He declared, “I AM the light of the world” (8:12 9:5) and then gave sight to a man born blind (9:1-7). He fed over five thousand hungry people and announced, “I AM the Bread of Life” (6:35). The miracles of Jesus inherently convey a message about Jesus. The fourth gospel then recounts “signs,” i.e., miracles that point to a miracle worker, signals to direct the spiritual traveler to his destination. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” (Luke 7:22). Christ cited this very text of Isaiah, saying, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. John the Baptist, when imprisoned for his witness, sent two of his disciples, asking Jesus to affirm His identity. In John’s gospel alone, the author witnesses Jesus giving sight to a man born blind (9:1-6-7) and new legs to a man who had been lame for thirty-eight years (5:1-8). Indeed, Isaiah 35:5, written over seven centuries earlier, describes Messiah’s kingdom as a place where the eyes of the blind see, the ears of the deaf hear, the feet of the lame walk, and the tongue of the dumb sing. He presents Jesus as the promised Messiah of Israel, “the Christ,” as the essentially divine “Son of God.” Then, based on his witness, he intends the reader to experience a profound and life-changing relationship with God (see “eternal life” in John 17:3). He states his purpose, saying, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31). The Apostle John is an eyewitness of Jesus Christ.
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