1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
12 Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20 Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” 29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”
38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. 48 If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”
49 And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.
53 Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death. 54 Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.
55 And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. 56 Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that He will not come to the feast?” 57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.
The Seven Signs of Jesus in the Gospel of John
Everywhere Jesus went, people were amazed at His miraculous powers. John uses Jesus' miracles as an organizing principle in his Gospel. He calls them all semeia, or "signs," indicating that each miracle was a concrete demonstration of Jesus' divinity and messiahship. Their purpose was to engender belief as they did for the disciples (2:11) and the nobleman's household (4:52). But these same miracles would incite some to anger and violence (11:45-52). John records seven specific "signs." The first was Jesus' miracle of turning water into wine in Cana (2:1-11). In 2:11, John specifically mentions that the sign signified Christ's glory, that is, His deity. With the sign Jesus demonstrated His creative power over nature, and His disciples appropriately placed their faith in him (2:11).
The second sign was Jesus' healing of the nobleman's son (4:46-54). Although the son was in Capernaum and Jesus was in Cana, He told the boy's father, "Your son will live" (4:50). The sign indicated that Jesus was more than a mere mortal.; He possessed the power to not only to defeat disease, but transcend space. Jesus did not have to be physically present to heal. Once again, the sign produced belief (4:52).
But with the third sign, another reaction to Jesus' miracles can be seen. A man at the pool of Bethesda had been sick for a long time. When Jesus told him, "Pick up your bed and walk" (5:8), immediately he was well. But this healing took place on the Sabbath. Instead of rejoicing with the healed man, the Jewish leaders reprimanded him for carrying his bed on the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders' tradition and ideas kept them from believing in the clear signs of Jesus.
The fourth sign was Jesus' miraculous feeding of the five thousand (6:1-15). By creating a great quantity of food out of five loaves of bread and two fishes, Jesus was again demonstrating His deity, for only God can create. But the crowd, instead of submitting to Jesus' teaching and following Him, wanted to make Him their king. They sought out Jesus for the food for their stomachs, and not for the spiritual food that would give them eternal life (6:26,27)
The fifth sign was Jesus' walking on water (6:16-21). After the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples took a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee on their way to Capernaum. When they were three or four miles out, they saw Jesus walking on the water toward them. This time, Jesus demonstrated His complete control over nature, from the winds above to the waters below. This was another sign of His deity, and another reason to trust in Him.
Jesus' sixth sign highlights the different responses to Jesus' Miraculous works. In this account, the Pharisees' spiritual blindness is clearly contrasted with the vibrant faith of the blind man. After being healed, this man told others about Jesus and correctly concluded that he was from God. The blind saw clearly what Jesus' sign meant, and believed (9:38). But the Pharisees refused to believe. They ridiculed the man's faith and arrogantly questioned Jesus.
The seventh sign was Jesus' raising of Lazarus from the dead (11:1-44). Lazarus had been buried for four days when Jesus arrived in Bethany. With the simple words "Lazarus, come out," Jesus restored to life the brother of Mary and Martha. The last sign was the greatest: Jesus at once demonstrated His power over the grave and pointed to His own resurrection. Not even death could limit Him., for He was truly God.
These seven signs surely should have been enough to convince anyone that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Yet the miracles singled out by John were no more than "samples" of the enormous scope of Jesus' signs and wonders (21:25). For John, all the signs pointed to two miracles that are the greatest of all: Jesus' incarnation (1:14) and resurrection (20:1-18). Jesus is God's only Son become man. Although He died for our sins, He was raised from the dead. Today, He still lives and intercedes for all those who believe in Him.
When the Apostle John wrote about the "signs," or miracles, of Jesus, why did he only write about seven?
The number seven represents the perfection and completeness of God.
Have you ever thought about the number seven in relation to both Old Testament and New Testament scripture? It's very interesting and revealing.
1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
~ Genesis 2:1-3
"When man began to analyze and combine numbers, he developed other interesting symbols. He took the perfect world number FOUR and added to it the perfect divine number, THREE, and got SEVEN, the most sacred number to the Hebrews. It was earth crowned with heaven -- the four-square earth plus the divine COMPLETENESS OF GOD. So we have SEVEN expressing COMPLETENESS through union of earth with heaven. This number is used more than all other numbers in the Word of God, save the number ONE.
In the Book of Revelation the number SEVEN is used throughout. There are SEVEN churches, SEVEN Spirits, SEVEN stars, SEVEN seals, SEVEN trumpets, SEVEN vials, SEVEN personages, SEVEN dooms, and SEVEN new things. SEVEN symbolizes Spiritual Perfection. All of life revolves around this number. SEVEN is used over 700 times in the Bible. It is used 54 times in the Book of Revelation.
The whole Word of God is founded upon the number SEVEN. It stands for the SEVENTH day of the Creation Week, and speaks of the Millennial Rest day. It denotes COMPLETENESS or PERFECTION.
In Leviticus 23:15-16, the number SEVEN and the Sabbath, which was the SEVENTH day, is connected with the word COMPLETE. The word COMPLETE follows after the words SEVEN SABBATH (Seventh day). The day following the SEVENTH Sabbath there was something NEW that took place.
The word FINISHED is also connected with the number SEVEN. In Revelation 10:7 we read, In the days of the voice of the SEVENTH angel, when he shall begin to sound the mystery of God should be FINISHED.
It is DONE is another expression found in connection with the number Seven.
And the SEVENTH angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne saying, It is DONE. (Revelation 16:17)
The word CREATED is used SEVEN times in connection with God's creative work. (Genesis 1:1; Genesis 1:21; 1:27 (three times); 2:3; and 2:4). God created all things in the beginning and then took six days of restoring His creation and then rested on the SEVENTH day. (Genesis 2:1-3). He appointed SEVEN days for the week, and most, if not all advanced nations reckon time in that way: SEVEN days to the week. Few ever stop to think of why there are SEVEN days in a week. Do atheists and infidels give God and the Bible credit for it?
There are SEVEN notes in the musical scale. All other pitches are only variations of these. When the musician uses the eighth note he goes back to do and starts over. Man named the notes but God fixed the sounds, even as God fixed the days of the week, and man named them.
Noah took the clean beasts into the ark by SEVENS (Genesis 7:2) SEVEN days after Noah went into the ark the flood came. (Genesis 7:-10) Peter tells about the long-suffering of God waiting in the days of Noah. (I Peter 3:21) Those SEVEN days COMPLETED God's time of waiting.
Before Aaron and his sons entered their priestly work they were consecrated SEVEN days. (Leviticus 8:31-36) Here is a picture of a life COMPLETELY or WHOLLY consecrated or dedicated to the Lord for service.
On the day of atonement the high priest sprinkled the blood upon the mercy seat SEVEN times. (Leviticus 16:14) This is a picture of the COMPLETENESS of the redemptive work of Christ. By his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." (Hebrews 9:12) When Christ offered Himself that FINISHED the sacrificial offerings. They were ended. No longer must we place sacrifices upon an altar.
When Israel took the city of Jericho God told them to march around the city SEVEN times. Thus, on the SEVENTH day, when they marched around the city SEVEN times, they COMPLETED their marching. (Joshua 6:1-16)
There were SEVEN FEAST days of our Lord. (Passover, Unleavened, First-fruits, Pentecost, Atonement, Trumpets and Tabernacle). (Leviticus 23:1-44)
There were SEVEN branches on the CANDLESTICK in the Holy Place in the Tabernacle and this pictures the COMPLETE light of God for the souls of man.
Solomon was SEVEN years in building the Temple and kept the Feast for SEVEN days. Job had SEVEN sons. When his friends came to visit him they sat SEVEN days and SEVEN nights in silence, and afterward they were required to offer a Burnt Offering of SEVEN bullocks and SEVEN rams. Naaaman washed SEVEN times in the Jordan. The Savior spoke SEVEN words from the Cross. SEVEN men of honest report were chosen to administer the alms of the church in Acts 6:1-7. There were SEVEN years of plenty and SEVEN years of famine in Egypt during the days of Joseph.
SEVEN times in the Book of Revelation blessing of the Lord are promised to His people. These are called the BEATITUDES of Revelation. These are found in Chapters 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14.
There are SEVEN Dispensations -- Innocence, Conscience, Government, Patriarchal, Law, Grace, and Milleniah (sic) Age.
SEVEN times the Book of Life is mentioned in the Bible. The Book of Revelation is a Book of SEVENS. We have SEVEN churches, SEVEN seals, SEVEN Trumpets, SEVEN Personages, SEVEN vials (sic), SEVEN dooms, SEVEN new things. SEVEN SEVENS make up this Book . It is the COMPLETENESS of all things.
Jesus said to forgive SEVENTY times SEVEN In other words, He is saying, Keep on forgiving until you are complete. Even the duration of Israel's great punishments was based upon this law of SEVENS. Their captivity in Babylon was for SEVENTY years, ten periods of SEVENS. (Jeremiah 25:11-12; Daniel l9:2)
Life operates in a cycle of SEVENS. Changes take place in the body every SEVEN years. There are SEVEN bones in the neck, SEVEN bones in the face, SEVEN bones in the ankle, and SEVEN holes in the head. Most births are multiple of SEVENS. The hen sits three weeks (21 days); the pigeon two weeks (14 days); after having laid eggs for two weeks. Of 129 species of Mammals, the majority have a period from conception to birth of an exact number of weeks, a multiple of SEVEN.
Human physiology is constructed on a law of SEVENS. Children are born to mothers in a certain number of weeks usually 280 days, a multiple of SEVENS. Fevers and intermittent attacks of gout, ague, and similar complaints have a period of operation of SEVEN, FOURTEEN or TWENTY-ONE days knows as critical days.
All departments of nature are marked all over with mathematics. In this realm practically everything is in SEVENS. Notice next time the shape of frost when it crystallizes on the window. Notice the small snow flakes. It is wonderful how God formed everything in a pattern of SEVENS.
It would be well for the reader to always remember the SEVEN means COMPLETENESS or SPIRITUAL PERFECTION. Whenever you come to a SEVEN in the Word of God read the meaning and the message is plain.
The SEVENTH time Noah's name occurs is where it is said,
Noah was a just man, and PERFECT in his generations. (Genesis 6:9)"
