-john-13; accessed 11 Oct 2009.

[6] http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Raymond_E._Brown; acessed 11 Oct 2009.

[7] Dr. Elmer Towns. John: Believe and Live. (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers ,2002), xiii.

© Kimberly Padilla, A. A. Religion
11 Oct 2009.