Forgiveness and Miracles – Part 5

The Resurrection According to John

Class Date: April 20, 2022

The Gospel of John is unique in many ways. The first three gospels have many of the same events. It is thought that Matthew and Luke relied on Mark as one of their primary sources. John’s version reports a different set of miracles that he calls “signs”. John tells the story of seven signs which Jesus performed during his ministry in Galilee. He also includes a long narrative of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, his crucifixion, resurrection, and five post-resurrection appearances.

It is clear that the gospel of John was composed only after an extended period of theological reflection by a person who was clearly an eye witness of Jesus’ ministry. John constructs his resurrection narratives in a way that is meant to teach us something essential about the Christian faith. We learn how the Holy Spirit empowers the disciples to become apostles, and that the purpose of his gospel is to bring people to faith. John’s Gospel concludes by saying that many more things could be said about what Jesus had done. Perhaps he is saying that Jesus is too much for us to comprehend, and that our wisdom is too limited to understand why and how God had redeemed the world.