The Christological and Eschatological Significance of Jesus’ Miracle in John 5 -- By: Stephen S. Kim
Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 165:660 (Oct 2008)
Article: The Christological and Eschatological Significance of Jesus’ Miracle in John 5
Author: Stephen S. Kim
BSac 165:660 (October-December 2008) p. 413
The Christological and Eschatological Significance
of Jesus’ Miracle in John 5
Stephen S. Kim is Professor of Bible, Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Portland, Oregon.
The Literary Structure Of John
The structure of the Fourth Gospel reveals that it is one of the most carefully crafted pieces of literature in the Bible. The Evangelist explicitly said in his “purpose statement” (20:30–31) that the aim of his Gospel was to present Jesus as the promised Messiah of the Old Testament and the unique Son of God. And his primary means of revealing Him as the divine Messiah was the seven sign miracles (σημεῖα) and their attendant contexts of teaching, all of which are recorded in the first twelve chapters of the Gospel, commonly referred to as the Book of Signs.1
Jesus’ first two sign miracles are strategically placed in the beginning chapters of the Gospel, often called the Cana Cycle (chaps. 2–4),2 because they were performed in Cana of Galilee and form a literary bracket around these three chapters.3 The remaining
BSac 165:660 (October-December 2008) p. 414
sign miracles of Jesus are also purposefully located throughout the following chapters of the section frequently designated as the Festival Cycle (chaps. 5–12).4 These chapters are so designated because the sign miracles and their attendant narratives and discourses are set in the context of Jewish festivals.5 This cycle begins with an “unnamed feast” (5:1–47; cf. v. 1) and then runs through a year of festivals from Passover (6:1–71; cf. v. 4) through Tabernacles (7:1–10:21; cf. 7:2), Dedication or Hanukkah (10:22–42; cf. v. 22), and then back to Passover (12:1).6
The literary structure of the Fourth Gospel is skillfully combined wit...
Click here to subscribe